244 PHILAX AND BRAC. [OH. xiv. 



loss, or repentance of her unnatural conduct ; on the contrary her 

 joyous gambols seemed to evince her delight at having removed 

 from her path a dreaded rival in the affections of her master. 



433. We must all admit that they have much reflection, or they 

 would not evince the good judgment they so frequently display in 

 unusual circumstances circumstances in which mere instinct could 

 in no way assist them.* An industrious couple, who lived high on 

 the side of one of the romantic Ennerdale Hills, (Cumberland) in 

 a cottage which had descended through several generations from 

 father to son, used to gather fuel in a neighbouring wood. They 

 often took their little daughter with them ; but one evening, whilst 

 hunting for wild flowers, she strayed beyond their sight or hearing. 

 They searched unceasingly for their lost darling as long as the 

 waning light permitted them to distinguish objects amidst the thick 

 foliage ; and then, with heavy hearts, turned towards home, the 

 father endeavouring to cheer the mother with the hope he could 

 not himself entertain that the little girl might have wandered to her 

 accustomed haunts ; but they had the grief of finding that she had 

 not returned ; and fruitless also was the anxious search renewed by 

 torchlight. The poor mother mechanically spread out the frugal 

 supper, thinking it possible that her husband might partake of the 

 food she could not taste. It would, however, have remained on the 

 board untouched had not the old dog seized a large slice of the loaf 

 and rushed out of the cottage. The father quietly observed, " I 

 never knew the dog to thieve before." Ere the day had fully 

 dawned, they were again hunting the wood ; but they could dis- 

 cover no trace of their child. At breakfast-time the dog, as on the 

 preceding evening, purloined a piece of bread. The man was about 

 to strike the depredator, but his wife, her countenance radiant with 

 hope, stopped him with the exclamation, " I am sure he knows 

 where Agnes is." They ran down hill after him, and at length found 

 him near the edge of the lake, lying on the child to keep her warm. 

 She appeared quite satisfied with her position, and extremely pleased 

 with her shaggy companion. In her small fat fingers she grasped 

 the stolen bread, together with many flowers she had gathered. 



434. You may have seen the account of the marvellous tricks 

 which Monsieur Leonard, by kindness and perseverance, taught his 

 dogs Philax and Brae. That a dog could be tutored into playing 

 as good a game of dominos as a man, may sound preposterously 

 unreasonable, but the respectability of the writer compels us to give 

 credence to the recital. 



435. I, also, had once the honour of playing a game of dominos 

 with a learned dog, whose celebrity, however, was far inferior to 

 that acquired by M. Leonard's clever pupil. It thus happened. 

 As I was crossing the Place St. Sulpice, at Paris, I saw a large 

 crowd collected in a circle of considerable diameter round a man 



* Is not the capability of form- upon the exercise of the reasoning 

 ing a good judgment in unusual than the instinctive faculties ? 

 circumstances more dependent 



