94 THE GAMEKEEPER AT HOME. 



musical note. This faint undulation is more visible in 

 some brooks than others. 



A third mark is where a branch, as it was carried 

 along, grounded on a shallow spot ; and one mast, as it 

 were, of the wreck protruding upwards, catches the stray 

 weeds as they swim down and holds them. Thus, step 

 by step, the mind of the man measures the distance, and 

 assures him that it is a little beyond what he has hitherto 

 attempted ; yet will not extra exertion clear it ? — for 

 having once approached the brink, shame and the dislike 

 of giving up pull him forward. He walks hastily twenty 

 yards up the brook, then as many the other way, but 

 discovers no more favourable spot ; hesitates again ; next 

 carefully examines the tripping place, lest the turf, under- 

 mined, yield to the sudden pressure, as also the landing, 

 for fear of falling back. Finally he retires a few yards, 

 and pauses a second and runs. Even after the start, 

 uncertain in mind and but half resolved, it is his own 

 motion which impels the will, and he arrives on the 

 opposite shore with a sense of surprise. Now comes the 

 dog, and note his actions ; contrast the two, and say 

 which is instinct, which is mind. 



The dog races to the bank — he has been hitherto 

 hunting in a hedge and suddenly misses his master — and, 

 like his lord, stops short on the brink. He has had but 

 little experience in jumping as yet ; water is not his 

 natural element, and he pauses doubtfully. He looks 



