VI

Others laughed when they heard the final verdict, and called the

undertaking hopeless and sentimental. The hopelessness remained to be

proved; and, as to the sentimental part of the business, some one averred

that sentiment lay at the bottom of most things. It might be unpractical

from a philosophic point of view, as well as often fitting matter for a

jibe; but sentiment, all the same, was generally a source of strength!

Without it neither nation nor man would be likely to get far; it

reflected the noblest part of man's nature, and touched a nation at its

quick, if flags meant anything, and were to be followed and set store by.

There was quite a bandying of words over the matter. This dog was so

different to Dan. It was not a matter of argument, certainly not on

abstruse points. The dog had been broken in nerve, and admittedly by

ill-usage. Probably he had been nervous from the first, and there was

therefore all the less chance of his recovery.

To this was interposed the fact that many well-bred dogs are

constitutionally nervous, and continue to be so all their lives, their

condition in this respect being probably largely due to their brain

development and increased powers of imagination.

That might be the case, came the answer; but all the same--how about the

tail? The nervous organisation of this dog and his imagination had to do

with his brain, which his eyes showed to be capable of development. These

points had to do with the head. What about the other end? The index to a

dog's character, as well as to his immediate proceedings, lies, as we all

know, in his tail--the angle at which it is held, the way it moves or

remains stiff and immovable; its position before a fight, its twist to

one side when stalking, its confident carriage when the owner has "got

his tail up." All these are so many signals, generally recognised by man

and other dogs alike. Granting all this, what was to be said here? This

dog had now been several days in the house, and no one had apparently

seen his tail: it had been kept firmly down, and in such a way as to

suggest that had it been long enough it would have been well between his

legs.

At this, some one said that he had seen it once, and it was bushy; the

only effect of this remark being to elicit the rejoinder that "_then_ it

wanted pulling." Another averred that, of course, nothing could be hoped

for till he got his tail up: the job was how to set about securing so

essential a condition in the case of the tail of this particular dog. No

doubt the first thing to be done was to win him to the habit of standing

on his feet: it was obviously impossible to attempt anything with the

tail till this was achieved. So far, his attitude had been best

describable as that of the prone position. If anybody moved, he crouched

still lower; if he was persuaded to enter another room than the one he

had particularly taken to, he grovelled; if there was any sudden movement

or noise, he was terror-stricken; and, added to all this, it was obvious

that he could never be a watch-dog, for he refused to sleep alone.

Of course he ought to have gone back; and all these notions about

"bringing him round," giving him another chance and a happy life, were so

much high faluting rubbish.

In the face of such arguments, based, as they obviously were, on

universal testimony, even the faith of the person most nearly concerned

and wholly responsible must, it was judged, eventually give way.

But if counsels and opinions alike failed to alter the decision that had

been come to, they equally also supplied no answer to the momentous

question--how, seeing he was to be kept, was the confidence of this dog to

be won? There was hope in Dan, of course. He would teach him plenty of

things, and tell him much besides. A good deal of faith was placed in this

direction. But, even then, what about the general training? This dog would

run riot, be disobedient and unruly, hunt when and where he should not,

like other dogs before him, or even run sheep. If these things happened,

what was to be done? To thrash him would be almost an act of cruelty by a

dog of such a temperament: it might make him more nervous than ever, even

if he could be caught for the purpose and made to understand the rudiments

of cause and effect. Dan had learnt to "come and be thrashed," when such

was necessary and he was summoned in those most ominous of words. It might

be possible to teach Murphy in the same way: dogs, somehow or other, were

almost universally capable of differentiating between justice and

injustice, and bore no resentment. The reflection gave relief. Yet what

would be the effect upon this dog if Dan was in trouble and took to

shouting "Murder," as he usually did long before he felt the stick?

The problems were many, and grew in number the more the whole matter was

considered. Two things shaped themselves from the first: there must be

absolute fairness and justice; and, what was of no less importance, there

must never be any trace of loss of temper in what had to be done, however

trying the case might be. To show anger, to give an extra stroke when the

stick was up, to be hasty for an instant, would be to fail ignominiously,

to the mutual unhappiness of both.

The whole enterprise was thus obviously full of pitfalls. Yet faith

declared this way: by kindness, sympathy, and self-control the end might

be attained, confidence won back, the young life put into touch with

happiness again.

As the further aspect of the question was considered, it looked rather as

if, while the man was trying to train the dog, the dog might equally be

all the time training the man. Here was one none too strong, whose

nervous organisation had been shattered, and whose confidence had been

wholly undermined. To win back what had been lost would be difficult

enough in the case of a man; how would it be in the case of a dog? Oddly

enough, too, the conditions of life of neither party here were of the

normal kind--in one case never could be so. Yet here were these two, and

by the merest chance, placed in juxtaposition. A strange link was forging

itself apparently, quite unknown to both, and coupling the one firmly to

the other, though neither was aware of it.

It was not until some time had passed that the position took a more

definite form, and the question repeated itself--what if sympathy grew up

and blossomed into something fair, with love and mutual confidence as its

accompaniments? Such might result, perhaps. The thought added interest to

the problem as it floated through the mind and was lost again.

There was nothing uncommon in the possible situation; it had occurred

again and again. History furnished innumerable instances. Folklore, with

its roots in truth, told endless stories of similar complexion. The Dog

and the Man; the interdependence of both: living things of like

passions--sharers of like passions; fellow-helpers, the advancement of

the one having kept pace with that of the other, right up from the days

when, in prehistoric times and the Neolithic age, as is shown by the

bones that are found, the dog shared the home of the man and partook of

his food--right up from the days when the Egyptians, though they dubbed

him unclean, worshipped this animal, and, because of his fidelity and

courage, gave him a place as one among three who were to share with them

the joys of Paradise.

The same story is to be traced through all the ages. Even Ulysses could

shed a tear for Argus, hiding the fact as well as he might from Eumæus;

and Tristrem and Ysolde, in the legend, took Hodain to be their intimate

companion, because he had once shared with them "the drink of might." So,

too, the great Theron walked as the close companion of the Gothic king;

and Cavall became the trusty servant and liegeman of King Arthur. The

huge white hound Gorban sat ever at the side of the Welsh bard Ummad as

he sang his songs; and the beautiful Bran was the friend for life of

Fingal. Most men have heard of William the Silent's spaniel, who saved

his master's life; and many may have seen the form of the dog, fashioned

in white marble, lying at his master's feet on the well-known tomb at

Delft. We have each read of Scott's Maida. And if some, perhaps, have

made a pilgrimage to that long and narrow mound in the vale of Gwyant

which, according to tradition, marks the resting-place of the immortal

Gelert, others have read of the faithful Vigr who never again tasted food

when he learnt that Olaf, his master, lay dead.

The stories are without end; and romance knows no limits when dealing

with the subject. The lives of the Man and the Dog are found to be ever

intertwined. Yet is there always this besides--the rift in the lute and

the familiar refrain, that the life of the dog shall be short, and that

Man shall go on his way with his head bent, till such time as he shall

become rich once more in the love of a new-found friend--if that be

always possible.

No man, it has been well said, can be deemed unhappy who possesses the

love of a dog; and none are too poor to win it, as none are too high to

rejoice and grow glad in it. The dog, at least, knows no difference of

class or place in his attachments. To him his home is his home; his

master, his master and friend, whether his lot be to follow the tramp on

the road, or to walk behind a king to the tomb. And perhaps it may be due

to the mystery lying at the back of this wonderful intimacy and

connection, stretching far back into an altogether hidden past, that to

strike another man's dog unjustly is equivalent to striking him; that to

hurt a dog with intent is to earn the worst of characters and to stain

one's kind; and that for a dog to be in trouble and claim aid is for him

to claim also the man's heart--even, as has many a time occurred, the

man's life--to the infinite glory of both.

Nor has it been only on man's side that such deeds of heroism have been

exhibited. The man, the woman, and the child have undoubtedly gone to the

dog's help at the risk of their own lives on many an occasion; but so

also has the dog risked his for the sake of the man--not from any moral

claim, not because life is a precious thing and must be saved, not

because of that power which impels, and whose chief gift is the sense of

after-satisfaction that comes even to the most disinterested; such things

lie necessarily beyond the reach of the dog mind. What the dog does is

done for love, because of his faith, and because, unlike any other living

animal, he thinks, in his unselfishness, more of his friend than he ever

does about himself.

On the shores of a lake in Travancore, not far from the remote cantonment

of Quillon, stands a monument to the memory of a dog. He was left to

watch his master's clothes while bathing. Presently he was seen to be

doing everything in his power to attract attention, by barking and

running excitedly backwards and forwards on the shore. An advancing

ripple was then discerned on the smooth surface of the lake, and the next

instant the meaning of this flashed home. A crocodile had got between the

swimmer and the landing-place, and was coming out to seize his prey. Hope

might well have been stricken dead in the face of such a situation. But

the dog did not hesitate. Plunging into the water, he swam out to get

between the horrid reptile and his master, and thus to head him off. It

meant his own certain death; but the saving of his master's life. A

moment later there was a violent agitation of the water, and the dog had

disappeared for ever. Thus there stands to record his splendid action

this well-known monument, erected by his master in deepest gratitude, and

that passers-by might learn of what a dog is capable.

The incident is not the only one of its kind, and may be left to speak

for itself. But the influence of that one act has probably been

world-wide; and it is because of the exhibition of such qualities that

the moral power of the dog reaches to greater lengths than is generally

supposed. There is indeed ample evidence for believing that the beauties

often traceable in the character of the dog re-act unconsciously, and for

infinite good, upon the roughest of our own kind--by claiming

unselfishness from those who otherwise may lay claim to possessing

little; by showing what love may be under stress and strain, hardship and

rough fare; by the exhibition of patience and faithfulness; by those

instincts that make the most depraved of lookers-on pause and think, and

ask the question sharply--"Whence that?"

In Kingsley's _Hypatia_, Raphael Ben Azra, his head filled with a false

philosophy, is made again and again to act otherwise than he would by the

mastiff Bran.

The "dog looks up in his face as only a dog can," and causes him to

follow her and to retrace his steps against his will. There are her

puppies. Is she to leave them to their fate? He tells her to choose

between the ties of family and duty: it is a specious form of appeal. To

her, duties begin with the family; the puppies cannot be left behind. Nor

can she carry them herself. She takes Raphael by the skirt, after

bringing the puppies to him one by one. He must carry them, she tells

him; and once again he finds himself doing the opposite of what he would:

the puppies are transferred to his blanket, and he and his dog go forward

together.

"After all," he says to himself, "these have as good a right to live as I

have.... Forward! whither you will, old lady. The world is wide. You

shall be my guide, tutor, queen of philosophy, for the sake of this mere

common-sense of yours."

He tramps on after that, "trying to get the dog's lessons by heart." He

catches himself asking the dog's advice, till he exclaims irritably,

"Hang these brute instincts! They make one very hot."

At last, by the dog's means and the example of energy that she sets, he

is instrumental in effecting the rescue of Victoria's father. Then, as

the distracted girl throws herself at his feet, and calls him "her

saviour and deliverer sent by God," even Ben Azra has to admit that the

credit is not in reality his. "Not in the least, my child," he exclaims.

"You must thank my teacher, the dog, not me."

The experiences of the philosopher in the novel are only those of many in

real life. Man is not the only civilising agent in this world of many

mysteries. And if we often exclaim, "Bother the dog!" we have still very

frequently to follow where he leads, and often to our most definite

enrichment in the end.