w him on the ground, and made him confess
before the king and the whole court. The assassin was afterward
convicted and beheaded.

XLIII

CRAB FISHING

The following is an instance of the wonderful cunning shown by the
Raccoon. It is very fond of crabs, and when in quest of them, will stand
by the side of a swamp, and hang its tail over into the water. The
crabs, mistaking the tail for food, are sure to lay hold of it; and as
soon as the sly beast feels them pinch, he pulls them out with a sudden
jerk. He then takes them to a little distance from the water's edge, and
in eating them, is careful to get them crossways in his mouth, lest he
should suffer from their nippers.

[Illustration]

XLIV

THE HORSE AND GREYHOUND

Various have been the opinions upon the difference of speed between a
well-bred greyhound and a racehorse, if opposed to each other. Wishes
had been often expressed by the sporting world that some standard could
be adopted by which the superiority of speed could be fairly
ascertained, when the following incident happened, and afforded some
information upon what had before been considered a matter of great
uncertainty. In the month of December, 1800 a match was to have been run
over Doncaster racecourse for one hundred guineas, but one of the horses
being withdrawn, a mare started alone, that by running the ground she
might ensure the wager. After having run about a mile in the four, she
was joined by a greyhound, which leaped into the course from one side,
and entering into the competition, continued to race with the mare for
the other three miles, keeping nearly head and head, and affording an
excellent treat to the field by the energetic exertions of each. At
passing the distance post five to four was bet in favor of the
greyhound; when parallel with the stand it was even betting, and any
person might have taken his choice from five to ten. The mare, however,
had the advantage by a head at the end of the race.

[Illustration]

XLV

THE WATCH DOG

A thief who had broken into the shop of Cellini, the artist, and was
breaking open the caskets in order to get at some jewels, was arrested
in his progress by a dog, against whom he found it a difficult matter to
defend himself with a sword. The faithful animal ran to the room where
the journeymen slept, but as they did not seem to hear him barking, he
drew away the bed-clothes, and pulling them alternately by the arms,
f