ine 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