A constable once made a complaint before a bench of London magistrates against a horse for stealing hay. The complainant stated that the horse came regularly every night of its own accord, and without any attendant, to the coach stands in St. George's, ate all he wanted, and then galloped away. He defied the whole of the parish officers to catch him; for if they tried to go near him while he was eating, he would throw up his heels and kick at them, or run at them, and if they did not get out of the way, he would bite them. The constable, therefore, thought it best to bring the case to the attention of the magistrates.

"Well, Mr. Constable," said one of the magistrates, "if you should be annoyed again by this animal in the execution of your duty, you may arrest him if you can, and bring him before us to answer your complaints."

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LXII

THE TAME SEA GULL

Many years ago a gentleman accidentally caught a sea-gull. He cut its wings and put it in his garden. The bird remained there for several years, and being kindly treated, became so tame as to come at call to be fed at the kitchen door. It was known by the name of Willie. This bird became at last so tame that no pains were taken to keep it, and, its wings having grown to full length, it flew away, joined the other gulls on the beach, and came back from time to time, to pay a visit to the house. When its companions left the country at the usual season, Willie went with them, much to the regret of the family. To their great joy, however, it returned next season; and with its usual familiarity came to its old haunt, where it was welcomed and fed liberally. In this way it went and returned for forty years, without missing a year, and kept up its acquaintance in the most cordial manner; for while in the country, it visited them almost daily, answered to its name like any domestic animal, and almost ate out of the hand. One year, however, Willie did not pay his respects to the family for eight or ten days after the general flock of gulls were upon the coast, and great was the concern and sorrow over his loss, as it was thought he must surely be dead; but to the surprise and joy of the family, a servant one morning came running into the breakfast-room in great joy, saying that Willie had returned. Food was soon supplied in abundance, and Willie with his usual frankness ate of it heartily and was as tame as any barn-yard fowl about the house. After a year or two more, however, this grateful bird never came again.

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LXIII

A STRANGE PROTECTOR

A lady had a tame bird which she was in the habit of letting out of its cage every day. One morning as it was picking crumbs of bread off the carpet, her cat, who had always showed before great kindness toward the bird, suddenly seized it, and jumped with it in her mouth upon a table.

The lady was alarmed for the fate of her favorite, but on turning about, instantly saw the cause. The door had been left open, and a strange cat had just come into the room! After she had put it out, her own cat came down from her place of safety, and dropped the bird without having done it the least injury.

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LXIV

THE LION AND HIS KEEPER

In a large menagerie there was a lion called Danco, whose cage needed some repairs. His keeper hired a carpenter to do the work, but when the workman came and saw the lion, he started back in terror. The keeper entered the animal's cage, and led him to the upper part of it, while the lower was being fixed. He there amused himself for some time playing with the lion, and being wearied, at last fell asleep. The carpenter, relying fully upon the vigilance of the keeper, went on rapidly with his work, and when he had finished it, he called him to see what was done.

The keeper made no answer. Having repeatedly called him in vain, he began to feel alarmed at his situation, and he determined to go to the upper part of the cage, where, looking through the railing, he saw the lion and the keeper sleeping side by side. He immediately uttered a loud cry; the lion, awakened by the noise, started up and stared at the carpenter with an eye of fury, and then, placing his paw on the breast of his keeper, lay down to sleep again. At length the keeper was awakened by some of the attendants, and he did not appear in the least worried by the situation in which he found himself, but shook the lion by the paw, and then gently conducted him to his old cage.

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LXV

A USURPER PUNISHED

Some years ago a sparrow had early in the spring taken possession of a swallow's old nest, and had laid some eggs in it, when the original builder and owner made her appearance and claimed possession. The sparrow, firmly seated, refused to leave the nest. A smart battle followed, in which the swallow was joined by its mate, and, during the conflict, by several of their comrades. All the efforts of the swallows to drive out the usurper were, however, unsuccessful. Finding themselves completely foiled in this object, they held a council of war to consult as to what they should do, and the plan they agreed upon shows that it was with no ordinary degree of ingenuity that they had solved the question as to what was right and just. Since the sparrow could not be driven out of the nest, the next question with them appears to have been, how she could be otherwise punished for her unlawful occupation of a property belonging to another. The council were of one mind in thinking that nothing short of the death of the intruder could atone for so heinous an offense; and having so decided, they went to work to put their sentence into execution in the following very wonderful manner.

Leaving the scene of the contest for a time, they returned with many more friends, each bearing a beak full of building materials; and without any further attempt to beat out the sparrow, they at once set to work to build up the entrance into the nest, and soon had enclosed the sparrow within the clay tenement, thus leaving the poor bird to perish in the stronghold she had so bravely defended.

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LXVI

STRANGE ROOKS

In a large north of England town a pair of strange rooks, after trying in vain to find a home in a rookery at a little distance from the Exchange, gave up the attempt, and took refuge on the spire of a building; and although constantly bothered by other rooks, they built their nest on the top of the vane, and there reared a brood of young ones, undisturbed by the noise of the people below them. The nest and its inmates were, of course, turned about by every change of the wind.

For ten years they continued to build their nest in the same place, soon after which the spire was taken down.

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LXVII

TAME HARES

The hare is scarcely a domestic animal; yet we have an account of one that was so tame as to feed from the hand, lie under a chair in the sitting-room, and appear in every way as easy and comfortable as a lapdog. It now and then went out into the garden, but, after hopping about in the fresh air for a while, it always returned to the house. Its usual companions were a greyhound and a spaniel, with whom it spent its evenings, the whole three playing and sleeping together on the same hearth. What makes the circ.u.mstance more remarkable is, that the greyhound and spaniel were both so fond of hare-hunting, that they used often to go out coursing together, without anybody with them. They were like the "Sly Couple," of whose devotion to the chase an amusing story is told.

A traveller once brought a young hare to such a degree of frolicsome familiarity, that it would run and jump about his sofa and bed; leap upon and pat him with its fore feet; or while he was reading, it would sometimes knock the book out of his hands, as if to claim, like a fondled child, his exclusive attention.

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LXVIII

THE PIG POINTER

A sow, which was a thin, long-legged animal, when young took such a fancy to some pointer puppies that a gamekeeper on a neighboring estate was breaking, that it played, and often came to feed with them. This led the gamekeeper, who had broken many a dog as obstinate as a pig, to think he might also manage to break a pig.

The little animal would often go out with the puppies to some distance from home; and he coaxed it farther by a sort of pudding made of barley meal, which he carried in one of his pockets. The other pocket he filled with stones, which he threw at the pig whenever she misbehaved.

He found the animal tractable, and soon taught her what he wished by this mode of reward and punishment. They were frequently seen out together, when the sow quartered her ground as regularly as any pointer, stood when she came on game (having an excellent nose), and backed other dogs as well as ever a pointer did. When she came on the cold scent of game, she slackened her trot, and gradually dropped her ears and tail; till she was certain, and then fell down on her knees. So staunch was she, that she would frequently remain for five minutes and upwards on her point. As soon as the game rose, she always returned to her master, grunting very loud, for her reward of pudding, if it was not at once given to her.

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