Cat and Dog | Page 7

as ever lived, and won't let it drop. The boy is quite changed now. Between Captain and Miss Lily, I reckon he has had a lesson he'll not forget."
In due time I recovered, and was as strong and handsome as ever; but, strange to say, I no longer felt like the same dog. My own sufferings had suggested some serious reflections as to whether being shot might not be as unpleasant to the birds as to me; and I really began quite to pity them. So far the change was for the better; but it did not stop there: not only was my love for field-sports extinguished, but it had given place to a timidity which neither threats nor caresses could overcome. I shuddered at the very sight of a gun, and no amount either of reward or punishment could induce me again to brave its effects. Under all other circumstances I was as courageous as before: I would have attacked a wild beast, or defended the house against a robber, without the slightest fear; but I could not stand fire; and the moment I saw a gun pointed, there was no help for it, I fairly turned tail and ran off.
"The poor beast is spoilt, sir," said John to my master. "It is cruel to force him, and he'll never be good for any thing again."
"It is of no use taking him out," replied my master; "but he is far from good for nothing. He has plenty of spirit still, and we must make a house-dog of him."
So I was appointed house-dog. At first I certainly felt the change of life very unpleasant; but I reflected that it was my own doing, though not exactly my own fault; and I determined to make the best of it, and adapt myself to my new employments. At the beginning of that summer, if any body had told me that I should be content to stay in the court and garden, sometimes even tethered to a tree on the lawn,--that my most adventurous amusement would he a quiet walk over the grounds, and my most exciting occupation the looking-out for suspicious characters,--I should have sneered, perhaps even growled at the prediction; but so it was, and before long I grew reconciled to my new station, and resolved to gain more credit as a guard than even as a sporting dog.
We were not much troubled with thieves, for we lived in a quiet country place, where we knew every body and every body knew us, and no one was likely to wish us any harm; but it did once happen that my vigilance was put to the proof.
There was a fair in our neighbourhood, attended by all the villages near. During the morning I amused myself by watching the people in their smart dresses passing our gate, laughing and talking merrily. I had many acquaintances among them, who greeted me with good-natured speeches, which I answered by polite wags of my tail.
John, and others of our servants, went to the fair, and seemed to enjoy themselves as much as any body. They returned home before dark, and all the respectable persons who had passed our gate in the morning re-passed it at an early hour in the evening, looking as if they had spent a pleasant day, but perfectly quiet and sober; and I was much pleased at seeing them so well behaved.
But among the crowd of passengers in the morning, I had noticed several men whose appearance I highly disapproved. Some of them scowled at me as they passed, and I felt sure they were bent upon no good; but one, the worst-looking of all, stopped, and whistled to me, holding out a piece of meat. I need scarcely say that I indignantly rejected his bribe--for such I knew it was--meant to entice me in some way or other to neglect my duty; so I growled and snarled, and watched him well as he passed on. No fear of my not knowing him again by sight or smell. Several of these ill-looking men returned intoxicated, to my great disgust; for I had a peculiar objection to persons in that condition, and never trusted a man who could degrade himself below my own level. I watched them all, every moment expecting the one who had tried to curry favour with me, for I had an instinctive assurance that I had not seen the last of him. Night drew on while I was still on the look-out, and yet he did not appear. The rest of the family went calmly to bed, taking no notice of my disquietude; but nothing could have induced me to curl myself round and shut my eyes. I was sure danger was near, and it was my part as