76 NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
abandoning book and list, and dragging up a lit¬ 
tle stool that she might sit at the old gentleman’s 
feet, with her arms on his knees. 
“ ‘ Dog town/ we called their quarters,” began 
Mr. Dayton smiling, “ and I liked nothing better 
than to loaf around down there half a day at a 
time. At first, the little dogs were terribly sus¬ 
picious of me; the moment I came in sight the 
sentinels would sound their sharp yelp, like the 
shrill bark of an excited little rat-terrier, and 
whisk! into their holes would go every dog in 
town. I would sit down quietly and remain very 
still. By and by the sentinels themselves would 
venture out cautiously and take up their stands 
on their lookout posts, which were the roofs of 
their houses. How warily they watched me! If 
I would insist on staying, they must, perforce, 
stay on their beat, but it was some time before 
they became convinced of my social intent, and 
sounded their funny little ‘All’s well! ’ call, which 
notified the colony that it would be safe to come 
out and resume matters. In the end, I had a 
number of very good friends in the lot, and I was 
warm in their defense whenever the neighbors 
termed them little nuisances and berated them for 
their pilfering in the gardens. So greatly did 
the tribe increase, however, that at last they did 
become a real pest, and the colony was poisoned 
by order of the city authorities. I nearly cried 
