great heat, in the snow and the
blizzard, it was always the same. And thus, in this unenclosed country,
where there were great woods, but where hedges were almost non-existent,
the men of the land would look up and pass the remark to their mates,
with a jerk of the head, "Ther's 'im an' 'is dog; see?"

Outside the home circle--though, to be sure, a dog is, or should always
be considered, a part of the family--Murphy's passion was for Dan. He
invariably got up when Dan entered the room, and often licked him many
times upon the lips: he paid him every kind of attention; bullied him to
play when out of doors; woke him when he judged it was not fitting he
should be asleep; and, in fact, made a young dog of him again for a time,
though Dan was really old. He already owed Dan a good deal, for Dan had
initiated him into many things concerning rabbits, rats, and the rest,
that all self-respecting dogs should know. Thus the old dog being an
inveterate sportsman, Murphy followed suit--and both were, at all risks,
encouraged so to be.

As Murphy furnished and grew stronger he naturally became more handsome,
till passers-by would turn and remark upon the pair--the old dog and the
young, lying on the bank of the river, patiently, while some one did
mysterious things with paints; or they were seen returning together in
the evening, sitting side by side in the stern of a boat. They were
certainly a very uncommon pair.

Dan's character had been, of course, fully formed long ago, and a truly
wonderful character it was, as has already been related. Murphy's was
still in the making. If the whole of the first year was a period of
difficulty, the first four months might well have staggered any one
undertaking a self-imposed task of such a nature. The ideal aimed at was
never suffered to be out of sight, but, like most ideals, it had a trick
at times of receding almost beyond the range of hope. It was not that the
dog was continually doing wrong. Perhaps it would have been better if he
had been, for then there would have been something tangible. The
difficulty consisted in conveying to the dog what he should not do,
without frightening him, and without getting cross and losing temper. To
train a dog that takes his thrashing, shakes himself, lays his ears back,
and prepares for the next, oblivious of consequences, is not beyond the
wit of man, though possibly a gift. But what is to be done in the case of
a dog that is terror-stricken, even