nt. Under the same tree, and very likely at the same
time, a solemn conclave of boys, all the boys there were, discussed the
feasibility of tying a tin can to a dog's tail, and seeing how he would
act. They had all heard of the thing, but none of them had seen it; and
it was not so much a question of whether you ought to do a thing that on
the very face of it would be so much fun, and if it did not amuse the
dog as highly as anybody, could certainly do him no harm, as it was a
question of whose dog you should get to take the dog's part in the
sport. It was held that an old dog would probably not keep still long
enough for you to tie the can on; he would have his suspicions; or else
he would not run when the can was tied on, but very likely just go and
lie down somewhere. The lot finally fell to a young yellow dog belonging
to one of the boys, and the owner at once ran home to get him, and
easily lured him back to the other boys with flatteries and caresses.
The flatteries and caresses were not needed, for a dog is always glad to
go with boys, upon any pretext, and so far from thinking that he does
them a favor, he feels himself greatly honored. But I dare say the boy
had a guilty fear that if his dog had known why he was invited to be of
that party of boys, he might have pleaded a previous engagement. As it
was, he came joyfully, and allowed the can to be tied to his tail
without misgiving. If there had been any question with the boys as to
whether he would enter fully into the spirit of the affair, it must have
been instantly dissipated by the dogs behavior when he felt the loop
tighten on his tail, and looked round to see what the matter was. The
boys hardly had a chance to cheer him before he flashed out of sight
round the corner, and they hardly had time to think before he flashed
into sight again from the other direction. He whizzed along the ground,
and the can hurtled in the air, but there was no other sound, and the
cheers died away on the boys' lips. The boy who owned the dog began to
cry, and the other fellows began to blame him for not stopping the dog.
But he might as well have tried to stop a streak of lightning; the only
thing you could do was to keep out of the dog's way. As an experiment it
was successful beyond the wildest dreams of its projectors, though it
would have been a sort of relief if the dog had taken some other road,
for variety, or had even reversed his course. But he kept on as he
began, and