mediaeval knight. The picture is like an
illustration for one of Scott's novels. Our knight may have been
wounded, like Ivanhoe, in a tournament. The scene of the lists rises
before us, the opposite lines of mounted knights charging upon each
other with their lances, the shock of the meeting, the unhorsing of
many, the blows of the battle axe upon helmet and coat of mail, and
finally the entrance of the squires to bear their wounded masters to a
place of safety.

[Footnote 4: A pretty imaginary story is woven about the picture in
Sarah Tytler's little book, _Landseer's Dogs and their Stories_.]

The hound had no part in the sports of the tourney, but the scene of
his glory was the chase. When the knight went forth for a day's
hunting in the forest, the whole pack went with him, waking the
woodland echoes with their baying. Some familiar verses tell of

"The deep-mouthed bloodhound's heavy bay
Resounding up the rocky way,
And faint from farther distance borne,
The echo of the hoof and horn."

The dogs' delicate sense of smell enables them to track game with
unerring precision. It seems impossible to exhaust their perseverance
or their wind, and it is surely not their fault if a hunting-party
returns unsuccessful.

While hunting brings out the more ferocious elements of the nature,
the hound is on the other hand capable of an affectionate devotion
which makes him a valued friend of man. The English country gentleman
is a lover of dogs and horses, and knows how to appreciate their good
qualities. Out of the many animals in his kennels one dog is usually a
chosen favorite which becomes his master's inseparable companion.
Such a favorite is the dog of our picture, and we like to fancy that
the knight is worthy the love of so noble a creature.

[Illustration: John Andrew & Son, Sc.
SUSPENSE
_Kensington Museum, London_]

The hound is represented in his best and noblest aspect: all the
forces of his being seem concentrated in loving anxiety. It is as if
suffering brought out in the dog's nature those higher qualities by
which he is allied to human beings. His countenance is intensely
expressive yet thoroughly canine. Every line of the drawing brings out
the dog's character,--the squat of the haunches, the position of the
legs far apart, the rising of the hair on the crest of the back, the
droop of the head, the flattening of the tail.

The broad collar with the ring is a symbol of his subjection.