reasons than one. An inferior creature cannot at once rise superior to an affront, and clear it off his mind like a man; we are slaves to our impressions, and till they are forgotten we cannot help acting upon them; and I am afraid I rather took pleasure in nursing my wrath. Then I did not wish to see Craven; and perhaps I might feel a little ashamed of myself, and not quite sure what my master and mistress might think of my running away. But I happened to hear John chuckling over the affair, and saying that my master had been very much amused with the story; so I regained confidence enough next morning to present myself once more, though in rather a shy way, to Lily at the foot of the stairs.

"Oh, come in to breakfast, you capital dog," exclaimed she; so I followed her, delighted to find that I was in the same favour as ever. But, alas! how little did I foresee the misfortune that was coming upon me! I had better have stayed in my kennel and fancied the whole world affronted with me for a few days longer.

Craven and I met on the rug, my rug, as I considered it; for it was one of my principal pleasures to sit on that rug with my feet on the fender, warming my nose. I sometimes toasted myself all over, till my coat was so hot that Lily squeaked when she touched me. She would have barked, I suppose, if she had known how. Now Craven stood in my place, with one of his hind paws on my fender. He looked scornfully at me, and I returned his glance with one of equal contempt, though I longed to snap at his shining heel, and teach him sense and manners.

But Lily, who never was angry with any body, did not perceive how much we disliked each other, and exclaimed in her innocent way, "Craven, here is Captain come to make friends with you, and to beg pardon for deserting you yesterday. Shake a paw, Captain."

Shaking a paw with Craven was a thing I would not do; and my master, a good sportsman himself, entered into my feelings.

"The dog was thoroughly provoked by your bad shooting, Craven," said he, "and you will never make either him or me believe it was his fault. But try again. There is no necessity for you to be a sportsman; but if you choose to do a thing at all, you had better do it properly; and you may learn as well as any body else, if you will not fancy yourself perfect. We will all go out together to-day."

And so we all went out together on that fatal day. I did myself credit, and my master did me justice, and I was happy in my ignorance of coming events. Craven shot and missed, and shot and missed again; but my master's laugh stopped him whenever he was beginning to lay the blame on dog or gun.

"Bad workmen always find fault with their tools, Craven," said my master. "Take better aim."

John tried to teach him, but he would listen to no advice.

It is seldom that a person's fault or folly injures himself alone, and, alas for me! I was the victim of Craven's conceit and obstinacy. At his next fire I felt a pang that I never can forget. His ill-directed shot had entered my shoulder, and I sank down howling with agony. My companions instantly surrounded me, uttering exclamations of alarm, regret, and pity, Craven himself being the foremost and loudest. He never should forgive himself, he said; it was all his awkwardness and stupidity; he was never so sorry for any thing in his life.

He ran to a neighbouring cottage for a shutter, while my master and John bound up the wound. They then placed me carefully on the shutter, and carried me home, Craven reproaching himself and pitying me every time he opened his lips. I scarcely knew him for the same person who had been so conceited and supercilious half an hour before; and even my master, who was extremely angry with him, grew softened by his penitence.

They carried me two at a time, in turn; and when Craven was walking by my side, he stroked my head, saying, "Poor Captain, how I wish I could do any thing to relieve you! if you could but understand how grieved and ashamed I am, I think you would forgive me."

Though suffering greatly, I could not but be touched by his sorrow; and when I heard the kind tones of his voice, and saw tears standing in his eyes, my anger quite melted away, and I licked his hand to show that I bore no malice.

My accident confined me to the kennel for a considerable time, but every care and attention was paid me. My master and John doctored my wound, and Lily brought me my food every day with her own hands. As long as Craven remained in the house, he never failed to accompany her, repeating his regret and good-will towards me; and after he had left us I heard old John observe: "I always thought there was some good in Master Craven; and his brother is as fine a fellow as ever lived, and won't let it drop. The boy is quite changed now. Between Captain and Miss Lily, I reckon he has had a lesson he'll not forget."

In due time I recovered, and was as strong and handsome as ever; but, strange to say, I no longer felt like the same dog. My own sufferings had suggested some serious reflections as to whether being shot might not be as unpleasant to the birds as to me; and I really began quite to pity them. So far the change was for the better; but it did not stop there: not only was my love for field-sports extinguished, but it had given place to a timidity which neither threats nor caresses could overcome. I shuddered at the very sight of a gun, and no amount either of reward or punishment could induce me again to brave its effects. Under all other circumstances I was as courageous as before: I would have attacked a wild beast, or defended 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 house-dog 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 he 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 re-passed it at an early hour in the evening, looking as if they had