The Bog as a Culprit. 107 



pursuers who had traced the proceedings of the dog had, in 

 the meanwhile, roused up the master from his bed, and they 

 proceeded together to drag out the murderer from his lair ; 

 but in doing this, poor innocent ! it appeared altogether drowsy 

 and unconscious of harm. Proof was, however, afforded, even 

 to the master's conviction, in the discovery of the bleeding 

 wounds, and summary vengeance was the result. 



A dog had worried and much injured a sheep at the distance 

 of a quarter of a mile from its master's house; but being 

 discovered by the farmer, who knew the dog, it made all haste to 

 its master's house in the neighbouring town, where the master 

 was sitting by the fire, and another dog lay at his feet asleep. 

 Advancing, with all the appearance of conscious innocence, 

 this one lay down by the side of its canine friend, and 

 presently assumed the appearance of being also asleep. Pre- 

 sently, however, the unwelcome pursuer appeared also, and 

 began to tell the tale of the injury inflicted on his sheep. The 

 really innocent dog continued to sleep on ; but the conscious 

 culprit, without looking up, crept silently away, not directly, 

 but round the room, and was not long in quitting the house. 

 Very near to the master's house was a cellar or room, which was 

 used for the purpose of barking the nets of the fishermen, and 

 a portion of the apparatus consisted of a boiler with a flue, 

 close into which latter it crept, entirely out of sight, and there 

 it was discovered, to suffer the necessary consequence of the 

 crime. It is clear that in this instance the dog not only knew 

 the person of its pursuer, but the purport of his tale, as well 

 as that its attempt to lull suspicion had failed of effect. 



Subtlety, as deep as in these instances, we have known in 

 a captive fox, and almost as deep in a cat ; but in these actions 

 of the dog, a nearer approach is made to the human vice of 

 hypocrisy than we have noticed in any other animal. 



While on this subject we will add another narrative, which 

 represents this creature in a more amiable point of view. A 

 gentleman possessed a retriever bitch, which had produced 

 two broods of puppies, all of which had been taken from her 

 and drowned. She was about to produce another litter, and 

 was observed to have searched through every corner and spot 

 about the house ; but after a time she disappeared, and when 

 again seen it was plain she had been relieved of her load. 

 Search was then made for the young ones ; but it was long 

 before they were discovered, and then it was far from the 

 house — in a secret place on the> shore of the sea, near where 

 otters had had a residence ; and even then the place was so 

 chosen among the rocks that the young ones could not be got 

 at. It is plain in this instance that the resolution for this 

 proceeding had been formed in the mind long before, although 

 only lately carried out. 



