DOG TSIEYES. 119 



Sensitiveness such as this generally goes along with the keenest susceptibility to ridicule ; and 

 here, again, the same Dog showed a dislike of being laughed at which is amusingly human, as is also 

 the clever trick by which he tried to escape the gibes which were entering so deeply into his soul. 



" The Terrier used to be very fond of catching flies upon the window-panes, and if ridiculed when 

 r.nsuccessful, he was evidently much annoyed. On one occasion, in order to see what he would do, I 

 purposely laughed immoderately every time he failed. It so happened that he did so several times in 

 succession partly, I believe, in consequence of my laughing ; and eventually he became so distressed 

 that he positively pretended to catch the fly, going through all the appropriate actions with his lips 

 and tongue, and afterwards rubbing the ground with his neck as if to kill the victim ; he then looked 

 up at me with a triumphant air of success. So well was the whole process simulated, that I should 

 have been quite deceived had I not seen that the fly was still upon the window. Accordingly I drew 

 his attention to this fact, as well as to the absence of anything upon the floor ; and when he saw that 

 his hypocrisy hal been detected, he slunk away under some furniture, evidently much ashamed of 

 himself." 



Honesty is a virtue very commonly developed in good Dogs, and instances of it are numerous. In 

 the family of a friend of oui*s there is a large Retriever a long-faced, Puritanical-looking Dog which, 

 when the temptation to steal is ready to overpower him, will, to keep his virtue untarnished, turn his 

 back upon the longed-for morsel, solemnly looking in the opposite direction. Evidently, like Coleridge's 

 " holy hermit," he " prays where he does sit," and thus overcomes the temptation. But, as usual, the 

 best anecdote is given by Mr. Romanes, again apropos of his wonderful Terrier. 



" I have seen this Dog escort a Donkey, which had baskets on its back filled with apples. 

 Although the Dog did not know that he was being observed by anybody, he did his duty with the 

 utmost faithfulness ; for every time the Donkey turned back its head to take an apple out of the 

 baskets the Dog snapped at its nose ; and such was his watchfulness, that, although his companion 

 was keenly desirous of tasting some of the fruit, he never allowed him to get a single apple during the 

 half-hour they were left together. I have also seen this Terrier protecting meat from other Terriers 

 (his sons) which lived in the same house with him, and with which he was on the best of terms. 

 More curious still, I have seen him seize my wristbands while they were being worn by a friend to 

 whom I had temporarily lent them." 



In some Dogs, as in many people, honesty does not spring from high principle, but from mere 

 conventionality. Actual dishonesty, too, is the commonest vice of untrained or badly-trained Dogs. 

 It is, however, comparatively rare to meet with Dogs whose thefts are of a really artistic nature. Two 

 of the best instances of this are furnished by Sir Walter Scott,* who gives a most interesting account 

 of a Shepherd's Dog and a Spaniel, both of whom had a perfect talent for thieving ; they were not 

 only afflicted with kleptomania in a high degree, but showed as much talent in the performance of their 

 equivocal deeds as the most prominent member of the "swell mob." 



"I have heard of a sheep-stealer who had rendered his Dog so skilful an accomplice in his 

 nefarious traffic, that he used to send him out to commit acts of felony by himself, and had even con- 

 trived to impress on the poor cur the caution that he should not, on such occasions, seem even to 

 recognise his master if they met accidentally. There were several instances of this dexterity, but 

 especially those which occurred in the celebrated case of Murdison and Millar in 1773. These persons, 

 a sheep-farmer and his shepherd, settled in the vale of Tweed, commenced and carried on for some time 

 an extensive system of devastation on the flocks of their neighbours. A Dog belonging to Millar was 

 so well trained that he had only to show him during the day the parcel of Sheep which he desired to 

 have, and when dismissed at night for the purpose, Yarrow went right to the pasture where the flock 

 had fed, and carried off the quantity shown to him. He then drove them before him by the most 

 secret paths to Murdison's farm, where the dishonest master and servant were in readiness to receive 

 the booty. Two things were remarkable. In the first place, that if the Dog, when thus dishonestly 

 employed, actually met his master, he observed great caution in recognising him, as if he had been 

 afraid of bringing him under suspicion ; secondly, that he showed a distinct sense that the illegal 

 transactions in which he was engaged were not of a nature to endure daylight. The Sheep which he 



"St. Roaan's WelL" 



