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OUR FOUR-FOOTED FRIENDS.
No. III.— ANECDOTES OF DOGS.
JUXDIE AND THE BOOT-JACK —DAN DIE AS A BEGGAR —
the hidden treasure—dandie terns driver—
THE FOUR- FOOTED GROOM—THE GREYHOUND AND
the spaniel.
/ftA)E have devoted two papers totlie horse.
We propose now to give some anec
dotes of the dog, which, in point of sa-
VoP gacity, is second only, if not equal, to
the horse.
Xj A gentleman in Edinburgh, Scot
land, named Mclntyre, had a remarkably intelli
gent dog, named Dandie. One of Dandie’s duties
was to bring the boot jack to his master On one
occasion, his master could not find the boot-jack,
and commanded Dandie, in a vexed tone, to go
and hunt it. The dog went at once to a distant
part of the house, where no
one would have thought of
looking for it, and brought it
to his master, proving that he
had seen it there in the course
of the day, and recollected it.
His master subsequently re
membered that he had himself
jest it there in the morning.
Dandie was in the habit of
going to the baker’s to buy bis
own bread, and gentlemen who
knew him frequently gave him
a penny for this purpose. One
of these gentlemen meeting
him one day, Dandie looked
up at him as if to beg for the
accustomed penny, when the
gentleman said:
“ I have none with me, Dan
die, but I have one at home,”
and thought no more about it.
What was his surprise, soon
after his return home, to find
that Dandie was at the door,
and on its being opened, be
rushed into the room with a look which said as
plain as looks could speak :
“Now, sir, I’m ready for my penny.”
One Sunday morning his master’s family were
surprised to see Dandie come in with a fresh loaf
of bread from the baker’s. As no money was
given him on Sundays, they were led to suspect
that he had money secreted somewhere, and the
servant was ordered to search the room where
Dandie slept. She did so, and found underneath
his bed seven or eight pence, which he had secreted
for a rainy day. He was greatly outraged at the
servant, and never forgave her.
Here is another anecdote of Dandie, the truth
of which is vouched for. Ilis master having sold
a mangle, (a machine for washing clothes,) to a
customer, ordered it to be conveyed to him in a
cart. Dandie knew nothing about this arrange
ment, and Mr. Mclntyre having returned to his
house, went thence towards his customer’s house,
taking Dundie with him. How the dog came to
know anything about the mangle, no one could
tell, but after he had gone a little way with his
master, he suddenly disappeared, and Mr. Mcln
tyre went on without him. Before long, however,
he overtook the cart, and, to his surprise, it stood
with the horse’s head turned towards the ware
house, and Dandie in the cart, with the reins in
his mouth, acting as driver, while the infuriated
li URKE’S WEEKLY.
One day. the Doctor had occasion to visit a pa
tient ia the country, and being fond of botanizing,
he amused himself on the roadside plucking the
wild flowers His horse, who was quietly grazing
near by, became suddenly frightened, and set off
at a rapid rate, when the dog ran barking after
him, and finally succeeded in stopping him, and
thus saved his master a long walk to the city.
A correspondent in Alabama sends us the fol
lowing :
11 My father once owned two dogs —one of them
was a large greyhound, the other an old spaniel.
These two dogs were seen one evening to be in
full chase of a rabbit. Several hours elapsed, and
they failed to return, when my brothers concluded
to go in search of them. \V hen found, the grey
hound had, in his eagerness to capture the rabbit,
run his head too far into the hollow of a tree, and
in turning it, had got it fastened so that he could
not get it out.
“The spaniel, it seemed, had tried to extricate
him, and had caught hold of his body with his feet
so repeatedly, in trying to pull him out, that his
claws had cruelly lacerated the flesh. He was
carefully brought home, but before mid-night his
piteous moans had ceased. Death had claimed
his victim.”
driver stood by abusing, and even beating Dandie
with a large stick, but to no purpose. Dandie,
thinking that the man was stealing his master’s
property, refused to give up the reins, or allow the
horse’s head to be turned around, until his master
gave the order.
Dr. Smith, of Dublin, was a physician of large
practice. Not wanting to take a groom with him
when lie went his daily rounds to visit his patients,
he trained a large dog, between which and his
horse there was a great affection, to take charge of
him as he went from house to house. He seldom
mounted his horse when going only a short dis
tance from one house to another, but just gave the
dog a hint what patient he was going to, and the
dog brought the horse as punctually as a human
being could have done. Besides this, he used to
take him to water, and being obliged to leap a
stream on their way, the two generally did so to
gether.
Written for Burke’s Weekly.
THE LITTLE STRANGERS.
can an^one ie
little readers of the
Weekly guess about
xH what lam going to tell
them by the heading of this lit
tie story? Perhaps some think
'gji® that it will be about children,
but the Little Strangers were
y not children, but two dear little
birds—very small, and of a slate
color.
They made their little nest upon the
limb of a hickory tree, where the leaves
formed a very snug shelter overhead, so
that they were to have nothing to fear
from rain or sun, while
rearing their young.
Now I suppose you
would like to know what
they used for erecting
their little house. Well,
they used a kind of moss
frequently seen on dry
wood. They laid the
foundation upon the bare
limb without anything to
support it on the side.
We watched them with
interest, and could see
their work rapidly pro
gress, as they skilfully
and carefully fastened the
little bits of moss to
gether.
The nest, at the largest
part, was from one and a
half to two inches wide,
narrowing towards the top, until it meas
ured only a little over one inch across.
The interior of this little habitation was
lined with hair, or a similar material, giv
ing a cosy appearance to the whole thing.
In this nest they raised their young,
keeping them in the tree there until
fledged, when, in the attempt to capture
them, we caused a hasty flight among
them. But, one little fellow, not as for
tunate as the others, was taken.
It was beautful, and perhaps would
have made a nice pet, but Lou, to whom
it was given, and indeed all of us, pit} mg
the lonely creature, released it.
After this rout, they kept away for
some time, but deeming their nest too
good to be lost they came back and took
it, piece by piece, away— probably to a
more quiet retreat. J. L. Siokes.
Walter boro, S. C.
Contentment swells a mite into a
talent, and makes the poor richer than
the Indies.
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