MARY’S LITTLE LAMB 131 
part was to go frisking about from burrow to 
burrow, now taking a flying leap over the pit-like 
mouth, then diving down to see how things were 
progressing inside, where the dog was tearing at 
the earth and trying to force himself in and keep- 
ing up a running dialogue of threats and insults 
with the beast inside. 
But though Libby, in these her dog days, was a 
continual joy to us, we thought it best for her own 
sake to put an end to them. For in spite of her 
activities she was in very good condition, and any 
poor gaucho who came upon her, hunting with our 
dogs a few miles from home, would be justified in 
saying: “Here is a good fat animal without an 
ear-mark, consequently without an owner; and 
though I find it in the company of Neighbour 
So-and-So’s dogs, it can’t be his since he has put 
no mark on it, and as I’ve found it I have a right 
to it, and I’m quite sure from its appearance that 
its flesh when roasted will prove tender and 
savoury.” 
Accordingly we took Libby away from her 
companions and put her with the flock, where in 
due time she would learn that a sheep is a sheep 
and not a dog. 
There are, I imagine, few old sportsmen, field 
naturalists, and observers of animal life generally 
who have not met with similar instances of animals 
of widely different natures, in some instances 
