128 "DIGNITY AND IMPUDENCE."
preparing to sweep out the dining-room early one morning,
found the old dog stretched stark and cold 'on his master's
sofa--"like a Christian," as she protested, half awed, half
scandalised. And what gave the last touch to the situation
was that little lively Dick-always fond of establishing himself
by his friend-was discovered lying trembling, with that
consciousness of death of which a dog is supposed to be
unconscious, behind Wallace, that he had not dared to dis-
turb-the first time Wallace had frightened Dick.
 I think Wallace's master, by his own choice, helped to
dig the dog's grave; I know that the spot selected was one
which had been long chosen for his list resting-place. Care
was taken that Dick should not know the place, or be tempted
to disturb it, when it was little thought that the terrier would
soon lie by his comrade's side. Not that Dick died of his
mourning; I never heard of a dog pining to death for a fellow-
dog-only for his master. I am not even aware that Dick
gave great signs of missing his companion after the first few
days, for dogs will be dogs after all; and undoubtedly Dick
recovered the full flow of his constitutionally high spirits
within a short period.
 Merry Dick's death was so much the more tragical that it
was not in the course of nature; it was the result of an
accident-the product of such carelessness as it is hard to
forgive. The offices belonging to Dick's master's farm were
infested with rats to such an extent that even a terrier was
insufficient to keep the vermin down, and poison was employed
for their destruction. A portion of strychnine passed into the
keeping of a kitchen maid, who was to sprinkle it on bread
and butter, to be exposed, with due precaution, near the rats'