Cat and Dog | Page 8

a faithful guardian to be prepared for it. So I alternately paced cautiously round the court, or sat up in my kennel with my head out listening for every sound. By degrees the returning parties of revellers dwindled to now and then a solitary pedestrian; and the hum of voices gradually subsided, till all was silent, and the whole country seemed asleep. Still I watched on, with unabated vigilance, deep into the night. At last I thought I heard outside the wall a very cautious footstep, accompanied by an almost inaudible whisper. I pricked up my ears; the footstep came nearer, and a hand was upon the lock of the courtyard-gate. I sniffed the air; there was no mistake; I smelt the very man whom I expected. Others might be with him, but there was he. Without a moment's delay, I set up an alarum that might have wakened the whole village; at any rate, it woke our whole house. Down stairs came my master in his dressing-gown; down came old John, lantern in hand, and red nightcap on head. Lily peeped out of her bedroom window, with a shawl over her shoulders; and seeing her papa in the court, ran down to help him,--as if she could have been any help against robbers, poor little darling! The servants assembled in such strange attire, that they looked to me like a herd of animals who had got into each other's coats by mistake. But the maids had kept their own voices at any rate, for they screamed almost as loud as I barked. It was a proud moment for me; and the greater everybody's fright, and the more noise and confusion they made, the prouder I was. It was all my doing. It was I who had called them all in the middle of the night. Their confidence in me was such, that at the sound of my voice they had all left their beds, and assembled in the courtyard in their night-gowns. How clever and careful they must think me! And how clever and careful I thought myself! I danced round Lily, and bounded about in all directions, till I knocked down the sleepy stable-boy, and got into every body's way. I never was in such glee in my life. But my master and John were quiet enough, and they examined the gate, and the footsteps outside, and decided that there certainly had been an attempt to break into the house, but that the robbers had been frightened away by me.
"It has been a narrow escape for them, sir," said John; "for if they had succeeded in getting in, the dog would have pinned them."
"Captain has done his duty well," said my master, "and no one can call him useless any more."
"It is a good thing no one was hurt," added Lily; "but I am glad they were frightened. Perhaps the fright will cure them."
After this adventure I was treated with great respect. By night I watched the house, and by day I was Lily's constant companion. We were allowed to take long rambles together, as her father knew she was safe under my care. I learnt to carry her basket or parasol for her, and to sit faithfully guarding them while she scrambled up banks or through bushes, looking for flowers. I was also an excellent swimmer, and could fetch sticks which she had thrown to the very middle of the stream. I could not make out why she wanted the sticks, as she never took them home with her; but we were quite of one mind about fetching them out of the water. Often I accompanied her to the village, and lay at the cottage-doors while she paid visits to the people inside. Then the little children used to gather round me, and pat me, and pull my ears; and even if they pulled a little too hard, I scorned to complain, or hurt them in return; and when Lily came out, I was rewarded by her praise of me as the best and gentlest dog in the world.
At other times she used to establish herself to read or work under a tree on the lawn, while I lay at her feet, or sat upright by her side. I was careful not to interrupt her when she was busy, but she often left off reading to speak to me, and sometimes let me keep my front paw in hers as we sat together. These were happy days, and I should have liked them to last for ever. But this state of tranquillity was to be disturbed, and I am sorry to say by my own folly.
I had insensibly imbibed a notion, or rather a feeling, that I was Lily's only pet and favourite, and that nothing else