Old Nipper was, for a time, my grandfather's dog, an accomplished
mastiff, and rather too good a watch-dog, for he sometimes got his owner
into trouble. Leave him in the house with the injunction, "Look out,
Nipper, and don't stir," and the dwelling was as safe as if guarded by a
detachment of policemen.
One individual was so ill advised as to persist in entering the house
when Nipper objected, and he recrossed the threshold minus a large piece
of garment and a smaller piece of leg. This affair resulted in so much
unpleasantness that there were serious deliberations as to what must be
done with Nipper. He was evidently too good a watch-dog for a town
residence, but would be invaluable at a certain lone farm-house
inhabited by a friend who knew his good qualities. In time Nipper grew
reconciled to the change, and attached to his new owner's family.
In my grandfather's time there were many simple domestic institutions
which are now things of the past. Amongst these were itinerant
cobblers--not shoe-makers, but shoe-menders--who used to travel from
place to place with their tools on their backs.
Some little time after Nipper was settled in his country home, old Isaac
Firth, an itinerant cobbler known to all the country-side, made his
appearance at the kitchen door of the farm. The dog was sole
housekeeper, and was stretched full length just within the threshold.
Nipper and Isaac Firth were old acquaintances, so the old dog welcomed
the cobbler with a wag of his tail, and permitted him to enter. The day
was warm. A walk of half a dozen miles in the hot sun had disposed Isaac
for a rest; so he unstrapped his kit and sat down, expecting to see the
mistress or a servant at any minute.
But time passed on, and Isaac, being thirsty as well as tired, looked
round for something drinkable. He took up a mug, and was going to the
pump for some water, when an ominous growl from Nipper compelled him to
put down the article.
"So I mustn't touch anything left in your care, old fellow," said he.
"All right. This is my own, anyway, and I may as well go on to another
place and be earning something in the mean while." Thus saying, he
strapped up his kit of tools, and was about to lift it to his back, when
Nipper gave another low growl, and looked so dangerous that he was fain
to desist. Nipper's look had become a glare. It was contrary to that
worthy animal's principles to allow anything to be taken _out_ of the
house so long as he guarded it. You might bring _in_ what you liked, but
once across the threshold, it must stay, and you too, until the return
of the domestic authorities.
Isaac tried patting, soft words, all the blandishments he could think
of, which were kindly received. But a movement toward the kit, and all
was changed.
How stout Mr. Hatton laughed when he returned and found the cobbler
afraid to stir, and Nipper on guard! He patted the old dog, declared he
would not part with him for his weight in gold, and then he made up to
old Isaac by immediate hospitality for the long two hours of dreary
waiting.
The cobbler always enjoyed telling the story, though it was against
himself, and often had to answer inquiries about Nipper's health.
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