Sperver was silent for some moments; then he continued:
"I still hunt as before, and afterwards I drink a quiet glass of Rudesheimer with my friends, or—" At this moment a shock made the door tremble.
"It is a gust of wind," I said.
"No; it is something else. Don't you hear a claw scratching on the panel? I think one of the dogs must have got loose. Open, Walden! open, Lieverlé!"
He got up, but he had not gone two steps when a formidable Danish hound leaped into the room and raised his fore-paws on his master's shoulders, licking his cheeks and beard with his long, red tongue, and whining with joy. Sperver put his arm around the dog's neck, and turning to me:
"Gaston," he said, "what man could love me as this dog does? Look at this head, these eyes, and teeth!"
He drew back the animal's lips and showed me a set of fangs that could have torn a buffalo to pieces. Then pushing him off with difficulty, for the dog redoubled his caresses, he cried, "Down with you, Lieverlé; I know you love me! Who would, if you did not?" He went and closed the door.
I never had seen a dog of such formidable proportions before; he measured nearly four feet in height, with a broad, low forehead and fine coat, a bright eye, long paws, broad across the chest and shoulders and tapering down to the haunches,—a mass of nerves and muscles interwoven,—but he had no scent. If such animals possessed the scent of the terrier, the game would soon be exterminated.
Sperver had returned to his seat and was passing his hand proudly over Lieverlé's head, while he enumerated the dog's fine points. Lieverlé seemed to understand him.
"Look, Gaston, that dog would strangle a wolf with a snap of his jaws. He is what you might well call perfection in the matter of courage and strength; not yet five, and in his prime. I need not tell you that he is trained to hunt wild boar. Every time we meet them, I fear for Lieverlé; he attacks them too boldly; he flies at them like an arrow. Beware of the brutes' tusks, Lieverlé, you rascal! It makes me tremble. Down on your back!" cried the huntsman; "down on your back!"