ge and murderous-looking specimen that he could
find.

"My mother was alarmed when she saw the dog. 'Surely you're not going to
let that brute loose about the house!' she exclaimed. 'He'll kill
somebody. I can see it in his face.'

"'I want him to kill somebody,' replied my father; 'I want him to kill
burglars.'

"'I don't like to hear you talk like that, Thomas,' answered the mater;
'it's not like you. We've a right to protect our property, but we've no
right to take a fellow human creature's life.'

"'Our fellow human creatures will be all right--so long as they don't
come into our kitchen when they've no business there,' retorted my
father, somewhat testily. 'I'm going to fix up this dog in the scullery,
and if a burglar comes fooling around--well, that's _his_ affair.'

"The old folks quarrelled on and off for about a month over this dog. The
dad thought the mater absurdly sentimental, and the mater thought the dad
unnecessarily vindictive. Meanwhile the dog grew more ferocious-looking
every day.

"One night my mother woke my father up with: 'Thomas, there's a burglar
downstairs, I'm positive. I distinctly heard the kitchen door open.'

"'Oh, well, the dog's got him by now, then,' murmured my father, who had
heard nothing, and was sleepy.

"'Thomas,' replied my mother severely, 'I'm not going to lie here while a
fellow-creature is being murdered by a savage beast. If you won't go
down and save that man's life, I will.'

"'Oh, bother,' said my father, preparing to get up. 'You're always
fancying you hear noises. I believe that's all you women come to bed
for--to sit up and listen for burglars.' Just to satisfy her, however,
he pulled on his trousers and socks, and went down.

"Well, sure enough, my mother was right, this time. There _was_ a
burglar in the house. The pantry window stood open, and a light was
shining in the kitchen. My father crept softly forward, and peeped
through the partly open door. There sat the burglar, eating cold beef
and pickles, and there, beside him, on the floor, gazing up into his face
with a blood-curdling smile of affection, sat that idiot of a dog,
wagging his tail.

"My father was so taken aback that he forgot to keep silent.

"'Well, I'm--,' and he used a word that I should not care to repeat to
you fellows.

"The burglar, hearing him, made a dash, and got clear off by the window;
and the dog seemed vexed with my father for having driven him away.

"