THE POLICE OF NATURE. 
225 
footboards on eacli side for them to alight on, and also to 
have large boxes hung high up on the inside for them to 
roost and breed in. Then may farmers bid defiance to all 
kinds of vermin, after having first well cleansed their farm 
and premises themselves. 
Now we come to the true friend of man, the remorseless 
destroyer of rats when he can get at them. He will protect 
his master night and day from thieves of every denomina- 
tion. Nothing can shake his fidelity ; and all he requires, 
in return, is a crust and a friendly pat. With these he feels 
amply rewarded, and will exert every faculty with which 
nature has endowed him to serve and amuse his master. 
I mean the well-bred Bull-Terrier dog. I say the bull- 
terrier, because the thorough-bred terrier, though an active, 
sagacious animal, and very fond of hunting, is neverthe- 
less a very careful one, and kills a rat more by cunning 
than courage. He likes to wait his opportunity, and 
catch the rat while running, so as to give him a nij) without 
having a bite in return. This you may say is sound general- 
ship. So far, so good. But if there happen to be thirty 
rats present, twenty-nine will make their escape while he is 
dodging and fretting over one. Still I am satisfied, that if 
you take dogs in general you will not find more than one 
in fifty that will kill a rat ; and if you lump all kinds of 
terriers together, both rough and smooth, I am equally 
satisfied, that, where you will find one that will kill ten 
rats ofi-hand, you will find ten that will not kill one each 
without the assistance of their master. They will do all the 
fretting and barking, if the master will do all the thumping 
and kicking ; and thus kill the rat between them. But 
often, when the rat is dead, to the great delight of the mas- 
ter, the dog will give it a most unmerciful shaking, and 
thereby earn for himself not only a host of caresses, but a 
wonderful reputation. 
When I was about nine years of age, my father bought 
me one of these highly reputed terrier champions. Toby 
was his name ; and fifteen shillings was the sum paid for 
him. His exploits among rats were so startling and 
numerous, that I expected nothing else but that he would 
eat them alive. However, he had not been home long 
before all his powers were put to the test. Into the back 
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