356 Life and Tmortatity. 
tumult in the hennery, accompanied by loud noises, the 
command, ‘Go, see what the trouble is!” was performed 
to the very letter, and the trouble, if any, was speedily 
announced by a series of loud, sharp, quick barks, which soon 
brought some one or more members of the family to the 
scene of disorder. If nothing unusual was happening, Lion 
would return to the house in a slow, leisurely way, and by 
his looks convey, as clearly as man could do it, the utter 
needlessness of the command. 
Not only is the dog capable of understanding many 
things that are said to him, but is even capable of forestall- 
ing one’s wishes. Part of one of the writer’s vacations was 
spent ina small country town not very remote from Phila- 
delphia. There was in the family with whoin he boarded a 
dog called Prince. He was a very great favorite, and was 
once noted for his lively, vivacious disposition and jolly man- 
ners. But at the time of my introduction to him, he seemed to 
be suffering from some bodily affliction, which had not only 
taken away his appetite for food, but the very annus of his 
being. Upon inquiry I learned that the master of the house, 
to whom Prince was so deeply attached, had died the year 
before, and that the dog had taken his death so completely 
to heart that he had lost all of his former vivacity. He 
refused all food, often going for days without taking a single 
mouthful. Life seemed to have lost for him all its charms. 
Sad and dejected he would lie upon the porch-floor or ground, 
seemingly unconscious of everything and everybody. That 
he was slowly dying seemed evident to all. But a change 
from our first interview appeared to come over the animal. 
From some cause or other, he had taken quite a fancy to 
me. He would greet me with considerable friendliness when 
I would come down in the morning, and always seemed glad 
to be in my presence. My first business, on coming down- 
stairs, was to go for the newspaper, which was always to be 
found inside the yard, some thirty steps from the house. I 
would then sit down upon the porch and read it, but Prince 
