ALONG FOUR-FOOTED TRAILS 



and holding forth his leading virtue, that of 

 ridding the house of mice and insects. 



When Mongola was a year old I felt he must 

 be lonely without a mate. So after petting him 

 for a long time I considered that if I truly loved 

 him, I ought to be willing to lose the pleasure 

 my pet afforded me, as it would doubtless be for 

 his advantage if he were among his own kind. 

 This it seemed should give him greater happi- 

 ness and was certainly his natural right. 



One morning in June I took him for a long 

 walk beside the edge of a slough in the hope of 

 meeting one of his wild neighbors. If I walked 

 too fast he grew angry and turned back, but if 

 he chose to take the lead he seemed to consider 

 it quite a different thing and expected me to 

 follow. Presently he put his nose to the ground, 

 turned and looked at me, then scampered off 

 into the long slough grass. I followed the wave 

 on the surface of the grass, caused by his body 

 as he passed beneath it. A field-sparrow flew 

 above my head and circled directly over Mon- 

 gola uttering her plaintive alarm chirps. I 

 knew the little beast had discovered the bird's 

 nest, so I ran to prevent him from eating the 

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