o which We are sent Ourselves, or
send those other sons of Ours. The training to be got here, as elsewhere,
developed primarily, indeed, and all unconsciously, the first and
greatest of requisites in life, whether for dog or man. And if, in some
instances, evil characteristics, such as combativeness, selfishness, and
the habit of bad language, became accentuated, in spite of the stern
discipline of the place, their opposites--good temper, a light and happy
disposition, and a civil tongue--received their meed of recognition even
from the bigger fellows, like Pagan I. or II., or that Captain of the
School, often spoken of with bated breath--Postman, Murphy's father,
mated afterwards to the great beauty, Barbara, both being of the bluest
of blue blood.

The young were taught their place, and that further quality, now dropping
out of fashion--how to keep it. Or each one had a lesson in yet another
virtue, still more out of date, being judged no longer necessary or
becoming in this very modern world, and as only showing a silly deference
if exhibited at all. Respect was, in truth, the chief of all virtues here
inculcated--respect for age, for old dogs are no longer to be challenged;
respect for strength and the great unwritten laws; respect for sex;
respect for those who had shown themselves to be the better men; respect
for such as neither fought nor swore but held their own by character
alone.

It was, for instance, not correct for the young to approach the older
members of the school and claim equality, for, strange as it may seem,
equality had no place here, save that all were dogs. Nor when a bigger
fellow had a bone, won, earned, or come by of his own enterprise, was it
deemed fitting that the young should do more than watch at respectful
distance, with ears drooped and envy curbed as well as might be. By such
methods the meaning of the sacredness of property was taught; and also,
that without due regard to this last there could be security for no one,
or for anything that he might own.

True, some of this company here, suffering from swelled-head, the
harebrained impetuosity of youth, or judging that to them alone had been
bequeathed the secret of all requisite reforms, advanced theories of
their own composing. Of course they found adherents, especially when gain
was scented, for to profit at another's expense is not unpopular, in some
directions, from the top to the bottom of the world. But, as a rule,
these theor