BIZ Z AND HER FOES. 
By Mbs. S. C. Hall. 
IN THREE CHAPTERS. CHAPTER III. 
years elapsed, 
1 M "vri 1 - H r 1 and the memory of “ Bizz 
and her Foes ” faded into 
the indistinct past. Cooks, 
in their varieties, came 
and went : not many, 
though, for I generally 
manage to obtain good 
o ■ . . r i- N 1 servants, and mine have 
been fairly contented with 
a good service. But Mary’s shadow, as it were, 
would sometimes arise, and I wondered how she 
had fared in her new country. I thought how de- 
lightful were her quaintness and oi’iginality, and 
then remembered how I had never believed in her, 
and how that of itself had always given me a 
painful sensation : yet, with time, even that 
memory grew dim ! The dear old Rosery too 
became a thing of the past ; young artists, in 
poetry as well as painting, who had met and 
talked over their future, beneath the shadow of our 
grand old Mulberry, had grown into the glories of 
a present time, winning and wealing laurels that 
will be ever green in history. The greyhounds 
mouldered beneath the turf over which they had 
bounded ; another race of cats sat on the stable 
roof, and defied the garden walls ; another gene- 
ration of boys swarmed in Steward’s Grove, and 
rubbed their sticks against the garden rails. The 
Rosery, alas ! was ours no longer ; we had found 
a home more fresh and tempting, twenty long miles 
from London, having a lawn without blacks, and 
trees and gardens fresh and fair, where, moreover, 
there was abundant space for pets of all kinds — 
pets, that augmented in interest the longer they 
were known. To many people a dog is but a dog, 
and a cat a cat : — 
A primrose by tho river’s brim, 
A yellow primrose was to him, 
And it was nothing more ! 
I pity those who can neither observe nor analyze 
the various shades of animal character. 1 have 
had dogs of all kinds; sometimes two or three born 
of the same parents, fed in the same way, equally 
caressed, and in like manner educated ; yet each 
VOL. II. — x. 
had its own peculiarities. The Italian greyhounds 
I have mentioned were as opposite in temper, dis- 
position, and intelligence, as if they had been of 
separate and distinct species. Ninon was a grave, 
thoughtful, wise animal, gentle and attentive to 
every member of the family, but devoted to me, 
and to me only. She would remain in the library 
without motion during the five or six hours that I 
bent over my desk. No one could tempt her from 
my side; even if a strange cat looked in at the 
window ; Ninon remembered I was not to be dis- 
turbed. Her eyes would flash fire at the cat and 
her beautiful frame quiver with excitement ; but 
she would neither stir nor bark, unless I whispered, 
“Up, and at her.” That was enough; at one 
bound she cleared the intervening cliaii', and once 
she charged so violently against a closed window, 
that the broken glass wounded her head severely. 
But the moment I wiped my pen, or placed it in 
the little vase of water kept for the purpose, she 
knew that my morning’s work was done, and 
sprang about the room with manifest joy. She 
welcomed my friends with stately approbation arid 
as much cordiality as she considered it right to 
bestow on any one except her mistress ; but she 
disliked strangers, and kept up a sort of undertoned 
remonstrance at their being admitted. She was 
very particular as to dress, sniffing at anything 
that was old or shabby, and rejoicing if I put on 
what was new and handsome. She always exa- 
mined herself in the cheval glass, and twinkled her 
ears about, as if she desired to see whether they 
looked best in repose or in action. She would 
literally smirk and smile at herself in the glass, 
showing her teeth, that were even and perfect as a 
row of oriental pearls, with evident pleasure : she 
would fetch and carry, — “ die for the Queen,” — 
and take nothing out of the left hand. When 
spoken to, she held her head on one side with 
an air of consideration, and comprehended with 
wonderful sagacity whatever instructions were given. 
“ Ninon, I am going to be very busy,” sent her to 
her place on the rug ; — and if I added, “ When I 
have done, we shall go for a walk or a drive,” she 
would look up with a peculiarly pleased expression. 
F 
