242 NOT EIDER-DOWN. 



prevented jumping on any chair he liked, but he 

 took a fancy to a very splendid one, covered with 

 very beautifully worked satin : he could not be kept 

 out of this if left for a moment in the room by 

 himself : he was off in a moment if he heard any one 

 coming, but on their leaving, up he was again. This 

 chair was generally covered with a white net. I un- 

 dertook to cure him of this 2:)romising not to beat 

 him. I took away the satin cushion, and under the 

 Avhite net I placed some regular old strong furze. 

 I watched, unseen : up my gentleman was in a moment 

 but down he was much quicker, and set up a yelping 

 that I knew would bring liis mistress down in a minute. 

 "Poor Rover!" said I, "I think anotherlesson will about 

 do for you :" so I gave him a toss on his side on my 

 newly invented patent anti-comfortable cushion : he 

 bolted off, out of the room, nearly knocking doAvn his 

 mistress at the door, who then flew after him into the 

 garden. I made my escape, having first the precau- 

 tion to desire the servant to tell his mistress, with my 

 compliments, not to sit on Rover's chair. She passed 

 my house the next day, and shook her finger at me, 

 showing me Rover's head at the carriage window : he 

 would not even look at the anti-comfortable chair again. 

 I have shown in the instance of the horse hanging 

 back where instinct will teach him to avoid what he 

 finds gives him pain : I will now mention a case where 

 it would not. We will suppose a horse had fallen in 

 harness, and got his legs entangled in the spokes of 

 the wheel, had kicked over the splinter-bar, or in a 

 stable had kicked a hole in the boards of his stall, and 

 got his legs in that : in either case we might conclude, 

 that, finding kicking or struggling hurt him, he would 

 stand quiet : this he possibly might do if he was a very 



