24 A DOG OF FLANDERS.

eaten nothing for twenty-four hours,
and, which was far worse to him,
not having tasted water for nearly
twelve, being blind with dust, sore
with blows, and stupefied with the
merciless weight which dragged
upon his loins, Patrasche, for once,
staggered and foamed a little at the
mouth, and fell.

He fell in the middle of the white,
dusty road, in the full glare of the
sun: he was sick unto death, and
motionless. His master gave him
the only medicine in his pharmacy,—
kicks and oaths and blows with a
cudgel of oak, which had been often
the only food and drink, the only
wage and reward, ever offered to him.
But Patrasche was beyond the reach