126 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



arrival and welcome them at the entrance to the hotel. 

 He \Yas always to be found the next morning waiting 

 on the doorstep to conduct them to the j)ost-office. 



Then, like a dog of good business habits, after 

 giving his clients time to attend to what postal matters 

 they had in hand, he was at their disposal as guide, 

 philosopher, and friend, to accompany them in rambles 

 around the lovely neighbourhood, and trot ahead on 

 the most charming walks. 



The old dog well knew all the best points in the 

 vicinity, and, being but rarely swayed by the known 

 proximity of choice bones, never took his charges 

 twice over the same ground. In all this he showed 

 a true regard for the postal revenue, which these lines 

 seek to acknowledge ; he first took visitors to the post- 

 office to buy postage stamps, and next led them walks, 

 in giving accounts of which by post the stamps were 

 necessarily used up. 



Poor Jack, who met with a tragic end while in the 

 bloom of old age, at twenty-two, led an eventful as 

 well as an active life ; inasmuch as he thrice narrowly 

 escaped an accident which would have been fatal, 

 only to succumb at last to what I trust was pure 

 misadventure. 



Parliament used at one time annually to vote 

 eighteenpence a w^eek as subsistence-money for a 

 cat employed to catch mice in the Central Tele- 

 graph Station, which was in the nature of a reward 

 to an individual for eating his own bread and butter. 

 But there was no vote for Jack in recognition of 



