DOGS, AND TUmn CHARACTERISTICS. 369 



bu-t whilp two luiman beings live, his memory will be 



ever green to them. 



When once a man has raised and educated a dog, 



ever showing to him unremitting kindness, there is no 



human friendship that will stand tlie test against this 



canine friend. The winds of adversity may blow 



harshly against liim ; those whom he once called friends 



may have deserted him ; sudden prosperity may have 



weaned from him those whom he most trusted ; Gop- 



erils and Regans may have been raised beneath his 



roof, — ^but hiis four-footed friend will never forsake him, 



and whether he be clothed in finest raiment, or wander 



over the earth friendless, poverty-stricken, sick at heart 



and bruised in body, this friend will remain steadfast to 



him, die in his defense ; or, when the, end has come, 



will make his bed at his master's grave, and refuse food 



and shelter, through day and night, storms and sleet, 



watching his master's grave ujitil nature has esfhausted 



his vitality ; then, starved to death, ^yith choked and 



smothered breathing, he gladly die;s -at the grave of his 



only friend. ' : 



"And he was faithful to a corpse, 

 And kept tlie bmls and heasts 

 Which hungered there, at bay." 



The love for. the dog has been inherent in man for 

 generations, and the tribute paid to a dog 2,700 years 

 ago ranks equally in pathos and beauty with anything 

 written of him in modern times. Homer in his Odys- 

 sey speaks of Ulysses after an absence of twenty years 

 as being recognized by his old deerhound • 



He knew his lord ; ho knew and strove to meet; 

 In vain he strove to crawl, and kiss his feet; 

 Yet all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes, 

 Salute his master, and confess his jovs." 



