1 1 6 IVILD NEIGHBORS chap, iv 



gratitude, nor any of that responsive attachment 

 that makes the well-bred dog so lovable as a friend. 

 Moreover, in spite of his natural subtlety and 

 shrewdness, he shows little aptitude for learning 

 the ordinary accomplishments of dogs, and so fails 

 to sustain an interest in him after the novelty 

 of first acquaintance passes off. Perhaps this 

 seeming inaptitude is really unwillingness, since 

 he may easily regard the things sought to be taught 

 him as beneath his serious attention. If so, the 

 fact that he is occasionally seen as one of the 

 showman's performing animals is all the more 

 noticeable ; since unquestionably he could say to 

 the audience, — 



" I could show you a trick worth two o' that." 

 It is a fact, however, that his habits are chang- 

 ing in many particulars with the change in his 

 environment that has been so rapidly brought 

 about in the West; and it will be interesting to 

 observe how far, and in what direction this pro- 

 ceeds in the future. 



