212 Union Bay 



water so thickly covered with floating growth that it looked 

 as solid as the path over which it had just daintily romped. 

 Accordingly, when a cottonwood leaf danced lightly upon 

 this most deceptive surface, the dog moved quickly to in- 

 spect the moving object. The leap was just the proper dis- 

 tance. Had the surface been firm the animal would have 

 grasped the leaf as it landed. I had never seen a dog before 

 that I could swear was surprised, but when its head appeared 

 above the surface with green strands decorating its forehead 

 and with its ears and nostrils full of duckweed, it wore an 

 expression which any movie director would have accepted 

 as a perfect interpretation of astonishment/ Many square 

 feet of this tiny plant growth had to be pushed aside by the 

 dog as it swam to the landing. There it retired to a corner 

 of the float and scratched and shook and licked itself into 

 some sort of order while the country dogs regarded the per- 

 formance of their high-toned city visitor with so much in- 

 difference that they did not move a foot or utter a bark. 



The impression made by this incident was partly due to 

 the fact that it showed me how much more a country dog 

 knew than a city-bred animal. Mike and Bill had their daily 

 chores to do and they did them well. They hated rats and 

 kept them away by regular patrols of the area. They accepted 

 strange human visitors only if they obeyed the rules of the 

 place. They did not allow prowlers near the canoehouse and 

 its lockers. They saw that no strange dogs molested any 

 water birds which were obviously a part of the canoehouse 

 surroundings. All of these things were done surely, conscien- 

 tiously, and without fuss. Between times they looked and 

 learned until they could differentiate between the regular 

 visitors and casuals as certainly as if they had worn a dis- 

 tinctive costume. When I approached, they uttered a couple 

 of short barks, a signal which the manager said indicated 

 always the coming of a friend. When I got nearer they ad- 

 vanced for a friendly pat and welcome and then returned 



