A dog is just as quick as a child to find out when 

 he can take liberties ; he knows that laughter and 

 serious disapproval do not go together ; and Jock 

 with the backing of the boys thoroughly enjoyed him- 

 self. That was how it began ; and by degrees it 

 developed into the great practical joke. The curious 

 thing to note was the way in which Jock entered into 

 the spirit of the thing, and how he improved and 

 varied his methods. It was never certain what he 

 would do ; sometimes it would be a wild romp, as 

 it was that day ; at other times he would stalk the 

 intruder in the open, much as a pointer approaches 

 his birds in the last strides, and with eyes fixed steadily 

 and mouth tightly pursed up, he would move straight 

 at him with infinite slowness and deliberation until, 

 the boy's nerve failed, and he turned and ran. At 

 other times again he trotted out as if he had seen 

 nothing, and then stopped suddenly. If the boy came 

 on, Jock waited ; but if there was any sign of fear or 

 hesitation, he lowered his head, humped up his 

 shoulders as a stagey boxer does when he wants to 

 appear ferocious and gave his head a kind of chuck 

 forward, as if in the act of charging : this seldom failed 

 to shake the intruder's nerve, and as soon as he turned 

 or backed, the romp began. Still another trick was 

 to make a round in the bush and come up behind 

 unobserved, and then make a furious dash with rumbly 

 gurgly growls ; the startled boy invariably dropped 

 all he had, breaking into a series of fantastic capers 

 and excited yells, to the huge delight of Jim and the 

 others. 



211 



