MY EARLY FRIENDS. 135
 Rona answered our expectations, and soon took Fido's
position in the house. She was a thoroughly worthy little
dog; I don't know that she was very clever, but I can
vouch that she was exceedingly companionable. In her prime
she was perfectly good-humoured to her friends, though I
do not think that she was ever very accessible to strangers.
She had queer ways of her own. She was very fond of fish,
to which, as an article of food, dogs have either a great liking
or loathing. She slept on the lower shelf of a cupboard,
reserved for her use, in a dressing-room attached to the
nursery. She would retire there for a morning snooze, and
members of the family, unaware of her proximity, would be
startled, on going into the nursery, by loud snores, exactly
resembling those of a human being guilty of snoring, pro-
ceeding from the dressing-room at high noon. She had been
taught to beg, and had great faith in the efficacy of the suppli-
cation. She would be found in a room alone begging with
great patience to a closed door, and confidently expecting it
would yield to the appeal.
 Rona was peculiarly affected by certain kinds of music, as
dogs sometimes are. I have read different opinions expressed
of the impression made by music on dogs, with an attempt
to decide whether it is pain or pleasure which is produced on
the creature by the melody that awakens its attention and
rouses its emotions. The preponderance of evidence tends to
indicate that it is pain, or at least some form of fear or distress,
which music causes in the dog. What I remember of Rona's
behaviour when so excited confirms this idea, though we
children chose to class the performance as singing, and boasted
loudly of it to our companions, who used to wait breathlessly