THE COUNTRY HOME [CHAPTER 
markable than the domestication of animals — ani- 
mals plucked out of wildness, and in most cases 
ferocity, and made members of our households. 
The collie dog is perhaps the nearest to a reason- 
ing being that we have developed, yet he comes 
directly from the wolf. My collie talks to me, and, 
while it is not English, it is a cosmopolitan speech 
that embraces the better part of English. She 
knows my needs, comprehends the boundaries of 
my property, can distinguish our animals from 
others, and is possessed of a sense of responsibility 
for their welfare. More than this, she comprehends 
many things that I do not. At seven o’clock ex- 
actly, without waiting for the clock to strike the 
hour, she starts to see if our workmen are all on 
time. If all is right she wags her tail, and turns 
away to other dog-duties. Her observing facul- 
ties have reached the highest development, appar- 
ently under Pestalozzian influence somewhere. She 
observes not only with the nicest accuracy, but she 
draws conclusions with a certainty that is human, 
or more than human. She has brought along the 
sharp-witted outlook of her wolf progenitors, but 
education has biased all this into lines of protective 
good-will. It is a case of conversion from malevo- 
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