"Once upon a time there was a little dog named _Bob_ [here Bob would run to me, and wait expectantly]. Usually he was a very _good dog_ [wag, wag, would go his tail], but once in a while he was very _naughty_ [down would drop ears and tail]. When he was a _good dog_ [happy again], he would _sit up_ and show any little boy or girl how to behave. At such times, he would _speak softly_ [prolonged whine], as a polite dog should, though once in a while he would become excited, and _shout, shout, shout_ [furious barking], as impolite children are sometimes apt to do.
"When a lady entered the room where he was, he would always _stand_ up, ready to give her his chair if she wished it; or if she preferred to go into the garden or the street, he would go with her and _walk like a gentleman_. When he played, however, he could run _like a schoolboy_. But once he was in the ball-room, he could _waltz about_ as well as the best dancer there.
"If any one ever said to him, '_go to your corner and lie down_' he would do so at once like the well bred dog he was. But he was always obedient and would come immediately as soon as one said _Bob_.
"I was very sorry to hear one day that this remarkable dog was _dead_. I felt so badly that I went to his house, but was pleasantly surprised when I reached there, to find that he was very much _alive_."
[Illustration: FETCH BRINGS IN THE PERVERSE COW.]
What will be the limit of Bob's education I do not know, for he continues to learn with increasing ease every day. In addition to all that has been described, he can now, at the proper order of command, sneeze, catch a piece of meat from his nose at the word "three," jump over a cane, turn a somersault, and play tag.
Old Fetch was a shepherd dog and lived in the Highlands of the Hudson. His master kept nearly a dozen cows, and they ranged at will among the hills during the day. When the sun was low in the west, his master would say to his dog, "Bring the cows home"; and it was because the dog did this task so well, that he was called Fetch. He would run to a flat rock and hold his ear down close to it, having learned that he could thus catch the far-off tinkle of the cow-bells better than in any other way. If he could not hear them he would range about until he did, and then he was off like a shot in the direction of the sound.