" a IP." 239 



regularly does. An apparent practiser of thrift, 

 his "rainy day" has never yet come, nor is 

 it likely to. Although he buries bones with 

 the greatest assiduity, he was never known to 

 disinter one. Consequently his bone-burying 

 can hardly be an economical quality. Indeed, 

 I am constrained to think that it is as useless 

 as many of his self-imposed tasks, and that if 

 it implies anything, it is the evolutionary sug- 

 gestion that after all Gip may have descended 

 from long-gone doggy ancestors that were once 

 wolves, and jackals, and fennecs. 



And if this be so, it brings us face to face 

 with the fact that Grip's pedigree may be as long 

 and respectable even as that of the silky-coated 

 Sir Windem himself. Although this is specula- 

 tion, I have a notion, from something I recently 

 saw, that there is some truth in the idea ofGip's 

 unwritten pedigree. We were out shooting, 

 and the dogs were of the party. Sir Windem 

 was working quietly and gravely ; Gip noisily, 

 and bustling about. A herd of cows, which 

 before had been quietly feeding, now made 

 towards us, forming a queue as they came. As 

 we progressed the cows followed, always keep- 

 ing their heads to the canine intruders ; nor 



