RENEWING AN ACQUAINTANCE 93 



deceived me yet ! " And in this way he went on until 

 she gave in and confessed her fault, and promised 

 never to offend again. 



I imagine that if we were to tell this case to a dog 

 gifted with speech and as intelligent as dogs are 

 taken to be by their masters, he would exclaim: 

 " Well, I never! " His surprise would not be at the 

 man's keenness of sense, as that would be a small 

 thing to him, but at his fastidious dislike of the smell 

 of a fellow-being. 



One other instance will be given here, not that it 

 is more remarkable than the others, but because it 

 has come in my way just now — in fact, after these 

 chapters on smell had been written. 



I was at afternoon tea with others at a seaside house 

 when a lady came in, followed by her white Skye 

 terrier who attends her in all her walks abroad. The 

 dog and I had been acquainted, but it was now over 

 nine months since we had met. After looking round 

 and noticing some of the others, he came up to me 

 and began smelling at my feet and ankles and legs 

 up to the calves, and not only sniffing but pressing 

 his nose against my legs. And this I supposed was 

 because I happened to be wearing a new pair of 

 trousers, and the smell of the new cloth without the 

 human smell in it cut off or obscured that of the flesh 

 behind it. After examining me in this way he looked 

 up at me with a pleased expression in his face and 

 vigorously wagging his tail. That was to say that 

 he had succeeded in identifying me as a friend, and 

 that he was very pleased to meet me again. 



