- THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG AND THE MARKED SHILLING. 11

THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG AND THE
MARKED SHILLING.

I must now tell you a story which many believe, but which
others think “too good to be true.”

A gentleman who owned a fine Newfoundland dog, of
which he was very proud, was one warm summer evening
riding out with a friend, when he said that his dog would
find and bring to him any article he might leave behind
him, It was agreed that a shilling should be marked and
placed under a stone, and that after they had gone three or
four miles on their road, the dog should be sent back for it.
This was done—the dog, who was with them, seeing them
place the coin under the stone, which was rather a heavy
one. When they had ridden on for several miles, the dog
was sent back by his master for the shilling. He seemed
fully to understand what was wanted of him; and the two
gentlemen reached home, expecting the dog to follow at their
heels. They waited, however, in vain. The dog did not
appear, and they began to fear that some accident had befallen
him.

The faithful dog was, however, obedient to his master’s
orders. On reaching the stone he found it too heavy to lift,
and while scraping and working away, barking every now
and then in his eagerness, two horsemen came by. Seeing
the dog thus busy, one of them got off his horse and turned
over the stone, fancying that some animal was hiding beneath
it. As he did so, his eye fell on the coin, which—not know-
‘ing that it was the object sought for—he put into his pocket