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 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 bribe--for
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 look-out, 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
courtyar