INTRODUCTORY 7 



dog. This little animal, as you probably know, 

 is not a dog, but something between a rat and a 

 rabbit. He has an aggravating way of sitting on 

 his haunches at the edge of his burrow out on the 

 open prairie, making a shrill squeaking noise that 

 immediately arouses the sporting instincts of a 

 well-bred terrier. He will wait until the terrier 

 is within a yard or two, and then disappear under- 

 ground. These prairie-dog colonies or towns, as 

 they are called, sometimes cover three or four 

 acres, and over each burrow the owner sits and 

 pipes a defiant squeak. The terrier races from 

 one burrow to another, and the cunning little 

 brutes remain squeaking to the last second before 

 they disappear. c Tramp ' would run after them 

 all day under a broiling sun until he was com- 

 pletely exhausted, and then, if we passed another 

 dog-town, he would turn his head the other way 

 and pretend not to see or hear them. ' Tramp ' 

 was, however, a dog of great intelligence, and find- 

 ing the straightforward plan useless, he decided 

 to try stratagem. One day, as we rode over 

 the prairie, I noticed c Tramp/ instead of making 

 his usual rush after his enemies, was adopting feline 

 tactics, and in a crouching position was crawling 



