"DIGNITY AND IMPUDENCE." 123

nearly covered Dick's body, or at the jaw, one shake from
which would have dismissed the life from the little dog in a
twinkling. But Dick was comfortably persuaded that he was
entirely privileged, and he did not argue without his host,
though Wallace, after much endurance, could assert himself so
far as to send off his tormentor. Yet he was never known to
do it, save in the kindest, most friendly fashion. No paralys-
ing stroke from his paw, no crushing snap from his teeth,
ever scared the fun and familiarity out of little Dick. He
received his congg in the shape of a mild, if firm refusal, which
left him free to come sidling into his crony's presence again
within the next five minutes.
 I have mentioned Dick's love of sport. Wallace had the
same love to a marked extent; indeed, it was the one tempta-
tion which proved irresistible, and seduced him once and
again from his adherence to his master. It was not that the
dog openly resisted or defied orders, but that he showed craft
in snatching an opportunity to evade them, in slipping off
unperceivedd, and conducting his hunts in an independent style
in the preserves and on the great moor at hand-coming
home with a dogged fidelity, and yet with the self-convicted
air of a culprit, after his lust for the pursuit of prey was
satisfied, to the punishment which he was perfectly aware
remained in store for him. Of course, for a dog like Wallace
to roam abroad unattended, on such an errand, was to expose
both him and his master to certain penalties, and every effort
was made, for the dog's own sake as well as for his master's
credit, to break him of so dangerous a propensity. The
attempt was not altogether successful. The ruling passion
was so strong in Wallace that it rivalled even his conception