better for us. On an alarm of fire Bill barks his loudest,
dashes about in a frantic manner, till his master and the escape are
on their way to it. He, of course, is there first, giving the police
and the crowd to understand that Wood and his fire-escape are coming.
When the escape is fixed, and Wood begins to ascend the ladder, Bill
runs up the canvas; as soon as a window is opened, Bill leaps in and
dashes about to find the occupants, loudly barking for assistance as
soon as he has accomplished his errand of mercy. His watchfulness and
sagacity are never at fault, although on more than one occasion he has
stood a fair chance of losing his life, and has sustained very severe
injury. Not long ago a collar was presented to Bill as a reward for
his services; unfortunately for him, he has since lost this token of
public regard--a misfortune much to be regretted. The following verse
was engraved on the collar:--

'I am the fire-escape man's dog: my name is Bill.
When 'fire' is called I am never still:
I bark for my master, all danger brave,
To bring the escape--human life to save.'

Collared or collarless, Bill is always ready to lend a helping bark.
May his life be long, and his services properly esteemed!"

The following anecdote shows extraordinary sense, if not reasoning
faculty, in a dog:--

A lady of high rank has a sort of colley, or Scotch sheep-dog. When he
is ordered to ring the bell, he does so; but if he is told to ring the
bell when the servant is in the room whose duty it is to attend, he
refuses, and then the following occurrence takes place. His mistress
says, "Ring the bell, dog." The dog looks at the servant, and then
barks his bow wow, once or twice. The order is repeated two or three
times. At last the dog lays hold of the servant's coat in a
significant manner, just as if he had said to him--"Don't you hear
that I am to ring the bell for you?--come to my lady." His mistress
always had her shoes warmed before she put them on, but one day during
the hot weather her maid was putting them on without their having been
previously placed before the fire. When the dog saw this he
immediately interfered, expressing the greatest indignation at the
maid's negligence. He took the shoes from her, carried them to the
fire, and after they had been warmed as usual, he brought them back to
his mistress with much apparent satisfaction, evidently intending to
say, if he could, "It is all right now."