his stump of a tail in the dust an inch or so from time 

 to time to let me know .that he understood all about it 

 and that it was all right as long as we were together. 



But an interruption came. Jock suddenly switched 

 up his head, put it a bit sideways as a man would do, 

 listening over his shoulder with his nose rather up in 

 the air. I watched him, and thinking that it was 

 probably only a buck out to feed in the cool of the 

 evening, I tickled his nose with the long straw, saying, 

 " No good, old chap ; only three cartridges left. We 

 must keep them." 



No dog likes to have his nose tickled : it makes 

 them sneeze ; and many dogs get quite offended, 

 because it hurts their dignity. Jock was not offended, 

 but he got up and, as if to show me that I was frivolous 

 and not attending properly to business, turned away 

 from me and with his ears cocked began to listen 

 again. 



He was standing slightly in front of me and I 

 happened to notice his tail : it was not moving ; it 

 was drooping slightly and perfectly still, and he kept 

 it like that as he stepped quietly forward on to another 

 sloping rock overlooking a side where we had not yet 

 been. Evidently there was something there, but he 

 did not know what, and he wanted to find out. 



I watched him, much amused by his calm businesslike 

 manner. He walked to the edge of the rock and looked 

 out : for a few minutes he stood stock-still with his ears 

 cocked and his tail motionless ; then his 

 ears dropped and his tail wagged gently 

 from side to side. 



