168 BIPEDS AND QUADRUPEDS. . 



gles brought the hat close to him, and both got 

 within a yard of me ; I laid down, got hold of the 

 dog, and lifted him out of the water quite exhausted : 

 away went the hat out of reach. *' Why the h — ," 

 said a cut-throat looking vagabond, " didn't you 

 get out the man's hat, instead of the d — d dog ? " 

 My reply was not, I admit, a very courteous one ; 

 " D — the man's hat ! if you and him were with it, I 

 suspect your loss would not ba to be regretted half 

 as much as the dog's." Of course I was not highly 

 complimented by the rabble. 



I think it quite probable that what I said was 

 very near the truth ; still, had the fellow been in the 

 place of his hat, and as much exhausted as the dog, 

 a feeling of duty would have caused me to help him 

 in preference to the animal. I should not have had 

 my feelings of compassion more awakened by the 

 one case than the other, nor should I have felt half 

 as much for him as for the dog, if I estimated him 

 as his speech to me enabled me to do ; helping him 

 out would be a duty I should have owed to myself, 



