ared around him,
were sufficient to excite the attention of the most indifferent, and it
was with a tolerably large train at his heels that he reached the
entrance to the principal street. Here crowds of well-dressed dogs, both
male and female (the latter always well-attended), were walking about or
idling the time away; town-bred puppies, with insolent stare, were
lounging at every turn, their delicate paws proving how little they were
used to labour. On one side Bruin observed a gracefully-proportioned
white cat, veiled, gliding demurely along, whilst a strong tabby, her
nurse, purred behind, with three little kittens in her arms, mewing to
their hearts' content; and on the other several huge mastiffs, stalking
gravely in a row, like policemen in our London streets going to their
beats, the animals to which they have been compared being bound on a
similar errand.

These various sights proved to Bruin that there must be a different
agency at work to that which existed in his native forest. He was wise
enough to perceive that mere animal force was not likely to succeed
here, or hold the same position as it did in the land where he was born
and had spent his earlier years. The appearances of wealth on one hand,
the evidences of a soldier-like discipline and order on the other,
convinced him that this was no place to vent his ill-humour by an
exhibition of brute strength, for that it was sure to meet more than its
match; whilst the uncertainty of the punishment which would attend such
outbreak, provided it were indulged in, made him resolve, at least, to
put a curb upon his public conduct. This was the first great step in
Bruin's education; a step, alas! merely taught him by his fears. Had it
sprung from higher sources, there would have been a chance of its doing
permanent good; but what solid benefit can be reckoned on or attained
which arises from such a motive?

The attention that the rough stranger from a distant country met with
from the civilised population of Caneville (for that, or something like
it, was the name of the city), was beginning to be rather irksome to
him. Every lady-dog, as she passed him, seemed anxious to allow him
plenty of room; the three kittens in arms, at sight of him set up a
chorus of cries, which their nurse tried in vain to appease; a mastiff,
who was on guard on the opposite side of the way, seemed very much
inclined to interfere for the preservation of public peace; whilst a
couple of