AN OLD MONARCH.
(After the painting by Rosa Bonheur. )
Miss made a rather careless mother—often allowing her puppies to wander out of sight; but this was pure absent-mindedness—for when in their rovings beyond the kennel they came to grief, she appeared conscious of her maternal short-comings, and employed all her intelligence to serve her little ones.
WASP, ROSA BONHEUR’S PET TERRIER.
(After Rosa Bonheur’s painting. )
The farmer who had charge of the kennels, stepped out of his cottage one morning into the first snow of the season, to be met by Miss in a state of terrible excitement. She jumped upon him, pulled at his coat, and neither caress nor threat could quiet her. At last, having thoroughly attracted his attention, she made a dash down the avenue, looking back over her shoulder as she ran. The farmer, being versed in “canese,” understood that he was expected to follow—and followed!
Without diverging to right or left, or running in curves, as is the habit of shepherd dogs, Miss preceded him through the fresh-fallen snow down the avenue and across a field, stopped at the edge of a large post-hole, and after looking down rushed back to hurry up the help she was bringing. Her favorite pup, Glen, had gone out on an early morning voyage of discovery, had fallen into this hole, and would have perished there but for this timely aid.
Nor does the story end here. After Glen was pulled out, and on his way home under the farmer’s great-coat—for he was only a little thing, not yet a month old—Miss staid behind, and with much scratching and barking filled in the hole, being of opinion, probably, that post-holes, like barn doors, should be closed after an accident has happened.
