A COLLIE IN THE DESERT 139 



but Jack, with generations of development and 

 intimate association with man behind him, 

 needed direction, and without a master was alone 

 in a lonely world. 



One day a number of town loafers tried to lead 

 Jack into the Mexican quarter of the village, 

 in the hope of enticing him down the length of 

 this narrow, noisy street. They wanted to 

 watch the Mexican dogs chew him up. The 

 street ran between two rows of squatty, ancient, 

 dirty adobes, and was overrun with cur dogs 

 that barked and snarled incessantly. When a 

 lone stranger ventured into this quarter the 

 Mexican dogs noisily mobilized for mass attacks, 

 and lucky was he if he escaped without nipped 

 legs and torn trousers. Any stray dog who 

 wandered here was assailed by this riotous pack 

 whose individuals were scattered from one end 

 of the street to the other. 



But Jack walked down the length of the 

 street with proud, masterful carriage, conscious 

 of his superiority. He was not in the least 

 embarrassed or intimidated, and neither was he 

 especially interested in anything. He took in at 

 one glance the savage mongrel populace and 

 radiated contempt for all the cur dogs of the 

 earth. Barking ceased. The dogs dropped 

 heads and tails; many slunk out of the way. 

 They were curs and felt that he knew it; he was 



