fended the house against a robber, without the slightest fear; but I could not stand fire; and the moment I saw a gun pointed, there was no help for it, I fairly turned tail and ran off.

"The poor beast is spoilt, sir," said John to my master. "It is cruel to force him, and he'll never be good for any thing again."

"It is of no use taking him out," replied my master; "but he is far from good for nothing. He has plenty of spirit still, and we must make a housedog of him."

So I was appointed house-dog. At first I certainly felt the change of life very unpleasant; but I reflected that it was my own doing, though not exactly my own fault; and I determined to make the best of it, and adapt myself to my new employments. At the beginning of that summer, if any body had told me that I should be content to stay in the court and garden, sometimes even tethered to a tree on the lawn,—that my most adventurous amusement would be a quiet walk over the grounds, and my most exciting occupation the looking-out for suspicious characters,—I should have sneered, perhaps even growled at the prediction; but so it was, and before long I grew reconciled to my new station, and resolved to

gain more credit as a guard than even as a sporting dog.

We were not much troubled with thieves, for we lived in a quiet country-place, where we knew every body and every body knew us, and no one was likely to wish us any harm; but it did once happen that my vigilance was put to the proof.

There was a fair in our neighbourhood, attended by all the villages near. During the morning I amused myself by watching the people in their smart dresses passing our gate, laughing and talking merrily. I had many acquaintances among them, who greeted me with good-natured speeches, which I answered by polite wags of my tail.

John, and others of our servants, went to the fair, and seemed to enjoy themselves as much as any body. They returned home before dark, and all the respectable persons who had passed our gate in the morning repassed it at an early hour in the evening, looking as if they had spent a pleasant day, but perfectly quiet and sober; and I was much pleased at seeing them so well behaved.

But among the crowd of passengers in the morning I had noticed several men whose appearance I highly disapproved. Some of them scowled at me as

they passed, and I felt sure they were bent upon no good; but one, the worst-looking of all, stopped, and whistled to me, holding out a piece of meat. I need scarcely say that I indignantly rejected his bribefor such I knew it was, meant to entice me in some way or other to neglect my duty; so I growled and snarled, and watched him well as he passed on. No fear of my not knowing him again by sight or smell. Several of these ill-looking men returned intoxicated, to my great disgust; for I had a peculiar objection to persons in that condition, and never trusted a man who could degrade himself below my own level. I watched them all, every moment expecting the one who had tried to curry favour with me, for I had an instinctive assurance that I had not seen the last of him. Night drew on while I was still on the lookout, and yet he did not appear. The rest of the family went calmly to bed, taking no notice of my disquietude; but nothing could have induced me to curl myself round and shut my eyes. I was sure danger was near, and it was my part as a faithful guardian to be prepared for it. So I alternately paced cautiously round the court, or sat up in my kennel with my head out listening for every sound. By degrees the returning parties of revellers dwindled

to now and then a solitary pedestrian; and the hum of voices gradually subsided, till all was silent, and the whole country seemed asleep. Still I watched on, with unabated vigilance, deep into the night. At last I thought I heard outside the wall a very cautious footstep, accompanied by an almost inaudible whisper. I pricked up my ears; the footstep came nearer, and a hand was upon the lock of the courtyard gate. I sniffed the air; there was no mistake; I smelt the very man whom I expected. Others might be with him, but there was he. Without a moment's delay, I set up an alarum that might have wakened the whole village; at any rate, it woke our whole house. Downstairs came my master in his dressing-gown; down came old John, lantern in hand, and red nightcap on head. Lily peeped out of her bedroom window, with a shawl over her shoulders; and seeing her papa in the court, ran down to help him, as if she could have been any help against robbers, poor little darling! The servants assembled in such strange attire, that they looked to me like a herd of animals who had got into each other's coats by mistake. But the maids had kept their own voices at any rate, for they screamed almost as loud as I barked. It was a proud moment for me; and the greater every body's

fright, and the more noise and confusion they made, the prouder I was. It was all my doing. It was I who had called them all in the middle of the night. Their confidence in me was such, that at the sound of my voice they had all left their beds, and assembled in the courtyard in their nightgowns. How clever and careful they must think me! And how clever and careful I thought myself! I danced round Lily, and bounded about in all directions, till I knocked down the sleepy stable-boy, and got into every body's way. I never was in such glee in my life. But my master and John were quiet enough, and they examined the gate, and the footsteps outside, and decided that there certainly had been an attempt to break into the house, but that the robbers had been frightened away by me.

"It has been a narrow escape for them, sir,” said John; "for if they had succeeded in getting in, the dog would have pinned them."

"Captain has done his duty well," said my master, ❝and no one can call him useless any more."

"It is a good thing no one was hurt," added Lily; "but I am glad they were frightened. Perhaps the fright will cure them."

After this adventure I was treated with great respect. By night I watched the house, and by day