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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:53:59 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:53:59 -0700 |
| commit | c9e3735b3c795661232bfa1dcc974905f859a2bb (patch) | |
| tree | 809524cbed91b066bde2fd5d0141d4a66ecf5274 /30550-h | |
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diff --git a/30550-h/30550-h.htm b/30550-h/30550-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c66202e --- /dev/null +++ b/30550-h/30550-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10901 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J. + Dawson</title> + <style type="text/css" title="Amaya theme"> +/* Modern style for Amaya Editor Lite */ + +/* default rules for the whole document */ +body { + font-size: 12pt; + font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; + font-weight: normal; + font-style: normal; + color: black; + background-color: white; + line-height: 1.2em; + margin-left: 4em; + margin-right: 2em; + } + +/* paragraphs */ +p { + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + text-align: left; + } + +/* headings */ +h1 { + font-size: 180%; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: small-caps; + text-align: left; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1.7em; + margin-bottom: 1.7em; + } +h2 { + font-size: 150%; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: normal; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1.5em; + margin-bottom: 1.1em; + } +h3 { + font-size: 130%; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: normal; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1.3em; + margin-bottom: 1.1em; + } +h4 { + font-size: 110%; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: normal; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1.1em; + margin-bottom: 1.1em; + } +h5 { + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } +h6 { + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: normal; + font-style: italic; + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + +/* divisions */ +div { + padding: 0; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + } + +/* lists */ +ul, ol { + padding: 0 0 0 3em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } +ul ul, ol ol, ul ol, ol ul { + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } +li { + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + text-align: left; + } +li p { + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } +dl { + padding: 0; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-left: 1em; + } +dl dl { + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + } +dt { + padding: 0; + font-weight: bold; + margin-top: .3em; + margin-bottom: .3em; + } +dd { + padding: 0; + margin-top: .3em; + margin-left: 3em; + margin-bottom: .3em; + } +dl p { + margin-top: .3em; + margin-bottom: .3em; + } + +/* inline */ +strong { + font-weight: bold; + } +em { + font-style: italic; + } +code { + font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; + } +ins { + background-color: yellow; + text-decoration: underline; + } +del { + text-decoration: line-through; + } + +/* anchors */ +a[href] { + color: blue; + text-decoration: underline; + } + +/* end */ + </style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J. Dawson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Finn The Wolfhound + +Author: A. J. Dawson + +Illustrator: R. H. Buxton + +Release Date: November 26, 2009 [EBook #30550] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINN THE WOLFHOUND *** + + + + +Produced by Clare Graham, in memory of my dear father +George Edgar Graham who first introduced me to Finn and +his son Jan. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="Section1"> +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="front endpaper" src="images/endpaper1.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="550" height="418" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="man and wolfhound attacked by dingoes" +src="images/plate01.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="528" id="L31" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">The man had his back to the withered iron-bark now.</p> + +<p></p> + +<h1 class="MsoTitle c1"><span style="font-size: 24pt">FINN THE +WOLFHOUND</span></h1> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound walking with puppies" +src="images/fig01.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="547" height="259" /><a name="L3766" id="L3766"></a> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">By A. J. DAWSON</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">AUTHOR OF "'THE MESSAGE," "THE GENTEEL A.B.," ETC.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">ILLUSTRATED BY R. H. BUXTON</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">This etext prepared from a 1909 reprint of the first +edition published in 1908 by Grant Richards of London and printed by William +Brendon and Son Ltd of Plymouth.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">TO "THE MISTRESS OF THE KENNELS" AND TO THE MEMORY OF +TYNAGH MOTHER OF WOLFHOUND HEROES ITS WRITER DEDICATES THIS HISTORY</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Witchampton, 1908</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="puppies tugging towel" src="images/fig02.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="600" height="194" /></p> + +<h2 class="c3">CONTENTS</h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER">CHAPTER I. The Mother of +Heroes</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER1">CHAPTER II. In the Beginning</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER2">CHAPTER III. The +Foster-mother</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER3">CHAPTER IV. First Steps</a></p> + +<p><a href="#CHAPTER4">CHAPTER V. Youth beside the Downs</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER5">CHAPTER VI. The Ordeal of the +Ring</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER6">CHAPTER VII. Revelations</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER7">CHAPTER VIII. Finn Walks +Alone</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER8">CHAPTER IX. The Heart of +Tara</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER9">CHAPTER X. A Transition +Stage</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER10">CHAPTER XI. A Sea Change</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER11">CHAPTER XII. The Parting of the +Ways</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER12">CHAPTER XIII. An Adventure by +Night</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER13">CHAPTER XIV. The Southern Cross +Circus</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER14">CHAPTER XV. The Making of a Wild +Beast</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER15">CHAPTER XVI. Martyrdom</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER16">CHAPTER XVII. Freedom</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER17">CHAPTER XVIII. Too Late</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER18">CHAPTER XIX. The Domestic +Lure</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER19">CHAPTER XX. The Sunday Hunt</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER20">CHAPTER XXI. Three Dingoes went +a-walking</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER21">CHAPTER XXII. A Break-up in +Arcadia</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER22">CHAPTER XXIII. The Outcast</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER23">CHAPTER XXIV. A Lone +Bachelor</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER24">CHAPTER XXV. Mated</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER25">CHAPTER XXVI. The Pack and its +Masters</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER26">CHAPTER XXVII. Single +Combat</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER27">CHAPTER XXVIII. Domestic Life in +the Mountain Den</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER28">CHAPTER XXIX. Tragedy in the +Mountain Den</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER29">CHAPTER XXX. The Exodus</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER30">CHAPTER XXXI. The Trail of +Man</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER31">CHAPTER XXXII. In the Last +Ditch</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#CHAPTER32">CHAPTER XXXIII. Back from the +Wild</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<h2 class="c3">LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L31">THE MAN HAD HIS BACK TO THE WITHERED +IRON-BARK NOW</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3772">FINN AND HIS FOSTER-MOTHER</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3442">TARA SMILED BROADLY, AND STRETCHED OUT +HER FORE-LEGS ON THE GROUND</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3433">THE GATE LEADING INTO THE YARD OPENED, +AND BILL APPEARED</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3446">FINN'S TEETH SANK DEEP</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3450">THE NEXT INSTANT SAW THE PROFESSOR +FLUNG BACK AT LENGTH AGAINST THE BARS OF THE CAGE</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3461">WAS LOST IN THE SHADOW OF THE MAIN +TENT</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3465">SPURRING HIS HORSE FORWARD</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3471">HE WAS BACKING GRADUALLY TOWARDS A +BOULDER BESIDE THE TRAIL</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3475">FINN WAS STANDING ROYALLY ERECT</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3479">FINN'S TOWERING FORM STOOD OUT CLEARLY +IN THE MOONLIGHT</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3483">HE SLUNG THE WALLABY OVER HIS SHOULDER +AND SET OUT FOR THE MOUNTAIN</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L7923">SCRAMBLING AND SLIDING DOWN THE HIGH +BANKS OF A RIVER-BED</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3491">THEY SETTLED WITHIN A DOZEN PACES OF +HIS RECUMBENT FIGURE</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3495">FOUR MEN WERE RIDING TOGETHER THROUGH +THE LOW BURNT-UP SCRUB</a></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a href="#L3499">THE WOLFHOUND RAISED HIS BEARDED +MUZZLE, AND SOFTLY LICKED THE MASTER'S THIN BROWN HAND</a></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="three puppies feeding from bowls" +src="images/fig03.png" width="400" height="235" /></p> + +<h2 class="MsoNormal c1"><a name="CHAPTER" id="CHAPTER">CHAPTER I</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE MOTHER OF HEROES</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a man whose thirtieth year was still not far behind +him, the man's face was over careworn. It suggested that he felt life's +difficulties more keenly than a man should at that age. But it may have been +that this was a necessary part of the keenness with which the whole of life +appealed to him; its good things, as well as its worries.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He rose from his writing-table and straightened his back +with a long sigh, clenching both hands tightly, and stretching both arms over +his shoulders, as he moved across the little room to its window. The window +gave him an extensive view of dully gleaming roofs and chimney-pots, seen +through driving sleet, towards the end of a raw forenoon in February. The roofs +he saw were those of one of London's cheap suburbs; first, a block of +"mansions" similar to those in which his own flat was situated; then a rather +superior block, where the rents were much cheaper because they were called +"dwellings"; and beyond that, the huddled small houses of a quarter with which +no builder had interfered since early Victorian days.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound head" src="images/fig04.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="200" height="276" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man turned away from the dripping window, and looked +round this den in which he worked. Its walls were mostly covered by +book-shelves, but in the gaps between the shelves there were pictures; a rather +odd mixture of pictures, of men and women and dogs. The men and women were +mostly people who had written books, and the dogs were without exception Irish +Wolfhounds; those fine animals which combine in themselves the fleetness of the +greyhound, the strength of the boarhound, and the picturesque, wiry shaggyness +of the deerhound; those animals whose history goes back to the beginning of the +Christian era; through all the storied ages in which they were the friends and +companions of kings and princes, great chieftains and mighty hunters.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For several minutes the man paused before a picture, +underneath which was written: "The Mistress of the Kennels." This picture +showed a girl with wind-blown hair, happy face, and laughing eyes, standing, +with a small puppy in her arms, in the midst of a wide kennel enclosure on the +sloping rise of an upland meadow. In the background one saw a +comfortable-looking house, half hidden by two huge walnut trees, and flanked by +a row of aged elms. When the man had looked his fill at this picture, and at +other pictures of various Irish Wolfhounds, each marked with the name and age +of the hound depicted, he sighed, and went to the window again. While he stood +there, looking out through the February sleet, the door of the den opened, and +the Mistress of the Kennels came in, wearing a big, loose overall, or pinafore, +which covered her dress completely. Her face had not quite the colour which the +picture made one feel it must have had when she stood in that wide, windy, +kennel enclosure; but it was still a sunny face; the eyes were still laughing +eyes; a loving, lovable face, one felt, even though London had robbed it of +some of its open-air freshness. She walked up to the man's side, and, seeing +the expression on his face as he gazed out over the wet roofs, she said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, it is, rather--isn't it?--after Croft."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, don't talk of Croft, child, or you'll bring my spring +madness upon me before its time. I have had hints of it this morning, as it is. +It seems almost incredible that we have only been two years and four months +away from Croft, and the old open life. I was looking at the picture of the +Mistress of the Kennels just now. Do you remember that morning? Tara's first +litter hadn't long been weaned. My goodness, the air was sweet in that meadow! +That was the morning poor old crippled Eileen ran the rabbit down, you +remember."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, and it was old Tara's third day out, after that +awful illness. Well, well, it's a blessed thing to know that the old dear is +happy, and has such a lovely home down in Devonshire, isn't it?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, oh yes; I know it might have been worse, and I'm a +brute to be discontented, but--two and a half years! Why, it seems more like +twenty, since we lived in a place where you could lean out of the window and +drink the air; where I could go outside in my pyjamas before tubbing in the +morning, and see the dogs, and set the rabbits flying in the orchard. Two years +and four months. Do you know, if we give spring madness half a chance this +year, it strikes me it will lead us out of this huddled, pent-in town, out to +the open again. I almost think we could manage it now. I hardly seem to have +lifted my nose from that table since last summer; but it's true the bank book +shows small results as yet."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"And four years was to be the minimum, wasn't it? We +thought of five, at first."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, yes; I know. My idea was that we would not go back +till it seemed sure we should be able really to stay; no more returns to town +with our tails between our legs. But, all the same, when I look out of that +window--if we <em>really</em> lived cottage style, you know."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"But should we? Cottages don't have kennels, you know; not +Wolfhound kennels, anyhow."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I know. Oh, of course, it would be quite unjustifiable, +quite mad; but--I thought I felt signs of spring madness when I looked out of +that window this morning."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, well! Now do you know what I came in for? I came to +tell you that this is the last day of the Dog Show at the Agricultural Hall. +You remember that I have to go over to Mrs. Kenneth's this afternoon, and I +think it would be a good plan for you to take an afternoon off and go to the +Show. If you don't, it will be the third year you have missed it. I really +think you ought to go. It will do you good."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"H'm! I should hardly have thought a Dog Show was a good +thing for spring madness and the change fever; rather dangerous, I should have +thought," said the man, with a queer little twisted smile.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, yes; I think it is all right; quite bracing; a sort +of trial of strength; and quite safe, because we know that madness in that +direction is simply and altogether impossible. You have been working too hard; +and besides, it will do you good to meet the people. You will see a lot of the +youngsters we reared; there are three champions among them now. Do go!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A little more than an hour later he was on his way to the +Dog Show, at which, in other days, he had been one of the principal exhibitors. +A bout of ill-health, combined with consequent diminution of earnings, and a +characteristic habit of doing things on a more generous scale than his income +justified, had led to a break-up of his country home, with its big kennels and +stabling, and a descent upon London in pursuit of economical living and +increased earnings. Parting with the kennels and their inhabitants had been the +severest wrench of all; and it is probable that, even in the mean little town +flat, room would have been found for Tara, the well-loved mother of Irish +Wolfhound heroes, but for the special circumstance that an excellent home had +been offered for her in Devonshire. The Devonshire lady to whom Tara had, after +long deliberations, been sold by the Master, had been extremely keen upon +purchasing her, and, in addition to offering a splendid home, had faithfully +promised that in no circumstances whatever would she think of parting with Tara +unless to the Master himself. Here then was an opportunity which the man had +felt that he could not afford to miss.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He had been very much concerned about other matters and +other troubles at the time, but when the actual morning of Tara's departure had +arrived, he had begun to feel very bad about it. The household gathered round +to bid good-bye to the beautiful hound, and her Master himself took her to the +station. When Tara was in the guard's van she looked out through a barred +window at her friend on the station platform, and he said afterwards that the +situation exhausted every ounce of self-control he possessed. He had an +overpowering impulse, even when the train was moving, to jump aboard and +release old Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I would sooner face the Bankruptcy Court than have her +mournful old eyes turned upon me again with just that wonderingly reproachful +look," he said.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But glowing reports were received of Tara's happiness in +her new home, with its extensive grounds and generous management; and, though +Tara was never forgotten--one does not forget such a mother of heroes, when one +has bred her and nursed her through mortal illness--her Master had ceased to +grieve about her or to feel self-reproachful about having parted with her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Arrived in the great show building, he wandered up and +down between the benches, pausing now and again to speak to an old +acquaintance, human or canine, as the case might be. But this was the last day +of the show, and the majority of the exhibitors were away. The place had a +half-dismantled air about it. The Show was virtually over. Presently the Master +found himself in a kind of outbuilding, where an auction sale of dogs was being +held. There he sat down on a chair at the edge of the ring in which the dogs +for sale were being led to and fro by attendants for inspection.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After a while a young Irish Wolfhound was led into the +ring for sale, and immediately monopolized the Master's attention, for it was a +dog of his own breeding, sold by him from the country home, Croft, soon after +weaning time. He handled the dog with a deal of interest, and was expatiating +upon its merits to a small group of possible buyers when he felt another dog +nuzzling his arm and wrist from behind, where it was evidently held by a chain, +or in some other way prevented from coming farther forward, for its muzzle was +pressing hard under his cuff. But the Master was too much interested in +examining the young hound then being offered for sale to pay any attention to +any other animal. In due course, however, the young Wolfhound was sold and led +away, and the auctioneer was heard to say--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to lot number a +hundred and twenty-seven, lot one-two-seven, the--er--the--er--er--yes, ladies +and gentlemen, the dam of the fine young hound just sold--a remarkable good +bargain, too--to my friend Mr. Scarr-Hislop. This magnificent bitch, whose show +record I will read to you directly, is, most of you are probably aware, by the +famous Champion O'Leary, ex--er--Come, come, man; let's have that bitch in the +ring, please. No one can see her there."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The auctioneer spoke sharply to an attendant who stood +close to the Master's seat tugging at a chain. The Master, who had been busy in +conversation up till that moment, turned now to respond to the pressingly +affectionate advances of the unseen animal, whose cold muzzle he had felt at +his wrist for some minutes past.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Just push her out for me, sir, if you please," said the +rebuked attendant, sulkily. "I can't get her to budge from your chair. The +brute's as strong as a mule."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Let me have the chain a minute," said the Master, as he +rose from his chair. "I expect you've frightened the---- Why--Great Caesar! +Why--Tara! Tara--dear--old--lady. Who the devil put this hound in here?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Mrs. Forsyth, the owner, put her in; she's for sale, +without reserve," said a groom, who forced his way forward through the crowd at +this moment.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master wasted some moments, but not many, in +wondering, disgusted expostulation, while fondling the head of poor Tara, who +had stood erect with her fore-paws on his shoulders the instant he recognized +her, her noble face all alight with gladness and love. Through ten acutely +unhappy minutes she had nuzzled her friend's hand, and gained never a hint of +recognition or response. Then the Master walked up to the auctioneer's rostrum, +followed by Tara, who, with no apparent effort, dragged the sulky, puzzled +attendant after him, paying not the slightest heed to his angry jerks at her +collar.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm sorry," said the auctioneer, after a few moments' +conversation; "but I cannot possibly postpone the sale, can I? I had my +instructions direct from the owner, and she should know. I am told the dog is +positively to be sold, and---- No, there is no reserve at all. Yes, certainly, +I will take your cheque as deposit, if you will get it endorsed by the Show +Secretary. But---- Very well, sir; no need to blame me about it. I'll give you +five minutes. Bring in lot 128, Johnson."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Five minutes was not much of a respite, but the Master +meant to make the most of it. See old Tara put up and sold to a dealer in the +ring, he felt he could not. The bare idea of her being held there in the +auction-room by a show attendant--Tara, the queen of Wolfhound mothers, the +daughter of innumerable generations of Wolfhound queens, the noblest living dam +of her noble race--was maddening to the man who had bred and reared her, seen +her through her puppy's ills, and bred from her the most famous hounds of the +day. The groom said Mrs. Forsyth was in the tea-room, and there the Master +sought her, with anger and anxiety in his eye; sought her unavailingly and in a +frenzy of haste. To and fro he hurried through the huge, noisy show building. +At one moment of his fruitless search he obtained a card from the Show +Secretary stating that his cheque might be accepted; but even as he thanked the +worried official for his confidence in an old exhibitor, he realized with +bitterness that he could not by any stretch of fancy pretend that he was able +to afford anything like the sort of price that Tara would bring. Not a sign did +he see of Mrs. Forsyth, and at last a Kennel-man, whom he remembered tipping +years before for some slight service, informed him that he had seen Mrs. +Forsyth leaving the building some time before. Almost despairing now, and +conscious that the limit of time given him was passed, he hurried back to the +auction-room, caught a glimpse of his beautiful Tara standing sorrowful and +stately in the ring, head and tail both carried low, and heard a tall, +clean-shaven man in a kennel-coat bid forty-eight guineas for her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Forty-eight!" echoed the auctioneer. "This magnificent +Irish Wolfhound bitch, the dam of many winners and two champions, is positively +going for forty---- Why, gentlemen, she'd be worth that to the Natural History +Museum!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Forty-nine!" cried the Master, with a tightening of his +lips.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then he saw the mean, ferrety face of a well-known +low-class dealer thrust forward from among the crowd. This dealer was notorious +for keeping a large number of big Danes and Newfoundlands in the miserable +backyard of a cobbler's shop in the East End of London. He had been ordered out +of show rings before that day for malpractices. He had never owned a Wolfhound, +but he was a shrewd business judge of the values of dogs. He nodded to the +auctioneer, and that gentleman nodded responsively before taking up his tale +afresh.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Fifty guineas only is offered for the celebrated Irish +Wolfhound Tara, by the famous Champion O'Leary. Fifty guineas only is offered, +and the time is running merrily on, gentlemen, all the time. Fifty guineas only +is offered--and one. Fifty-one guineas--Thank you, sir. Fifty and one guineas +is my last bid for----"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The auctioneer babbled serenely on, and the Master +followed his words, rather pale in the face now, for fifty-one guineas was a +great deal more than he could afford to pay at this time, for such a +purpose.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The ferret-faced dealer raised the price to fifty-three +guineas, and the Master bit his lip and made it fifty-four.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"May I say fifty-five for you, sir?" said the auctioneer +to the clean-shaven man in the kennel-coat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"If you'll just wait one moment, sir; I must just ask +my----" The clean-shaven man was edging his way towards the back of the crowd, +where several ladies and gentlemen were seated at a table just out of sight of +the ring.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Time and tide and auctioneers wait for no man, sir," +continued the auctioneer. "The hammer is very near to falling, gentlemen. The +magnificent St. Bernard dog--um--er----The magnificent Irish Wolfhound Tara is +going for fifty-four guineas only; for fifty-four guin--and one----Thank +<em>you</em>, sir"--this to the ferret-faced dealer--"at fifty-five guineas +only, this noble animal is going for fif----Why, gentlemen, what has come over +us this afternoon? Her record alone is worth more than that. You must know that +if this animal were sold by private treaty, double the sum would not purchase +her. What am I to say for the gentleman who appeared to be recognized by this +fine animal? Surely, sir, civility demands a little recognition of such +touching devotion!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"We're not dealing in personalities, sir," snapped the +Master. "Sixty guineas!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then he turned on his heel; this desperate bid being +far more than he could afford. The auctioneer smiled amiably.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"As you say, sir, this is strict business, strict +business; and all I am offered for this magnificent hound, gentlemen, is sixty +guineas! But my instructions are to sell, gentlemen; and sell I must, whatever +the figure." He raised his hammer. "At sixty guineas, gent--and one. At +sixty-one guineas, gentlemen; lot number 127 is going--a rare bargain for +somebody--going! Will nobody try another guinea on this magnifi----Thank +<em>you</em>, sir! That's a little better, gentlemen. Seventy guineas I think +you said, sir?"--this to the man in the kennel-coat, who had returned from his +visit to the back of the crowd.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The ferret-faced dealer who had bid sixty-one guineas now +turned his back on the ring; and, as he heard the cry of seventy guineas, the +Master moved slowly forward among the crowd toward the door of the building. He +dared not offer more, and he could not wait to see Tara led out of the ring by +some stranger. He paused a moment, without looking up, and heard the +auctioneer's "Going, going, gone!" Then he walked to the entrance of the main +hall, to escape from the scene of so grievous a disappointment.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Outside, in the main building, while moodily filling a +pipe, the Master decided that, whatever happened, he must find out who had +purchased Tara in order that he might put in a word for his dear old friend, +and thereby, it might be, ensure more consideration for her in her new home. +There were one or two little whims and peculiarities of hers which he must +explain. He thought of pretty Mrs. Forsyth and her broken pledge regarding +Tara. He looked along the dusty, littered hall, and, in the distance, saw an +elderly lady leading an Irish Wolfhound. A moment later, and he recognized the +hound as Tara, and the lady as a good friend of his own, a kindly, wealthy +Yorkshire woman who had bought two whelps of him before he left the country, +and with whom he had corresponded since. He had visited this lady, too, to help +her in the matter of some doggy trouble of hers. Now she was walking directly +toward him, leading Tara, and smiling and nodding to him. Just then the lady +leaned forward and unsnapped Tara's chain. In an instant, the great hound +bounded forward to greet her well-loved friend, the Master, furiously nuzzling +his hands, and finally standing erect to reach his face, a paw on either +shoulder, her soft eyes glistening, brimming over with canine love and delight. +The man's eyes were not altogether dry, either, as he muttered and growled +affectionate nonsense in Tara's silky ears. His heart swelled as he felt the +tremulous excitement in the great hound's limbs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You see, dear old Tara cannot be deceived; she knows her +real friends," said the lady from Yorkshire, as she shook hands with the +Master. "Please take her chain, and never give any one else the right to handle +it. You will allow me this pleasure, I am sure, if only because of the love I +bear Tara's son." (One of the whelps this lady had bought from him was a son of +Tara.) "I know Mrs. Forsyth quite well--a whimsical, fanciful little person, +who takes up a new fad every month, and is apt to change her pets as often as +her gloves. I could not possibly let a stranger buy the beautiful mother of my +Dhulert, and it gives me so much real pleasure to be the means of bringing her +to your hands again."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This good woman bowed her silvery head when the Master +took her hand in his, because she had caught a glimpse of what glistened in his +eyes, as he tried to give words to the gratitude that filled a heart already +swelled by another emotion inspired by Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">They walked all the way home, the Master and Tara; and +twice they made considerable detours (despite the distance still before them), +for the sake of spending a few minutes in open spaces, where there was +grass--smutty and soiled it is true, but grass--and comparative solitude. In +these places they exchanged remarks, and Tara placed a little London mud on +each of the Master's shoulders, and he made curious noises in his throat, such +as Tara had been wont to associate with early morning scampers in an upland +orchard, after rabbits.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At last they came to the "mansions," and made great show +of creeping along close to the railing, and dodging quickly in at the entrance +to avoid being overlooked from the windows above. As a matter of fact tenants +of the flats in these buildings were not supposed to keep dogs at all, while +the idea of an Irish Wolfhound, thirty-two inches high the shoulder!---- But it +was little the Master cared that night. The meeting between Tara and the +Mistress of the Kennels was a spectacle which afforded him real joy. The flat +seemed ridiculously tiny when once Tara was inside it; but, like all her race, +this mother of heroes was a marvel of deftness, and could walk in and out of +the Mistress's little drawing-room without so much as brushing a chair-leg. +There was great rejoicing in the little flat that night; and a deal of +wonderful planning, too, I make no doubt.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And this was how Tara, the mother of heroes, returned to +the friends who had watched over her birth and early training, and later +motherhood, with every sort of loving care.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<h2 class="c4"><img alt="wolfhound lying down" src="images/fig05.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="600" height="249" /><a name="CHAPTER1" id="CHAPTER1">CHAPTER II</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">IN THE BEGINNING</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was little that Tara, the Wolfhound, cared about lack +of space, so that she could stretch her great length along a hearthrug, with +her long, bearded muzzle resting on her friend's slippers, and gaze at him, +while he sat at his work, through the forest of overhanging eyebrows which +screened her soft, brown eyes. And in any case, the next four months of her +life, after the happy meeting at the Show which restored her to her old friend, +were too full of changing happenings and variety of scene and occupation to +leave time for much consideration about the size of quarters, and matters of +that like.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For one thing, it was within a few days of the show that +Tara was taken on a two days' visit to a farm in Oxfordshire, where she renewed +her old acquaintance with one of the greatest aristocrats of her race, Champion +Dermot Asthore, the father of those great young hounds she had given to the +world during her life with the Master; the children whose subsequently earned +champion honours reflected glory upon herself as the most famous living mother +of her breed, though not the most famous show dog. The qualities which win the +greatest honour in the show ring are not always the qualities which make for +famous motherhood. As a show hound merely, Tara might have been beaten by dames +of her race who had not half her splendid width of flank and chest and general +massiveness, though they might have a shade more than her height and +raciness.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After that, something considerable seemed to happen pretty +well every day. The Master spoke laughingly of the spring madness that was as +quicksilver to his heels, and of great profit to furniture removers. He laughed +a good deal in those early spring days, and took Tara and the Mistress of the +Kennels with him on quite a number of journeys from Victoria railway station. +Tara heard much talk of Sussex Downs, and when she came to scamper over them, +found herself in thorough agreement with every sort of joyous encomium she +heard passed upon them. Then there came a day of extraordinary confusion at the +little flat, when men with aprons stamped about and turned furniture upside +down, and made foolish remarks about Tara, as she sat beside the writing-table +gravely watching them. That night Tara slept in a loose box in the stable of a +country inn, and in the early morning went out for a glorious run on the Downs +with the Master, who seemed to have grown younger since they left London.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Within a very few days from this time, Tara and her +friends had settled down comfortably in a new home. An oddly-shaped little +house it was, full of unexpected angles and doors, and having a garden and +orchard which straggled up the lower slope of one of the Downs. It had a +stable, too, of a modest sort, and rather poky, but the coach-house was +admirable, light, airy, facing south-east, and having a new concrete floor, +which the Master helped to lay with his own hands. The back half of this +coach-house consisted of a slightly raised wooden dais; a very pleasant place +for a Wolfhound to lie, when spring sunshine was flooding the coach-house. But +Tara did not spend much of her time there, for between the stabling and the +house there was a big wooden structure with a tiled roof, large as a good-sized +barn, but with an entrance like an ordinary house-door, and comfortably +matchboarded inside, like a wooden house. A pleasant old villager who was doing +some work in the garden referred to this place as "th'old parish room," but the +Master made it his own den, lined one of its sides with books, and pictures of +dogs and men, and fields and kennels. He had his big writing-table established +there, with a sufficiency of chairs, a few rugs upon the forty-feet length of +floor, and an old couch upon one side, manufactured by himself with the aid of +an ancient spring mattress, a few blocks of wood, a big 'possum-skin rug which +some friend had sent him from Australia, and a variety of cushions. The actual +house, for all its rambling shape, was small, and possibly this was why the +Master chose to utilize this outside place as his den, and to fix a big stove +in it for heating. Here, too, at one end, and just beyond the big +writing-table, was a raised wooden dais or bed, like that in the coach-house, a +good six feet square, with sides to it, perhaps six inches high. Tara watched +the making of this dais, and saw the master cover its floor with a kind of +sawdust that had a strong, pleasant smell, and then nail down a tightly +stretched piece of old carpet over that, making altogether, as she thought, a +very excellent bed. And as such Tara used it by night, but in the daytime she +usually preferred to stretch herself beside the writing-table, or on the rug by +the door, where the sunshine formed a pool of light and warmth on a fine +morning.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Here it was that Tara took her meals, a dish of milk in +the morning, with a little bread or biscuit, and the real meal of the day, the +dinner, which the Mistress of the Kennels always prepared with her own hands, +so that it was full of delightful surprises and variety, though everything in +it had the moisture and flavour of meat, in the evening. At about this time it +was that Tara noticed a kind of white sediment, quite inoffensive and not at +all bad to eat, in her morning milk dish; and this she welcomed, because in +some dim way it was connected in her mind with happy old days that came before +her parting with the Master, when she had lived with him in a place not unlike +this clean, fragrant down-land, which stretched now, far as one could see on +either hand, outside the garden and the orchard, all about this new home, which +Tara found so good. (At certain times and in certain circumstances, some +breeders of big hounds believe in mixing precipitated phosphate of lime with +ordinary food, for the sake of its bone-forming properties.)</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">To describe one half the many delightful incidents and +occupations which made the days pass quickly for Tara now, would require a +volume; but as time went the great hound tended to become less active. There +were any number of rabbits on the Downs beyond the orchard, and at first, in +her before-breakfast ramble with the Master, Tara used greatly to enjoy running +down one or two of these. But after a little time the Master seemed to make a +point of discouraging this, even to the extent of resting a hand lightly upon +Tara's collar as she walked beside him; and, gradually, she herself lost +inclination for the sport, except where greatly tempted, as by a rabbit's +jumping suddenly for its burrow close beside her. In the afternoon, when Tara +generally went out with the Mistress of the Kennels for a good long round, she +wore a lead on her collar now, so that even sudden inspirations to galloping +were checked in the bud, and a sedate gait was maintained always. Without +troubling her head to think much about it, Tara had a generally contented +feeling that these precautions were wise and good. The same prudent feeling +influenced her in the matter of meals now. Though she frequently felt that she +would much rather be without her morning milk, she always lapped it carefully +up, and conscientiously swabbed the dish bright and dry with her great red +tongue. She could not have explained, even to herself, just why she did these +things; but sub-conscious understanding and fore-knowledge play a large part in +a Wolfhound's life, and so does sub-conscious memory and the inherited thing we +call instinct. Without considering prehistoric ancestry, there were fifteen +hundred years of lineal Irish Wolfhound ancestry behind Tara; her own family +dated back so far. For instance:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the year 391, seven centuries before the Conqueror +landed in England, there was a Roman Consul whose name was Quintus Aurelius +Symmachus. In a letter that he wrote to his brother Flavianus, he said:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"In order to win the favour of the Roman people for our +Quaestor, you have been a generous and diligent provider of novel contributions +to our solemn shows and games, as is proved by your gift of seven Irish hounds. +All Rome viewed them with wonder, and fancied they must have been brought +hither in iron cages. For such a gift, I tender you the greatest possible +thanks."</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"><img alt="standing wolfhound" src="images/fig06.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="200" height="307" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That these Irish Wolfhounds of fifteen hundred years ago +were big and fierce, and brave and strong, you may know from the conviction of +the Roman people that they must have been brought in iron cages. Also, friend +Symmachus writes in other letters of the boars, and lions, and the armed Saxons +provided to do battle with the Irish Wolfhounds. Also, he shows the quaintest +sort of annoyance over the fact that some twenty-nine of these perverse Saxons, +who were obtained to fight the Irish Wolfhounds, cut their throats on the night +before the games--their own throats, I mean--and so spoiled sport for the +holiday-loving Romans. In the first century of our era, Mesroida, the King of +the Leinstermen, had an Irish Wolfhound which was so mighty in battle that it +was said to defend the whole province, and to fill all Ireland with its fame. +For this hound, six thousand cows, besides other property, were offered by the +King of Connaught, and about the same price was offered by the King of Ulster. +Irish Wolfhounds fought regularly in battle, through the early centuries of our +era; and fearsome warriors they were. Right down to the period of a couple of +centuries ago, a leash of Irish Wolfhounds was considered a fitting and +acceptable present for one monarch, or lord, to offer to another king or great +noble; while from the earliest times, down to the day of Buffon, and, in our +own time, "Stonehenge," the naturalists have written of the Irish Wolfhound as +the greatest, that is finest, and "tallest of all dogs."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But it was not alone in such matters as refraining from +violent exercise, and the taking of food whether inclined for it or not, that a +sort of prescience guided beautiful Tara at this time in her new home beside +the Sussex Downs. There came a morning when, as she strolled about the strip of +shrubbery and orchard which lay between the stabling and the house, it occurred +to her that it would be a good thing to dig a hole somewhere in the ground; the +sort of hole or cave into which a great hound like herself could creep for +shelter if need be; a cave in which she could live for a while. Tara did not +know that the Master was watching her at this time; but he was, and there was a +sympathetic and understanding sort of smile on his face, when Tara forced her +way in between two large shrubs, and began excavating. The earth was soft and +moist there, and Tara's powerful fore-feet scooped it out in regular +shovelfuls, for her hind feet to scatter in an earthy rain behind her. She made +a cavern as big as herself, and then divided the rest of the day between the +beautiful big dais in the coach-house, all dry, and sweet, and clean, and her +fragrant, carpeted great bed in "th'old parish room." Lying there at her ease, +with one eye on the Master's shoulder, where it showed round the side of his +high-topped writing-table, Tara wondered vaguely why she had troubled to dig +that hole in the wet earth. But the Master knew all about it, though he could +not claim to have fifteen hundred years of Wolfhound ancestry behind him, and +he seemed quite satisfied.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the following day Tara gravely inspected the hole she +had dug, and decided that it was not altogether good. So she went and dug +another in a rather more secluded spot; and then came back and dozed +comfortably at the Master's feet while he wrote. Later on in the day she +strolled round the whole premises, and inspected carefully the various places +in which, during the past week or so, she had buried large bones. The next day +found Tara extremely restless and rather unhappy. She had an uncomfortable +feeling that she had forgotten some important matter which required attention. +In her effort to recall what the thing could be that she had neglected, she dug +two or three more holes, and finally, a thing she had never thought of doing +before, took one of the Master's slippers--always a singularly dear and +comforting piece of property to Tara--and buried it about two feet deep in a +little ditch. She felt vaguely ashamed about this, though she had no idea that +the Master had watched her taking the slipper away; but she could not bring +herself to return the slipper, because of the hazy need she felt for laying up +treasure and taking every sort of precaution against a rainy day.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During the afternoon, Tara's general uneasiness increased. +She felt thoroughly uncomfortable and worried; convinced that she had forgotten +some really important matter, and disinclined either to go out or to stay in. +Fifty times the Master opened and closed doors to suit her changing whims, +until poor Tara felt quite ashamed of herself, though still quite unable to +settle down. As a sort of savoury after dinner, the Master gave her some silky, +warm olive oil; an odd thing to take, Tara thought, but upon the whole pleasing +and comforting. Then, suddenly, and as she woke from a doze of about ten +seconds' duration, Tara decided that it would be a good thing to tear a hole in +the middle of the tight-stretched old carpet on her big bed. She got to work at +once, pleased to think that she had remembered this little matter in good time, +and was distinctly disappointed when the Master came and sat beside her on the +edge of the bed and playfully held her paws, after gently lowering her into a +lying position. Still, it was good to have him sit there and chat, as he did +for some little time, rubbing the backs of her ears, and being generally +sociable. He was the only human creature, with the exception of the Mistress of +the Kennels, who had ever really chatted with Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">While Tara was gradually forgetting her desire to tear the +bed covering, a cart stopped outside the house, and a whiff, the hint of an +odour, drifted in through the open door of the den, and caused the great +hound's nose to wrinkle ominously. Next moment she gave a savage bark, deep, +threatening, and sonorous, and sprang to her feet. She was not quite sure what +ailed her, but she was conscious of an access of great anger, of passionate +hostility. After soothing her, the Master carefully locked the door of the den, +and then went round through the gateway leading to the front of the house, and +took delivery of a large hamper from the station carrier. Then the Mistress of +the Kennels came and sat in the Master's den for perhaps half an hour, while he +was busy down at the coach-house with the hamper, and a lantern, and a dish of +dog's dinner of a milky, sloppy sort.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That was a strange, eventful night in the den. All the +country round was silent as the grave, and the air of the June night was soft +and sweet as the petals of wild roses. The Mistress of the Kennels was +persuaded into going early to bed, but the Master sat behind his big table, +writing beneath a carefully shaded lamp, and rising quietly every now and +again, to peer over the top of the high table in the direction of the big bed +in the shadow, where Tara lay. Many things happened in the meantime, but it was +just after the clock in the tower of the village church had struck the hour of +one, that the Master was thrilled by a cry from his beloved Tara; the fifth he +had heard during the past three and a half hours.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He leaned forward on his elbows, waiting and listening. +Tara had never heard of duty or self-control. She was a pure child of Nature. +But the moment of that cry of hers was the only moment she allowed for +self-consideration, or the play of her own inclinations. In the next moment she +was busying herself, with the most exquisite delicacy and precision, over the +care of her latest offspring; the last late-comer in her new family of five. In +that next instant, too, a weak, bleating little cry, a voice that was not at +all like Tara's, smote pleasantly upon the ears of the Master, where he waited, +peering watchfully from beside the deeply shaded lamp on his table.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was then, just after the Master heard that little +bleating cry which told of new life in the world, that Tara, with infinite care +and precaution, lowered her great bulk upon the bed in a coil--she had been +standing--the centre of which was occupied by four glossy Irish Wolfhound +puppies, who had arrived respectively at ten, eleven, twelve, and half-past +twelve that night. The four, then blindly grovelling over the carpeted bed, +were now perfectly sheltered in the still heaving hollow of their mother's +flank. These comparatively world-worn pups had not arranged themselves +conveniently in a cluster to receive their loving mother's caress. On the +contrary, they were all groping in different directions at the moment in which +Tara's pain-racked body was lowered to rest, and to shelter them. But, while +yet that great body hung over them in the act of descending, it had twisted and +curved into the required lines, and a soft muzzle had thrust this puppy that +way, and the other another way; the mother's soft, filmy eyes missing nothing +before her or behind. One inch of miscalculation, and the life had been crushed +out of one of those tiny creatures. But pain brought no miscalculation for +Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One quick movement of her head satisfied the mother that +her four firstborn were safe and well disposed. Immediately then, with never a +thought of rest, her nose thrust the new-comer into position between her +fore-paws, and she proceeded to administer the life-giving and stimulating +tongue-wash. Over and over the little shapeless grey form was turned, cheeping +and bleating, until every crevice of its soft anatomy had come under the +vivifying sweep of six inches of scarlet tongue, warm and tenderly rough. Then +the mother's sensitive nose thrust and coaxed the little creature to its +nesting-place under her flank, where three sisters and a brother already nosed +complainingly among milk-swollen dugs, quite indifferent to the coming of an +addition to their number, and desiring they knew not what--desiring it +lustily.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then, and not till then, did the beautiful mother of these +new-born descendants of an ancient race permit herself to draw a long breath of +relief, and lower her massive head upon her fore-paws. A moment later, and a +desire which overcame weariness impelled Tara to part her hot jaws, and glance +in the direction of the shaded lamp. No least movement of hers escaped the +Master, and in the moment of her glance, he came forward with a dish of fresh +cold water in his hand. The mother lapped, slowly, weakly, gratefully, thanking +whatever gods she knew, and the friend whose hand and eye were so ready, for +the balm of water. The man moved very gently and deftly before her, and no +anxiety came into her brown eyes when he leaned forward to examine the now +resting litter at her flank. But it had gone hardly one fancied with the +stranger, or even with the casual acquaintance, who should have approached too +inquisitively the little family.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"There, there, pet; all right, my Tara girl," murmured the +man, as he stepped back softly to his table, to return a moment later with a +dish of warm milk and water, which the slightly rested mother drank with +forethoughtful eagerness, though the effort necessary for lapping in that +constrained position, and without disturbing the little ones beside her, was +far from pleasant, and far enough from personal inclination.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Ten minutes later the dam very gently changed her +position, all idea of rest having left her now, and proceeded systematically to +lick, first her own swollen dugs, and then the little featureless faces of her +offspring, with many small encouraging muzzle-thrusts and undulations of her +sinuous frame; while the Master (ready to give assistance if that were +required, but too knowledgeable in these matters to wish to hasten Nature, or +botch the delicate handiwork of the mother) stood in the shadow of his big +table, watching and waiting. Within another few minutes the five pups were +immersed in the most important affair of life (from their point of view) and, +with wriggling tails and tiny, heaving flanks, with impatient, out-thrust, pink +fore-feet, wet faces, and gaping little jaws, were nursing in a row like +clock-work.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The mother turned a proud, filmy eye in the direction of +her friend, the Master, and allowed her massive head to fall on its side, her +whole great form outstretched to reap the benefit of a few more minutes of +needed repose.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Good girl!" whispered the Master; and stepping backward, +he turned yet lower than it was the wick of his shaded lamp. "Good! Excellent! +Five's a very good number. I should have been sorry to see a big litter, for +dear old Tara. And, anyhow, that last one, the grey, is about equal to any two +I ever saw; an immense whelp; dog for sure, and a giant at that."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master lay down to sleep presently, on the couch with +the 'possum-skin rug; and before many hours of the June daylight had passed, he +had verified his impressions of that last-born son of Tara's as a grey-brindle, +and the biggest whelp of its age that he had ever seen. For purposes of +registration in the books of the Kennel Club--The Debrett of the dog world--the +late-comer was forthwith christened by the Mistress of the Kennels, under the +name of Finn, in honour of the memory of the fourth-century warrior Finn, son +of Cumall, lord of three hundred Irish Wolfhounds, whose prowess in battle and +in the chase were sung by Oisin in two thousand, two hundred and seventy-two +separate verses. Finn was chief of King Cormac's household and master of his +hounds; for the most honoured counsellor that the ancient Kings of Ireland had +were masters of the hounds always.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And this was the way of the Irish Wolfhound Finn's entry +into the world, at the end of the first hour of a June day, in the Master's den +beside the Sussex Downs. You may see the embalmed body of his great mother's +sire, Champion O'Leary, if you care to look for it, in the Natural History +Museum at Kensington; woefully shorn of his imposing beard and shaggy eyebrows, +it is true, but yet only less magnificent in death than he was always in life. +Her mother was the dam of the hound who marches to-day at the head of His +Majesty's Irish Guards. Between them, the sire and dam of Finn would have +scaled three hundred pounds, while either could easily have stretched to a +height above the shoulders of a six-foot man. Finn rested easily in the palm of +the Master's right hand when christened by the Mistress of the Kennels, for he +was little bigger than a week-old kitten. But he was none the less Finn, the +lineal descendant of King Cormac's battle-hounds of fifteen hundred years ago; +and it was said he had the makings of the biggest Wolfhound ever bred.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="sitting wolfhound puppy" +src="images/fig07.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="425" height="394" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER2" id="CHAPTER2">CHAPTER III</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE FOSTER-MOTHER</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's first adventure came to him when he was no more +than about thirty-seven hours old, and, of course, still blind as any bat. That +being so, it may be taken that the grey whelp was not particularly interested. +Still, the event was important, and probably affected the whole of Finn's after +life. This was the way of it:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Early on the second morning of his life in this beautiful +world, Finn was lying snugly asleep between his mother's hind-legs on the great +bed at the stove-end of the outside den. When a litter of puppies are lying +with their mother there is always one place which is snugger, and in various +ways rather better than any other place. You would have said that the little +more or less shapeless, blind lump of gristle and skin that was Finn, at this +stage, had no more intelligence or reasoning power than a potato; but it is to +be noted that, from the very beginning, this best place had been exclusively +occupied by him; and if while he slept one of his wakeful brothers or sisters +crawled over him and momentarily usurped his proud position, then, in the very +moment of his awakening, that other puppy would be rolled backward, full of +gurgling and futile protestation, and Finn would resume the picked place. +Whatever was best in the way of warmth, and food, and comfort, that Finn +obtained, even at this absurdly rudimentary stage, by token of superior weight, +energy, and vitality. Also, though the last to be born, Finn was the first to +approach the achievement of standing, for an instant, upon his own little +pink-padded feet, and the first, by days, to dream of the impertinence of +blindly pawing his mother's wet satin nose, while that devoted parent washed +her family.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But Finn and the rest were sound asleep, and Tara was +dozing with one brown eye uncovered, when the Master came into the den on that +second morning and spoke invitingly to his beloved mother of heroes. The great +bitch rose slowly and with gentle care, and Finn, with the other sucklings, +rolled helplessly on his back, sleepily cheeping a puny remonstrance, though he +had no idea what he wanted. Then, in his ridiculously masterful way, Finn +grovellingly burrowed under the other puppies, that he might have the benefit +of all their warmth, and was asleep again. Tara eyed the blind things for a +moment with maternal solicitude, and then, seeing that all was well with them, +followed the Master out into the bright, fresh sunshine of the stable-yard. She +did not think about it, but she was perfectly well aware that it was desirable +for her to take fresh air, and move about a little to stretch her great +limbs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come and see the Mistress, old lady; come along and +stretch yourself," said her friend.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And so Tara strolled round the yard twice, and then across +to the back-kitchen door, where, inside the house, she had some warm bread and +milk with the Mistress of the Kennels. Tara lapped steadily and +conscientiously, but without much appetite. Suddenly, when the basin was about +three-quarters empty, she realised with a start that the Master had left her. +One quick look she gave to right and left, and then, the mother anxiety shining +in her brown eyes, she reached the outer door in a bound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Look out for Tara!" cried the Mistress through the open +window. And: "All right! I'm clear now. Let her in, will you?" answered the +Master, from beyond the gate leading to the coach-house.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">So the Mistress opened the house door, and in three +cat-like bounds Tara reached the door of the den, and stood erect, her +fore-paws against the door, more than six feet above the ground.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"There, there, pet; your children are all right, you see," +said the Mistress, as she let Tara into the den.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In a moment, lighter of foot than a terrier, for all that +she weighed as much as an average man, Tara was in the midst of the big bed, +where she saw her puppies bunched snugly and asleep. She looked up gratefully +at the Mistress, as the roused pups (she had touched them with her nose) came +mewing about her feet, and coiled down at once to nurse them, apparently +unconscious of the fact that there were only four mouths to feed instead of +five. One cannot say for certain whether or not she missed Finn then. She +licked the four assiduously while they nursed; and, in any case, four gaping +little mouths, and four wriggling, helpless little bodies, represent a +considerable claim upon a Wolfhound mother's attention and strength; also, it +may be, that if she did notice that the big grey whelp was missing, she was too +wise and devoted a mother and nurse to allow herself to injure the remaining +four by fretting and worrying over matters beyond her immediate control. One +must remember, too, that Tara lived in an atmosphere of the most implicit +confidence, in which she never even heard an unkind word. On the other hand, if +there had been no puppies at all on that bed, when Tara returned from her brief +excursion to the back-kitchen, then it is likely that the big den would not +have been strong enough to have held her for long within its wooden walls. The +room had windows, and match-boarding and weather-board are not like iron.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Having seen Tara comfortably settled down with her family +of four, the Mistress hurried back to the house in time to see the Master +unwrapping little Finn from a soft old blanket, and placing him carefully in +the midst of three puppies of perhaps half his size, in a hamper near the +kitchen stove. Finn bleated rather languidly for two minutes in his new +environment, and then, being very full of milk, and very warm, forgot what the +trouble was and fell asleep. The Master closed the lid of the hamper then, and +said:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'll let them have a good two hours together there. Finn +ought to assimilate the smell of the others pretty well by then. What do you +think of the foster?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, I like her," said the Mistress of the Kennels. "She +seems a nice affectionate little beast, and I think she has quite recovered +from the effects of that awful journey."</p> + +<p><a name="L3772" id="L3772"></a><img alt="sheepdog nursing puppies" +src="images/plate02.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="537" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Finn and his foster-mother</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Um! Yes, twelve or fourteen hours' travelling with three +new-born pups must be rather awful--poor little beast! Did she take her +breakfast?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes; a first-rate meal. And I think she will be a good +mother. She seems to have any amount of milk--more than is comfortable for her, +poor little thing!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes; that's exactly what I want. I want her to be +uncomfortably heavy for the time, and then she will be the less likely to +resent my great big Finn's introduction. It's only discomfort, you know, not +pain; and we shall put it right in a couple of hours."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Then you have decided to put Finn to the +foster-mother?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes. You see, poor old Tara--well, she----"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, I know; she's poor old Tara--spoiled darling!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master chuckled. "Well, perhaps it is partly that. +And, any way, she deserves it. The old girl has done a good share of +prize-winning, and nursing, and the rest of it. I think of her as a lady who +has earned repose, particularly after----"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, I know; the illness, you mean."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, anyhow, I think four pups quite enough for her to +nurse. And, as a matter of fact, I am none too comfortable about that. You know +I have always believed that that awful bout of mammitis permanently affected +her; her heart, and----and other things, too. Four days with a temperature of +over a hundred and five, you know; and, mind you, the vet. said she must die. +It was, so to say, in spite of Nature that we pulled her through. I am not at +all sure that we may not have to take them all from her. We shall see better by +to-night."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes; I see." The Mistress of the Kennels was thoughtfully +balancing on the tip of her fore-finger a big wooden spoon, used in the mixing +of Tara's meals. "But why do you choose Finn for the foster?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, now, that's rather a nice point, and involves a +conviction of mine which I know you'll resent, because you rightly think Tara +the perfection of all that a Wolfhound should be. But the conviction is right, +all the same. A mongrel's milk is far stronger, heartier food than the milk of +so highly-bred a great lady as dear old Tara. Tara gives the most aristocratic +blood in the world; but when you come to food, the nourishment that is to build +up bone and muscle, and hardy health--that's different. Also, I only mean to +give the foster this one pup, though I dare say she is capable of rearing two +or three. Therefore that one pup ought to do exceedingly well with her. Now +Finn, as you see him, is the biggest pup I ever knew, and I want to give him +every chance of growing into the biggest Irish Wolfhound living. That's why he +is going to have this sheep-dog foster all to his little self, and, unless I'm +mistaken, you'll find him in a week the fattest little tub of a pup in all +England--the fatter the better at this stage, so the food's wholesome and +digestible."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In about one hour from that time, Finn woke among his +strange bedfellows, and trampled all over them, in a vain and wrathful search +for his mother's dugs. Then he bleated vigorously for three minutes; and then +the warmth of that snug corner of the kitchen sent him off to sleep again.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Another hour passed, and when Finn woke this time one +could tell from the furious lunges he made over the little bodies of his +foster-brothers that he had arrived at a serious determination to let nothing +stand any longer between himself and a good square meal. He would take one +indignant step forward (as it might have been a rather gouty and very choleric +old gentleman, prepared to tear down his bell-rope if dinner were not served +that minute); then his podgy little fore-legs would double up, and the next few +inches of progress would be made on blunt little pink nose, and round little +stomach, his hind-legs being flattened out behind him in the exact position of +a frog's while swimming. Several times Finn quite thought he had at length +found a teat, and, in its infantile, impotent way, the blind fury he displayed +was quite terrible, when he discovered that he was merely chewing the muzzle of +one of the other pups. On one of these occasions, Finn spluttered and swore so +vehemently that the effort completely robbed him of what rudimentary sense of +balance he had, and he rolled over on his back, leaving all his four pink feet +wriggling in the air in a passion of protest.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was in this undignified position that the Master +presently found the grey whelp, and he chuckled as he picked up Finn, with two +of the other pups, and wrapped them together in a warm blanket. The remaining +puppy was handed over to the gardener and seen no more in that place; so it is +safe to assume that this little creature's life embraced no sorrows or +disillusions. The next thing Finn knew was that his gaping mouth, held open by +the Master's thumb and forefinger, was being pressed against a soft surface +from which warm milk trickled. "At last!" one can imagine Finn muttering, if he +had been old enough to know how to talk. Immediately his little hind-legs began +to work like pistons, and his fore-paws to knead and pound at the soft udder +from which the milk was drawn. Finn, with his two foster-brothers, was at the +dugs of the foster-mother, a soft-eyed little sheep-dog, then occupying a very +comfortable corner of the big bed in the coach-house.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master sat watchfully beside the sheep-dog. She was +very glad to be eased of some of her superabundance of milk, and curved her +elastic body forward to simplify matters for the pups. Then she began to lick +the back and flank of the pup nearest her head; one of her own. The Master +leaned forward. The foster's sensitive nose passed over the back of the first +pup to the wriggling tail of Finn; and her big eyes hardened and looked queerly +straight down her muzzle at the fat grey back of the stranger; a back twice as +broad as those of her own pups. The black nostrils quivered and expanded, +expressing suspicious resentment. No warm tongue curled out over Finn's fat +back; but, instead, a nose made curiously harsh and unsympathetic pushed him +clear away from the place he had selected, after spluttering hurried +investigation, and out upon the straw of the bed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Immediately then, and almost before Finn's sticky mouth +could open in a bleat of protest, the Master's hand had returned him to the +warm dugs. Again came the harsh, suspicious nose of the foster about Finn's +tail, and this time a low growl followed the resentful sniff, and blind, +helpless, unformed little jelly that Finn was, instinct made him wriggle +fearfully from under that cold nose. The language in which bitches speak to the +very young among puppies is simplicity itself. The Master, human though he was, +had not failed to catch the sense of this observation of the foster's, which +was:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Get out of here, you lumping great whelp! You're not +mine, and I won't nurse you. Get out, or I'll bite. It's true you've somehow +got the smell of mine; but--you can't deceive me. Gr-r-r-! Get out!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, though Finn instinctively wriggled his hind-quarters +from under that cold muzzle, his mouth and fore-feet vigorously pursued their +business; and, before the threatened bite came, the Master's hand (a firm one, +and soothing to dog people) had caressingly pressed the foster's head back upon +the straw, and held it there.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"There, there, little woman," he said, good-humouredly. +"Let him have his chance; he's a good pup, and will do you great credit +presently."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">His hand continued to rest on the sheep-dog's neck or +head, till the three pups were comfortably full, and the foster herself was +comfortably eased of her bounteous milk-supply. Then, gently, he removed his +hand, and the foster proceeded to lick her own two pups with exemplary +diligence. Out of consideration for the Master, whom she found an obviously +well-meaning person, she refrained from taking any active steps against the big +grey pup, but she very pointedly ignored him. And when, in due course, Finn +came galumphing about her neck, with all the doddering insolence of the +full-fed pup, she turned her head in the opposite direction with cool +superciliousness, and exhaled a long breath through her nose, as though she +found the air offensive. But the Master petted her, and gave her a very little +warm bread and milk. Then he took the three puppies away in the warm blanket +and handed one of them to some one who waited outside the door of the +back-kitchen. Finn, with one sleepy foster-brother, was replaced in the hamper +near the kitchen stove.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A couple of hours later, the foster-mother began to worry, +and to wish that her puppies would come and take another meal. At about the +same time Finn and his diminutive companion in the hamper began to worry, and +to wish that they could have another meal. Ten minutes after that they were +carried down to the coach-house, and put to nurse again. While they fed +vigorously, the foster, apparently by accident, touched Finn once or twice with +her tongue, in process of licking her own pup; and she did not growl.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Good!" said the Master, and he sat down on a little +barrel of disinfectant powder to fill a pipe.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then both puppies began to grovel and slide about the +foster's legs and body; this being the natural order of things for very young +puppies: to feed full, to grovel and wriggle, to sleep; and then to begin again +at the beginning. But for the complete comfort and well-being of puppies at +this age, certain maternal attentions, apart from the provision of nourishment, +are requisite. For several minutes the foster-mother plied her own offspring +with every good office, and severely ignored the rotund and would-be playful +Finn. Then the sheep-dog lay flat on her side, and breathed out through her +nostrils a statement to the effect that:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"That is really quite as far as I can be expected to go. +This big grey creature has fed beside mine, and I have suffered it, as a matter +of charity; but---no more. The great clumsy thing must shift for itself +now."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But Finn appeared to think otherwise. His mode of +progression was rather that of an intoxicated snake, or an over-fed turtle on +dry land; but he managed to stagger along as far as the foster's muzzle, and +swayed there on his little haunches within reach of her warm breath. Instinct +guided the pup so far, and left him waiting vaguely uncomfortable.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master watched closely, but nothing happened, save +that the bitch ostentatiously closed her eyes. Then instinct moved again, +strongly, in shapeless little Finn, and he straddled the foster's nose, so that +his round stomach pressed on her nostrils. There he wriggled helplessly. Then a +curious thing happened, while the Master leaned forward, prepared to snatch the +pup from danger. The sheep-dog emitted a low, angry growl, which filled Finn +with uncomprehending fear, and toppled him over on his fat back. But, even +while she growled, maternity asserted its claim strongly in the kindly heart of +this soft-eyed sheep-dog. Finn did not know in the least what he wanted; but +the wise little sheep-dog did; and, her growl ended, she rolled Finn into the +required position with her nose, and gave him the licking and tongue-washing +which his bodily comfort demanded, with quiet, conscientious thoroughness. When +this was over, Finn, feeling ever so much more content, sidled back to a place +beside the other pup, and in a minute the pair of them were fast asleep in the +warm shelter of the foster's flank. Then the Master laid down his pipe, and +bent forward to stroke and fondle the little sheep-dog for two or three +minutes, chatting with her, and establishing firmly the friendship already +begun between them. And then, feeling quite safe in the matter, now that the +foster had once licked Finn into comfort, he went away, and left the three +together while he paid a visit to Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Next morning, while the foster-mother was being petted and +fed in the garden, some one removed her own little puppy from the bed, and when +she returned to the coach-house, full of the contentment inspired by a good +meal, a little exercise, and a deal of kindly petting, it was to find her bed +occupied only by the big grey whelp. But she showed no more than momentary +surprise and uneasiness, and within the minute was busily engaged in giving +Finn his morning tubbing and polishing, after which she disposed herself with +great consideration in a position which made nursing an easy delight for Finn, +and enabled his assiduous foster-mother to watch the undulations of his fat +back, out of the tail of her left eye, while apparently sleeping.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="puppies tugging towel" src="images/fig08.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="561" height="171" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER3" id="CHAPTER3">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">FIRST STEPS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The sturdy, kindly, plebeian sheep-dog proved an admirable +foster-mother, diligent, thorough, and forgetful of nothing, not even of her +own needs and well-being, though it was evident that these were served from +quite unselfish motives, and obliged to take a secondary place in all her +thoughts. It was particularly well for Finn that the sheep-dog proved so +sterling a soul; for, though he naturally knew and cared nothing about it all, +Finn received less attention during the next few days from the Master and the +Mistress than they were wont to give their canine families. Of course, the +foster was properly fed and given exercise and otherwise looked after; but the +Master did not smoke his pipe in the coach-house, and the Mistress of the +Kennels did not sit on the side of the bed for half an hour at a time and +stroke the foster's ears while admiring her nursling, as certainly would have +happened in normal circumstances.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master's doubts about poor Tara's health had been +fully justified. Her puppies were thin and inclined to be ailing, and she +herself was only just saved, by means of scrupulous care and attention, and the +use of other drugs besides externally-applied belladonna, from a severe +illness. Meantime, another foster was telegraphed for, and, an hour after this +new-comer's arrival, one of Tara's pups died. The Master had no time to be +greatly concerned about this, by reason of his anxiety regarding Tara herself. +He felt that another bout of the illness in which she had nearly lost her life +in the early days would almost certainly be fatal, and the steps he took to +stave this off kept him very busy. In addition to this, a carpenter had to be +set to work in a great hurry to put together a suitable bed for the new +foster-mother in a shed in the orchard. Fortunately, the weather was very +favourable, and the two puppies taken from Tara soon picked up their lost +ground when they were established with their foster, an active, cross-bred +spaniel-retriever.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But Finn in the coach-house knew nothing of all this. +Apart from anything else, he was still perfectly blind; also, he had as much of +the best kind of nourishment as he was capable of absorbing, and was watched +over, and cared for, and ministered to by the loyal little sheep-dog quite as +scrupulously as a human baby is tended. There never was a truer saying than +that "Blood will tell." But, not only is a mongrel mother's milk rich and +strong (if she is a healthy, well-cared for animal), but also her care of her +young is slavish and unremitting. Her nerves are never overstrained; she is not +unduly sensitive; she knows how to economize vital energy. There is as much +difference between her life and temperament and that of a champion-bred +aristocrat and winner of prizes at shows as there is between the life and +temperament of a society belle and a Devonshire dairymaid. In the sheep-dog's +case, a healthy appetite waited always upon plentiful meals. She had but one +whelp to care for, and of that one she hardly ever lost sight, even when +sleeping. If the blind, foolish Finn wriggled from her side in mid-most night, +he ran no risk of taking cold, for if the sheep-dog did not see him, then her +instinct (keener in the plebeian than in the dog of high degree, just as nerves +and sentiment are keener in the aristocrat) woke her within the minute, and up +she got to nose her erring infant back to sleep and warmth and safety.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the evening of his tenth day in the world, Finn was +still perfectly blind. His eyes as yet showed no signs of opening. This rather +surprised the Master, when he looked in before shutting up for the night. He +was quite easy in his mind now about Tara, who was almost well again, to all +appearances, and lay contentedly in the den all day, having apparently +forgotten, not only her illness, but its causes, and her puppies. She was +rather listless and lackadaisical, but seemed to be well content so that she +could lie within sight of the Master and dream. And now the Master was chatting +with the sheep-dog foster, after having had a good look at Finn, and before +shutting up for the night.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"But perhaps it is well he is still blind, for your sake, +old lady," said he to the foster. "He will be a bit of a handful for you before +you've done with him, I fancy; and the sooner he begins to find his own way +about, the longer he will torment you. Never mind, little bitch; you must do +your best for Finn; for he's a great pup."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And a great pup he assuredly was, to be sprawling across +that little sheep-dog's sandy flank. He covered pretty nearly as much space as +a whole litter of her own kind would have occupied. His pink pads looked +monstrous now; his timbers were quite twice the thickness you would have +expected to find them; and his shapeless, abundantly nourished body was very +nearly as broad at the haunch as it was long from neck to tail. His flat, black +nose was remarkably broad, in spite of the unusual length of the black-marked +muzzle, and the Master, who had studied Wolfhound puppies very closely, seemed +particularly pleased about this. Finn's corners, so to say, were practically +black. His body, as a whole, was of a steely, brindle grey, but the centre of +the back of his tail and its tip were almost black, and so were his little +podgy hocks, knees, muzzle, brows (if he could be said to have any) and the +hair over his gristly shoulder bones. The Master swung his hurricane lamp high +for a last look at Finn and the foster.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You certainly are a marvel of size, my son; but I wonder +you don't begin to open those eyes of yours, I must say. Let's hope they're +very dark. Good-night, little shepherd!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The light of Finn's twelfth day on earth had already +filled the coach-house through its back windows when the sheep-dog stirred next +morning and yawned. The slight sound and movement woke Finn, and automatically +he burrowed vigorously after his breakfast without an instant's hesitation. +Presently he emerged with milky nose from the foster's flanks, and meandered +forth to be licked and made comfortable. The licking ended, the foster rose, +and stepped off the bed to stretch her limbs. Finn rolled rollickingly over on +his back, and then staggered up and on to his absurdly large and spreading +feet. Then he backed sideways among the straw, like a crab. Then he tried to +rub one eye with one of his mushroom-like fore-feet, and, failing abjectly in +that, fell plump on his nose. Staggering to his feet again, Finn turned his +face once toward the broad sunbeam that divided the coach-house in two parts +from the side window; and then, as though tried beyond endurance, opened wide +his jaws and bleated forth his fright and distress to the world, so that the +patient little foster-mother was obliged to cut her constitutional short, and +hop back to bed, lolling a solicitous tongue and making queer comforting noises +in her throat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But for some several minutes the puppy absolutely refused +to be comforted; and when the Master came in an hour or so later he understood +at a glance what Finn's trouble was, though the casual observer might well have +thought there was no particular change in his circumstances. The fact was Finn +had sustained a real shock, and his perturbation about it lasted for nearly +half an hour, after which it retired, overcome by youthful curiosity. Finn had +suddenly awakened to the fact that he was no longer blind; he had stepped, at +one uncertain stride, into a seeing life. It was like being born again, and +that with faculties matured and sharpened by nearly a fortnight's life in the +world. It really was no trifling adventure for Finn, this discovery of a new +and very wonderful sense, which had come simply with the parting of the lids +that covered his black-brown eyes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He spent practically the whole of that day testing this +new sense which had come to him with so great a shock. For instance, he found +that if he crawled a certain distance from the foster in one direction, the air +before him became whiter and whiter, until at last he stubbed his toes and his +nose against it. And that was his first acquaintance with walls. Then, when he +crawled in another direction, he came presently to a ledge several inches in +height, and when, as the result of really herculean efforts, he had raised his +fat body upon that ledge, the floor beyond jumped up and hit him very hard, and +left him helpless as a turtle on its back, till the foster came and lifted him +back to bed in her jaws. That was how he learned that it was not wise for very +small pups to climb over the edges of beds. Towards evening, when many useful +lessons had been learned, and the pup was beginning to swagger over the +advantage given him by his new-found sense, in the matter of picking and +choosing feeding-places, and demanding his foster-mother's attention by +planting one foot on her eye, and so forth, Finn came to the conclusion that +this new power he had was, upon the whole, a remarkably fine thing, and a jolly +gift, even if it did keep one awake, and lead to considerable exhaustion, +and---- And then he shut up his little black-brown eyes, and, well sheltered by +the foster's right hind-leg and tail, went fast asleep and dreamed of warm +milk.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From this point onward, Finn's progress was rapid. Whereas +till now he had seemed little more than an appendage of the sheep-dog +foster-mother, he now rapidly developed a personality, and a very masterful +one, of his own. His eyes, which were quite as dark as the Master had desired +them to be, were idle only when he slept; and the same might have been said of +every part of him. He grovelled most industriously during all his waking hours, +until such time as his podgy legs had hardened sufficiently to bear his +weight--with many falls, of course--and then he began to scurry about on his +feet. His usual style of progression at this period was to take from two to +four abrupt, jerky strides, rather with the air of a fussy and corpulent old +gentleman who had to catch a train, and then to subside in a confused lump, on +chest and nose, with tail waggling angrily in mid-air. This was not so annoying +to the grey pup as one might suppose, because, though generally in a hurry, he +always forgot his intended destination by the time he had taken three steps +towards it, and therefore a sudden halt at the fourth seemed reasonable enough, +and quite an agreeable diversion.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During the third week of his life, the weather being very +fine, Finn, with the other pups, was treated to long sun-baths in a little +fenced-in square of gravel which was covered with deodorized sawdust. These +sun-baths were extremely good for the pups, and provided pleasant periods of +rest and relaxation for the foster-mothers, who, though never allowed to see +each other, were each within smelling distance of the pups, one upon one side +and one on the other.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A huge dry bullock's shin-bone was put into the sun-bath, +on a piece of matting, and this was a source of great interest to the pups, +whose little white teeth were now as sharp as needles; a fact known only too +well to their respective foster-mothers. Finn's favourite amusement was to lie +straddled along this bone, and defy the other pups to touch it. He would give +hard-breathing little snorts which he meant for growls, when one of the other +pups began to nuzzle the bone; and, at times, these snorts would be vehement +enough to make him lose his balance and roll helplessly off the bone on to the +ground. Then the other three pups would straddle across his tubby body and +snort defiance at him, each with a paw planted victoriously in his protuberant +stomach or on his broad chest.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On Finn's twenty-first morning he spent the better part of +half an hour in the lap of the Mistress of the Kennels, learning to lap warm +milk and water. First of all he learned to suck the milky tip of the Mistress's +little finger. Then, gradually, his nose was made to follow the little +finger-tip into the milk; and, one way and another, he consumed during that +first lesson about a tablespoonful of milk. In the afternoon he was kept for +perhaps two and a half hours from the foster-mother, and then he, with the +other pups, made great progress in the art of lapping; though they were all +glad to approach the feeding question in a more serious and practical manner on +being returned to their foster-mothers. Still, they had learned something, and +the succeeding lessons of each following day brought quick familiarity and +facility. In fact, the trouble with Finn, after two or three days, was that, in +his lusty eagerness for nourishment, he generally risked the suicide's end by +stumbling forward and plunging his whole face in the milk. His one notion of a +safeguard against this danger was to plant one, or both, of his tubby fore-legs +in the dish, a course which always brought him rebuke from the Mistress of the +Kennels.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Toward the end of the fourth week these lessons in lapping +became real meals, and the milk so consumed was always fortified with a +thickening of some cereal rich in phosphates, besides minute doses of +precipitated phosphate of lime, intended to stiffen the gristly leg-bones of +these heavy pups, and increase bone development. The foster-mothers had been +taking this, and communicating it in their milk, all along. This was the period +in which the maternal feelings of the foster-mothers were submitted to the most +severe strain. Finn's milk-white teeth, and his toe-nails, too, were sharp as +pins, and used with great strength and vigour. Naturally, he entertained no +unkind feelings for his loving little foster-mother; but, from sheer ignorance +and riotous good living, he gave her a good deal of pain. Some dog-mothers +would have warned him about this pretty sharply; but not so the little +sheep-dog. She never even growled when, after feeding till he could feed no +more, the insolent grey whelp would pound and paw at her soft dugs, and tug at +them with his sharp teeth in sheer wantonness, till they were a network of red +scars and scratches. The most the gentle, plebeian little mother would do would +be to lie flat, after a while, to protect her dugs--and that for the puppy's +own sake--a movement which always brought Finn galumphing over her shoulder to +bite her ears and paw her nose, and otherwise seek to provoke breaches of the +peace. A riotous, overbearing, disorderly rascal was Finn at this stage.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="sitting puppy" src="images/fig09.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="384" height="536" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the morning which ended Finn's fifth week in the world, +all the pups were solemnly weighed in the kitchen scales, which were brought +into the coach-house for that purpose. The Master stood by with a note-book, +and these are the weights he recorded:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Fawn bitch 10 3/4 lbs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Grey bitch 11 1/4 lbs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Fawn dog 12 lbs. 3 oz.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn 14 lbs. 4 oz.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In other words, at the age of five weeks, and while still +a suckling pup, Finn weighed as much as some prize-winning fox terriers, and +that breed when fully developed, in point of size, though not, of course, +shapely or set. After corresponding with other breeders, the Master was +confirmed in his already-expressed conviction that, thus far, Finn was a maker +and breaker of records.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During the week following this weighing Finn was only +allowed to visit his foster-mother once, for half an hour or so, in each day. +But the meals he lapped from a dish, in his own blundering way, included broth +now, as well as milky foods, and he still slept with the foster at night. +During the next week--in fine, dry July weather--all four puppies were +gambolling together in the orchard, from six in the morning till six at night, +and never saw the foster-mothers till they were tired out with their day-long +play and ready for the night's sleep. The Master and the Mistress took their +own lunch and tea in the orchard at this time, and a table and chairs were kept +under a big oak tree for this purpose. In and out among the legs of these +chairs and the table the Wolfhound pups played boisterously hour by hour, till +fatigue overtook them, with capricious suddenness, and they would fall asleep +in the midst of some absurd antic and in any odd position that came handy.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then one of the pups, usually Finn, would open his eyes +and yawn, realize once more how good life was, and plunge forthwith upon his +still sleeping brothers and sisters, tumbling them triumphantly into the midst +of a new romp before they knew whether they were on their heads or their heels. +A twig, a leaf, or a stone would be endowed with the attributes of some cunning +and fierce quarry, to be stalked, run down, and finally torn in sunder with +marvellous heroism, with reckless, noisy valour. The sun shone warm and sweetly +over all, there beside the immemorial Sussex Downs; life and the dry old earth +were very, very good--if only one's breath did not give out so soon, and one's +fore-legs had not so annoying a trick of doubling up; and then---- What was +that rascally fawn pup rushing for? The Mistress, with the four little dishes +and the big basin? Another meal? Here goes! Bother! I should certainly have +reached her first, if I hadn't turned that somersault over the fawn pup!</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That was how it seemed to Finn, whose life was one long, +happy play and swagger at this time. But there were moments of a kind of +seriousness, too, in which Finn had glimpses of real life. That very night, or +rather late afternoon, Finn discovered that he could bark, more or less as +grown-up dogs bark. True, his first, second, and third barks proved too much +for his unstable equilibrium, and he rolled over on his side in emitting the +noble sounds. But the fourth time he leaned against the table-leg under the oak +tree, and on that occasion was able to stand proudly to observe the paralysing +effect of his performance upon the others of his family, who sat round him on +their podgy haunches in a respectfully wide circle, and marvelled fearfully at +his robust prowess. They had all yapped before, but this deep, resonant +bark--fully one in three had no crack in it--this was an achievement indeed. +After a while the grey bitch pup came and tentatively chewed Finn's backbone, +with a vague idea that the sound came from there.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn was escorted--prancing drunkenly--to the +coach-house that evening after his supper, the little sheep-dog within was just +finishing her supper. Finn conceived the notion of showing his foster-mother +what he could do, and accordingly swaggered unsteadily into the coach-house, +delivering loud barks as he advanced, all up and down the scale. The little +sheep-dog (less than twice Finn's size now) raised her nose from the dish and +barked angrily in good earnest. Finn rolled forward and sniffed in casual +fashion at her dish. Whereupon the foster growled at him quite ferociously, and +shouldered the great whelp out of her way. The Master, who was looking on, +nodded his head once or twice thoughtfully.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes," he said, as Finn sidled off to the bed rather +crestfallen, "I think you may take that as your notice to quit, my son; that's +weaning. You've been a good deal on your own lately, you know. Well, I had +meant this for your last night as a baby, anyhow. But as it is--there, there, +little shepherd, you've been a dear, good little mother, haven't you? Six weeks +now; and, as you say, he is a great hulking chap, isn't he? Well, all right; +make it up then, and give him a good-bye lick. I don't think you've much else +to give now, anyway, but the warmth of your body."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But the good, patient little sheep-dog had already placed +herself at the grey whelp's voracious disposal, and he was pounding and tugging +away at her in his usual merciless style. Then, when she went dutifully to lick +the rascal, he thrust at her strongly with his great strong legs, and the +Master, who had been standing, smoking and watching, said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come along, little shepherd. That's good-bye."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And that was the last Finn saw of any foster-mother. That +was the end of babyhood, and the beginning of childhood for Finn. He slept +alone that night, and found it rather awesome during the few minutes in which +his eyes were open, between the last lapped meal at ten o'clock and the first +of the next day, when the Master came to him at five-thirty. The Master held +that if you would breed a really exceptional hound, you must be prepared to +take really exceptional trouble over the task, since a chance lost in the first +half year of your hound's life, is lost for good and all.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="downland scene" src="images/fig10.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="515" height="372" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER4" id="CHAPTER4">CHAPTER V</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">YOUTH BESIDE THE DOWNS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn did not have more than one solitary night for the +present. His great bed in the coach-house, which was twelve feet long by six +feet broad, was shared the next night by the other three puppies, who had seen +the last of their foster-mother that morning. They whimpered a little after the +last night meal, when they found themselves bereft of maternal attention, and +this gave Finn an opportunity for indulging in a certain amount of swagger on +the strength of his previous night's experience. He had already adopted the air +of a dog accustomed to go his own way and to sleep alone. Also, he regarded the +coach-house bed as his own, and the other puppies as youngsters only admitted +to that place by his courtesy. Thus from the very outset, here as elsewhere, he +gave his comrades to understand that he was master, and that no one must +presume to trespass upon any quarter which he took up as his own. All day long +the four puppies had the run of the shed in the orchard, which was kept wide +open. If a shower of rain came, they were bustled into this place by the +Mistress of the Kennels, and there the most of their nine daily meals were +served to them.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Nine meals in a day seems a very large number, but this +was part of the Master's theory in the rearing of Irish Wolfhounds, or any +other dog in whom great size is aimed at. In the week after weaning the meals +began at half-past five in the morning and finished at ten o'clock at night. In +the next week they were cut down to eight meals; the next week seven, the next +week six; the next fortnight five; and then, for a long time, the number of +meals served to these young princes of their breed each day was four. The +object in all this was threefold. First, the Master held it necessary that +these pups should have as much nourishment as they were capable of assimilating +with advantage; secondly, he was anxious never to spoil their appetites by +permitting them at any time to experience surfeit; and, in the third place, he +believed strongly in light meals for young hounds, as distinguished from the +sort of meal often given, which leaves the puppy fit for nothing but the heavy +sleep of the overeaten. Tara's pups romped after their meals, and slept before +them. Their digestions were never overtaxed, and their soft, unset legs were +never overstrained by the extremely bulging stomach which many breeders +associate as a matter of course with puppyhood. This the Master held to be a +point of great importance with hounds of this kind, whose limbs take just as +long to harden and set as those of any other breed, while their increase in +weight to be carried on those limbs is enormously rapid, at all events in the +case of such whelps as those of Tara's.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For instance, at the age of five weeks Finn weighed just +over fourteen pounds. Sixteen days later he weighed 22 lbs. 2 ozs., while the +other three pups weighed respectively on the same day 20 lbs., 19 1/2 lbs., and +18 3/4 lbs. Growth at the rate of just half a pound weight per day is growth +which requires a good deal of wise feeding and care. At the age of twenty weeks +Finn weighed 91 [sic] 1/4 lbs. Puppies' legs are easily bowed and rarely +straightened. Finn and his brother and sisters were never allowed on damp +ground at this period. It was rarely that they were out of the sight of either +the Master or the Mistress of the Kennels for more than half an hour at a time. +As the Master said, breeding champion Irish Wolfhounds is no light undertaking. +The Mistress of the Kennels was the more inclined to agree with him for the +reason that it was her province to see to it, even when the pups were having +their nine meals a day, that the same kind of meal was never served twice +consecutively. The dietary included four or five staple articles, with as many +as seven or eight different accessories. The bills of fare at different +successive periods were as studiously and exactly drawn up by the Master as +ever a human patient's diet is arranged by doctors in a hospital.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But of all these things, which kept several people pretty +busy--five or six feeding dishes were scalded and washed nine times a day; +there was a puppy's kitchen and a puppy's larder--Finn and his companions knew +nothing. To them life was the most delightfully haphazard affair, made up +exclusively of playing, sleeping, and eating, with a little occasional fighting +and mock-fighting (over the huge bones which were placed at their disposal to +serve the purpose of tooth-brushes and tooth-sharpeners) by way of diversion +and excitement. Their play was not at all unlike that of human children. They +loved to dig holes in the ground; to hide behind tree-trunks and spring out +upon one another with terrifying cries and pretended fierceness; all kinds of +make-believe appealed to them greatly, and to none of them more keenly than to +Finn, who liked to come galloping down from the other end of the orchard to the +old oak tree, flying exaggerated danger signals, and making believe that he was +pursued by a savage and remorseless enemy.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3442" id="L3442"></a><img alt="wolfhound playbowing to puppies" +src="images/plate03.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="500" height="376" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Tara smiled broadly, and stretched out her fore-legs on +the ground.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One morning, very much to the amazement of the pups, the +Master came strolling into the orchard, followed by a huge creature of their +own species, who walked with the slow and gracious dignity of a great queen. +None of them guessed that this was Tara, their own mother, and Tara herself +gave no sign of being aware that these were her own children. After some +minutes of embarrassed, watchful uncertainty, Finn, greatly daring, ventured to +step out from among his companions and approach Tara closely enough to sniff +warily at her legs and tail, his own tail hanging meekly on the ground the +while. Tara sniffed at him once with amiable indifference, and then turned her +head the other way. Two minutes later Finn had discovered that this great hound +was perfectly well-meaning and kindly disposed, and that, his habit and nature +being what they were, was sufficient to place him at once upon terms of highly +presumptuous familiarity. Having watched their daring brother from a distance +so far, the other pups now took heart of grace, and were soon sniffing +respectfully about Tara's legs. For a moment the mother of heroes felt, or +pretended to feel, mere boredom; but as the Master turned away to look at some +distant object--a diplomatic move upon his part this--Tara smiled broadly, +stretched out her fore-legs on the ground, exactly as a cat will when about to +play, and, again in cat-like fashion, began to spring about, around, and over +the half-fearful but wholly delighted puppies. When the Master turned round +again, the five of them, mother and four children, were in the midst of the +wildest sort of frolic, and impudent Finn had actually reached the length of +growling at his mother with theatrical savagery, and leaping at the loose skin +about her throat with widely distended eyes and gaping jaws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After this Tara spent most of her days in the orchard with +the pups. When tired of their frivolity, she would retire to the roots of the +oak tree and give them to understand that they were not to bother her further, +or she would leap the gate leading into the garden, leaving her offspring +gaping admiringly upon its orchard side, and stroll into the Master's den for +an hour or so. On one occasion she opened a new vista of life before Finn and +the others. At the higher end of the orchard, nearest to the open downs, there +were a number of rabbit earths, and one morning, when the four pups were +frolicsomely following Tara in that direction, an unwary rabbit allowed the +dogs to get between himself and the earths. Too late the rabbit started up from +the leaf he had been nibbling, and headed for his burrow. Tara bounded forward +and cut off his retreat. Wheeling then at a tangent, the rabbit flew toward the +far end of the orchard, where there was a gap in the fence. Tara was after him +like the wind, her puppies excitedly galloping in her wake, yapping with +delight. Half-way across the orchard Tara overtook the bunny, and her great +jaws closed upon the middle of its body, smashing the spinal column and killing +instantaneously. A moment later and Finn was on the scene in a frenzy of +excitement. Tara drew back, eyeing the dead rabbit with lofty unconcern. Finn, +on the other hand, endowed the poor dead little beast with the dangerous +ferocity of a live tiger, and sprang upon it, snarling and growling +desperately. Round and round his head he whirled the rabbit till his throat was +half-choked with fur, and by that time the other puppies butted in, each +snatching a hold where it could, and tugging valorously. Then it was that the +Master arrived, attracted by the noise of the youngsters' yapping, and the pups +saw no more of their victim.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="puppy with dead rabbit" +src="images/fig11.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="421" height="367" /></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But this brought a new interest into Finn's life, and much +of his time now was spent in the neighbourhood of the rabbit earths. Many +glorious runs Finn had after venturesome rabbits in that corner of the orchard, +but he was not fleet enough as yet to catch them, and possibly his jaws could +hardly have managed the killing in any case. But even so, he experienced great +joy in the matter of stalking, hunting, and lying in wait.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On a glorious mellow afternoon in September, when the four +pups, captained as usual by Finn, were having great fun with a hammock chair, +from which they had managed to tear the canvas, they looked up suddenly, and +not without some sense of shame, to see three people strolling into the orchard +from the garden with Tara. There was the Master and the Mistress of the Kennels +and a stately, white-haired lady, who fondled Tara's beautiful head as she +walked. Tara was walking with great care and delicacy to make the fondling +easy. She had no idea who the lady might be, but yet remembered having met her +before upon more than one occasion. This was the lady from Yorkshire who had +been the generous means of restoring Tara to the Master. She was staying now in +Sussex for a few days, and had been asked to come to the little house beside +the downs to see Tara's children. Tara was perfectly aware that this was the +object of the walk in the orchard, and, though she may have forgotten that +these puppies were her own offspring, she certainly had a distinctly +proprietary feeling where they were concerned, as one could see from the +modest, deprecatory expression on her face when the youngsters came gambolling +about her, and were duly admired by the visitor.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You have not disposed of any of them yet, then?" said the +lady to the Master. "Oh, no; I should not have thought of doing that until you +had an opportunity of making your choice," he replied.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I? Oh, but, really, I--I----"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The lady from Yorkshire paused. For one thing she was not +quite sure whether the Master meant that he wished her to buy one of the +puppies, or whether he wanted to give one of them to her. She was a wealthy +lady, so that the monetary aspect of it did not exercise her mind much, but she +would not for the world have hurt the Master's feelings.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"But I am quite sure you will not deny me the real +pleasure of giving you one of Tara's children," said the Master. "That is a +small return for your gift of Tara herself; but I should like to think of your +having one of this family, and it would make me unhappy if you were to deny me +the opportunity of giving you your real choice. That was why I asked you to +come to-day. It is Tara's thank-offering, and I can assure you she has excelled +herself in the making of it."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The three were seated now, so that they might observe and +admire the family at leisure.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes, she really has excelled herself. That grey dog there +is Finn. When he was weighed yesterday he scaled nine pounds more than the +biggest of the other three, and they are as big as any whelps of their age I +have seen. That grey dog is going to be the biggest Irish Wolfhound bred in our +time, in my opinion; and if you choose him he will do you credit. He should be +a great champion one day. You will always know, if you take Finn, that Tara was +not ungrateful to you. As for me, I know very well you will never suspect me of +ingratitude."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"It is very, very good of you, and I shall be delighted, +delighted to have one of Tara's children."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then the visitor stopped, gazing thoughtfully at the +puppies. Her kind heart was a good deal moved in this matter, and she guessed +more than the Master gave her credit for guessing, in the matter of how much +hope and pride he had centred on the rearing of Finn. When the visitor spoke +again, it was to say, slowly—</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Finn is quite splendid, there is not a doubt of that, and +I can easily believe he will do all that you expect of him. But, if I may be +quite frank, what I should really most like would be to have a female if I +might. I should then feel that I not only had one of Tara's children of this +family, but also that I had a possible future mother of heroes. But--perhaps +you want to keep both females, or to dispose of them otherwise?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One would not like to suggest of this good lady that she +was anything but strictly truthful; but it is a fact that she never had done +any breeding of hounds, and that, up till that day at all events, she had never +thought to. But the Master did not know this, and it was with an undeniable +thrill of pleasure that he hailed the unexpected chance of being able to keep +Finn. He had made up his mind that Finn would be chosen, and was quite prepared +and glad to make the sacrifice; but it was a notable sacrifice, and if the same +end could be served without losing Finn, why that was blithe news. He was not +sure of his intention to keep either of the bitch pups, and in any case he +would not have thought of keeping both of them. But honesty and real gratitude +made him, impelled him, to point out to the visitor that she might never again +have the opportunity of obtaining the kind of hound that Finn would make. +However, she stuck to her preference for a daughter, and so it was decided. +Three days afterwards a large dog-box on little wheels, with grated windows and +a properly ventilated roof, arrived from Yorkshire, and was placed outside the +back-kitchen door. After a very light breakfast next morning--it is bad for +whelps, or grown dogs either, to have a full meal before a journey, because the +stress and excitements of railway travelling, which are at least as great for a +dog as those of air-ship travelling would be for a man, arrest the process of +digestion--the fawn bitch puppy was coaxed into this box, while Tara looked on +with a good deal of interest; and that was the last she saw of the cottage by +the Downs. When the fawn whelp left that travelling-box again, some nine hours +later, she was in the paved stable courtyard of a great house in Yorkshire.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A week later another visitor came, this time from +Somerset, and his choice fell upon a fawn dog, after half an hour spent in +trying to tempt the Master to part with Finn. When this visitor, who was a +famous breeder of Irish Wolfhounds, was leaving, with the fawn dog whelp in a +travelling hamper, he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"But, really, I think you are mistaken, you know, about +the grey whelp. He's a beauty, of course, or I shouldn't want him; but I fancy +you made a mistake not to accept that offer. Fifty guineas is a longish figure +for a three months' pup, with distemper to face and all that. I'm not sure that +I wasn't over rash to make such an offer."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master laughed. "Well," he said, "be thankful that +there's no likelihood of my taking advantage of your rashness. As for +distemper, we don't deal in it at all; don't believe in it. If pups are +consistently nourished, and get no chills and no damp and no infection, there's +no earthly reason why they should ever have distemper. At least, that's how +we've found it."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">So the fawn dog whelp went, and Finn stayed with the grey +bitch pup, and Tara's family was thus reduced to two. The Master said that as +he had sold only one puppy of the family so far, he really could not afford to +keep Finn's sister; but, however that might be, he kept her for the present, +and now that there were but two of the youngsters, they began to live more +after the fashion of grown hounds. As autumn advanced the pair were gradually +given more and more in the way of grown-up privileges. They learned to come +into the den with Tara, and to behave themselves with discretion when there. +They never saw such a thing as a whip, but the Master spoke to them with all +the sharp emphasis of a growl when original canine sin tempted them to the +chewing of newspapers, or attempting to tear rugs. Also, they learned very much +from Tara in the matter of the deportment and dignity which becomes a +Wolfhound. In the latter part of November their meals were reduced in number +from four to three a day, and they were presented with green leather collars +with the Master's name engraved in brass thereon. These were for outdoor wear +only, outside the doors of the home premises that is, and with them came +lessons in leading which required a good deal of patience on the part of the +Mistress of the Kennels, for, after the first two lessons, which were given by +the Master, much of teaching work fell to her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Early in the morning, as a general thing, the Master took +Tara and the two youngsters out on the Downs, and these were altogether +delightful experiences for Finn and his sister. It was on one of these +occasions, and just after entering his sixth month, that Finn tasted the joy +and pride of his first kill. He had started with Tara after a rabbit which had +scurried out from behind a little hillock no more than ten distant paces. The +rabbit wheeled at a tangent from under Tara's nose, and, as it headed down the +slope, was bound to cross Finn's course. The grey whelp's heart swelled within +him; his jaws dripped hot desire as he galloped. The fateful moment came, and +the whelp seized his prey precisely as Tara would have seized it, a little +behind the shoulders. It was bad for the rabbit, because Finn was neither +practised nor powerful enough to kill instantaneously as his mother would have +done. But his vehemence in shaking was such that before Tara reached his side +the quarry was dead. Tara sniffed at the dead rabbit with the air of an +official inspector of such matters, and then sat up on her haunches to indicate +that she had no wish to interfere with her son's prize. As for Finn, he was +uncertain what course to adopt. The rabbit was very thoroughly killed; killed +with a thoroughness which would have sufficed for half a dozen rabbits. A +number of obscure instincts were at work in Finn's mind as he jerkily licked, +and withdrew from, and nosed again at his first kill. In the main his instincts +said, "Tear and eat!" But, as against that, he was not hungry. The Master +believed in giving the dogs a snack before the morning run, and breakfast after +it, because this prevents a dog being anxious to pick up any more or less +edible trifle of an undesirable kind that he may meet with, and, then, there +were other instincts. It was long, very long, since Finn's kind had been +killers for eating purposes. Finn was undecided in the matter. He certainly +would have allowed no dog to take his quarry from him; but the matter was +decided for him when the Master arrived on the scene and picked up the rabbit +by its hind legs. Finn jumped to catch it in his jaws; but the Master spoke +with unmistakable decision when he bade Finn drop it, and there the matter +ended, except as a proud and inspiring memory, and a ground for added swagger +on Finn's part.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the quiet corner of Sussex, where Finn was born, it was +the rarest thing for the Wolfhounds to meet another dog; but it did occur at +times, and then it was odd to see how strong the instincts of their race was in +the whelps. They seemed to take it as a matter of course that other dogs must +be lesser creatures, and that as such they were to be treated with every sort +of courtesy, patience, and good humour. Finn and his sister never made +advances, but they would stand politely still while the stranger sniffed all +round them. For pups in their first half-year they were extraordinarily +dignified. Much of this, of course, they learned from gracious Tara, one of the +gentlest and sweetest-mannered hounds that ever lived. Also, they had that +within, in the shape of truly aristocratic lineage, which gave them great +self-respect, a tradition of courtesy, and a remarkable deal of +<em>savoir-faire</em>. The notion of snapping or snarling at a stranger, human +or brute, simply never occurred to either of them; never for an instant. That +there were certain creatures whose part it was to be chased and killed seemed +evident to Finn; but that there was any created thing in the world to be +feared, mistrusted, hated, or snapped at, he did not believe. It may be that +Finn was more of a gentleman and a sportsman than many who have borne those +titles in the world without challenge or demur from any of their own kind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound lying down" src="images/fig12.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="557" height="210" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER5" id="CHAPTER5">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE ORDEAL OF THE RING</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's first winter was a mild one, and it passed without +his noticing anything remarkable in climatic conditions. But he was aware of +change when spring came. The Downs round Finn's home never seemed to get really +wet. The drainage of their chalky soil was such that their surface could not +hold much moisture, and outside the Downs the world was as yet a closed book to +Finn. But spring asserted itself notably in his veins, and appeared to enter +into a partnership with his lusty youth, and wholesome, generous scale of +living, to speed the young Wolfhound's growth in wonderful style. Long, slow +trots along the Sussex highways and by-ways, behind the bicycle of the Master +or the Mistress, hardened Finn's round feet without overstraining his young +legs, for the reason that the pace was always set with special reference to his +capabilities in this direction. Even in the winter nine-tenths of his waking +hours were spent in the open; yet so wise and constant was the supervision of +his life that he never knew what chill meant, and never lay on damp ground, +never missed a meal, and never suffered from the penalties which attend +overtaxed canine digestion, as surely as they attend the same state in human +beings.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound jumping gate" +src="images/fig13.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="354" height="400" /></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the morning of his first birthday, Finn, with his +sister Kathleen and Tara and the Master, walked down to the little local +railway station and was weighed. He weighed 119 lbs., exactly 26 1/2 lbs. more +than his sister, and thirteen pounds less than his mother. With the standard +pressed down upon his shoulder-bones he stood within an eighth of an inch of +thirty-five inches in height. (The height of Wolfhounds is measured from the +shoulder to the ground, not from the head.) It must be remembered that although +some dogs reach their full development in one year from birth, Irish Wolfhounds +are not really fully developed before the end of the second year, though they +may be said to attain their full height, and probably their full length, in +about eighteen months. After that, however, comes a good deal of what breeders +call "furnishing," which means filling out, general development of flesh and +muscle and coat, and an all-round hardening and "setting." Chest and loin +deepen and widen a good deal in the second year; ribs, legs, jaws, tail, and +neck all develop and strengthen greatly during this period, under such +favourable conditions as Finn enjoyed. But he was a noble-looking young hound, +even on this day which, technically, saw the end of his whelphood.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then came three more months of Sussex downland summer, +the hunting of innumerable rabbits, out-of-door days which were fifteen hours +long, and a steadily increasing amount of slow-road exercise, for which Finn +was still fortified by three good meals a day, and those of the best that care +and science could devise. In early October the Master devised a new game, +tolerably amusing in its way, but rather lacking in point and excitement, Finn +thought. A ring was marked out in the orchard by means of a few faggots being +stuck into the ground at intervals, and in the centre of this ring the Mistress +of the Kennels would take up her stand as a sort of director of ceremonies. +Then, sometimes with the assistance of the maidservant and the gardener, and +sometimes a couple of village lads, Tara and Kathleen and Finn would be led +gravely round and round, and to and fro, by the Master, while all their +movements were closely watched from the centre of the ring. At first Finn found +this a good deal of a nuisance, because he disliked having a lead attached to +his collar; his inclination was to pull against it sideways. Before him always, +however, he had the gracious example of his beautiful mother, who never did +more than keep the lead nicely tight while she marched round, with her head +well up, her tail hanging in a graceful sweeping curve, and her whole body +radiantly expressive of alertness. Gradually it was borne in upon Finn that +these were matters which touched his reputation, his pride, his belief in +himself; that he, Finn, was being observed and judged with regard to his +appearance and deportment. Once possessed of this idea, who so stately proud in +all the Wolfhound world as Finn? At the end of a week he could march as +sedately as Tara herself, or bound forward with the springy elasticity of a +tiger-cat at a touch on his flank from the Master's hand; stand erect on his +hind-feet, with one fore-paw on the Master's forefinger raised shoulder high; +or fall to attention with hind-quarters well set out, fore-feet even and +forward, head up, and tail correctly curved, in the position of a thoroughbred +hackney at rest. It was great fun to find how easily commendation could be +earned from the Master in this simple manner, for Finn never realized that +quite a number of hours of patient instruction and practice had been devoted to +the attainment of this end.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then there came a mid-October morning when, in place of +the early scamper on the Downs, Finn and Kathleen were given a light breakfast +a little before daylight arrived, and after that were treated to an unusually +elaborate grooming. Finn had an exciting sense of impending change and +adventure, and even Tara seemed moved to a stately kind of restlessness which +kept her pacing the den as though performing a minuet, instead of sitting or +lying at her ease. Tara seemed to be a good deal moved and excited when two +bright nickel chains, with queer little tin medals attached to them, were +produced, and fitted on two new green collars for Finn and Kathleen. She nosed +these chains with great interest, for they roused all kinds of vague memories +in her, and anticipations, too, which she could not define to herself. (Finn +and Kathleen had never seen dog chains before, and paid very little heed to +them now. Their necks and shoulders had never tasted the irk of the state which +is called being "tied up.") The Master drew the attention of the Mistress of +the Kennels to Tara's interest in the chains, and then he stroked the great +bitch's head as he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Never any more, old lady. You have done your share, and +shall never be hustled about at shows again; so just lie down and go to sleep. +The Missis will be home to see you again this evening. Be a good girl, and wish +your son and daughter luck!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Tara watched them wistfully as they all filed out of the +stable-yard gateway to the road, and then, with the philosophy born of honoured +age and matronhood, returned to the den and lay down with her muzzle on the +Master's slippers.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was weighed on the station platform that morning, and +turned the scale at 139 lbs., with nine months still before him for +"furnishing."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Of course, one has to remember that not a single chance +has been missed with Finn," said the Master. "His development is probably some +months ahead of the average hound of his age, but it is pretty good at that; +yes, I think it is pretty good."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then a train came roaring into the station, and Finn +and Kathleen, who up till now had only occasionally seen trains from a +distance, lowered their tails, and pulled back a little on their chains. The +Master had a pleasant way with people like railway guards, and this particular +train had not very many people in it. Accordingly the two young hounds +presently found themselves in a passenger compartment, the door of which was +locked. So chains were removed, and while Finn stood with his nose against the +glass of one window, Kathleen, facing the other way, had her nose against the +opposite window. When the train started, with a jerk, Finn had his first abrupt +sensation of travel, and he did not like it at all. It seemed to him that the +ground was suddenly snatched from under him, and then he saw trees and posts +and houses flying bodily past him. He barked loudly at one little flying house, +which seemed almost to brush the window against which his nose rested, and the +Mistress of the Kennels laughed at him as she placed a hand caressingly on his +neck. Now Finn detested being laughed at. He did not know what it meant, and +when the Master laughed <em>with</em> him, during a frolic of any kind, he +liked the sound very much. But being laughed at always made the hair stir +uncomfortably on his shoulder-blades. As the culprit in this case was the +Mistress of the Kennels, he did not even look at her angrily; but when Tara +laughed at him, as she often had done in the past, he always protested with a +sort of throaty beginning of a growl, which was not so much really a growl as +an equivalent for the sound humans make and describe as "Tut, tut!" or "Tsh, +tsh!" Finn did not again bark at a flying house or tree; but, though the whole +experience interested him very much, he was greatly puzzled by some of the +phenomena connected with this railway journey.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In due course, but not before Finn had become +comparatively blasé as a traveller, and more than a little weary of the whole +thing, the chains were put on again, and the hounds were led out from the train +into the midst of a crowd of strange people. Finn had no idea that there were +anything like so many people in the world as he found pressing about him now, +and many of them were leading dogs on chains. Finn's attitude towards these +strange dogs was one of considerable reserve. He was very self-conscious; +rather like a young man from the country who suddenly and unexpectedly found +himself in the midst of some fashionable crush in London; an exceedingly +well-bred young man, of remarkably fine figure; a sportsman of some prowess, +too; but one who felt that he had not been introduced to any of the members of +the noisy, bustling throng, and fancied that every one else was conscious of +the fact.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">New experiences were crowding thick and fast upon Finn and +Kathleen just now. After rubbing shoulders with this astonishing crowd for some +minutes, they found themselves face to face for the first time in their lives +with a flight of steps. True, they each felt a soothing hand on their +shoulders, a hand they knew and loved, but the thing was disconcerting none the +less. At first glance these steps obviously called for small leaps and bounds +as a mode of progression. And yet, when one took ever so small a leap, one's +nose inevitably came into sharp contact with the legs of strange humans who +climbed in front; a distinctly unpleasant experience, because undignified, and +implying a desire for familiarity which Finn by no means felt.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">However, an end came to the steps at length, and then, +after walking some distance in the open road, and being allowed to run loose +for a few minutes in a quiet street, full of strange, strong smells and a +curious absence of air, Finn and Kathleen were led into a large building, +bigger than the orchard at home, and containing, besides countless humans, all +the dogs that ever were in all the world, all talking incoherently, and +together. At least, that was how it struck Finn and Kathleen. As a matter of +fact, there were some thousands of dogs in the Crystal Palace that day, for it +was the opening day of the great annual Kennel Club Show; the biggest society +event of the year among dogs. It was a more exclusive assembly than any of the +purely human sort, because every dog, among all the thousands there assembled, +was an aristocrat with a pedigree as long as his body. There was not a parvenu +among them all; and there are no human assemblies about which that may be +said.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It is difficult to conceive precisely how great an ordeal +it was for Finn and Kathleen to face, when they were led down the length of +this great building to their own particular bench among the other Irish +Wolfhounds, of whom there were some thirty or forty present. For fifty yards or +more they walked down an aisle between double rows of benches, every yard of +which was occupied by terriers of one sort and another, all yapping and barking +at the top of their respective registers. Be it remembered that Finn and +Kathleen, up till that morning, had never been at close quarters with more than +one dog at a time, and had never seen more than about a dozen dogs outside +their own breed altogether. The noise of barking, the pungency and variety of +smells, and the crowded multiplicity of doggy personalities were at first +overpowering, and Finn and his sister walked with lowered tails, quick-shifting +eyes, raised hackles, and twitching skin. But pride of race, and the +self-confidence which goes with exceptional strength, soon came to Finn's aid, +and by the time he reached his own bench, his tail was carried high and muzzle +also, though he walked with unusual rigidity, and at heart was far from +comfortable.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Though the benches were continuous, the space allotted to +each dog was divided from that of the next dog by a strong galvanized iron +net-work, and each dog's chain was fastened to the back of his bench. When the +Wolfhounds were benched, Finn had his sister upon his right, and (though he +never suspected it) his redoubtable sire, the great Champion Dermot Asthore, on +his left. On Kathleen's right was a big rebel of a dog with an angry eye, named +Wolf Tone. Facing them, on the other side of their aisle, was a long row of +their cousins, the Deerhound family; while behind them, and out of sight, was +an even longer row of their cousins on the other side: the Great Dane family. +Farther on, beyond Champion Dermot Asthore, who sat in the rear of his bench +wrapped in a cloak of kingly isolation--he disliked shows very much, and now, +late in his great career, was thoroughly weary of them--was a row of five and +twenty distant connections of Finn's, belonging to the Russian Wolfhound or +Borzois family. Finn had noticed these white and lemon coloured curled darlings +as he was led along to his own bench, and his nostrils had wrinkled with scorn +as he noted their "prettiness," the snipey sharpness of their long muzzles, the +extraordinary slimness and delicacy of their legs, the effeminate narrowness of +their chests, and the toyish blue ribbons that decorated some of their collars. +Mentally, he granted these fashionable darlings fleetness, but absolutely +withheld from them the killing powers they are credited with. "Bah!" one may +imagine Finn muttering to himself. "Foxy tails, weasel's faces, terrier's +legs--you are almost toys!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Heavy-coated, massive old Dermot Asthore took no more +notice of Finn than of the rest of the show. He was supremely bored, and, being +perfectly aware that the show lasted three days, his immediate prospect +disgusted him. One fancied that on the few occasions upon which he did open his +mouth at all, his remark was always the same--"Tcha! And at my time of life, +too!" But Finn was not otherwise neglected. The Mistress of the Kennels had a +little camp-stool, and on this she sat mid-way between Finn and Kathleen. Finn +also had the Master's hand-bag in his section of the bench; and that was rather +nice and companionable. Also, the Master himself seemed seldom to be far away. +He flitted to and fro, generally in conversation with somebody, and always +followed, for so long as he was in sight, by the eyes of Finn and Kathleen. In +his hand he carried a yellow book which told him the names of every dog in all +that vast assemblage of canine princes and lordlings, with details, too, as to +their exalted ancestry.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Mistress of the Kennels was studying a similar book, +and if Finn, whose muzzle at this time was just above her shoulder, could have +read, he would have seen that she was busy with the Irish Wolfhound section of +the catalogue. This showed her that there were three separate classes for Irish +Wolfhound dogs, and three for bitches of the same breed--Open, Limit, and +Novice; with first, second, and third prizes to be won in each class. The Open +classes were for all and any Irish Wolfhounds of each sex; the Limit classes +were for such as had not previously won more than six first prizes; and the +Novice classes were for hounds that had never won a first prize in any show. +There was also a junior class for hounds of both sexes under the age of +eighteen months. In the Open dog class there appeared the names of no fewer +than two fully-fledged champions, and two other fully developed hounds that +were already within measurable reach of championship honours; besides several +other Wolfhounds of high repute and proved prowess as prize-winners at shows. +In the Open bitch class there was one champion entered, and four or five others +of whom great things had been predicted. In the other classes it was evident +that competition would be brisk. In the Limit class, for example, were several +hounds well past maturity who had already won at other shows as many as four +and five first prizes. The Novice classes included the names of some extremely +promising hounds, several of whom had already won second and third prizes +elsewhere. In the junior class there were four other entries, besides those of +Finn and Kathleen. But Finn and Kathleen had been boldly entered right through, +in all classes for which they were eligible. Old breeders who had not seen them +smiled over the breeder's enthusiasm in entering fifteen months old youngsters +in Open classes, where they would meet old champions, whose very names carried +great weight, both with the judges and the public.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A young Irish Wolfhound, lying down among the straw of his +bench, is a very deceptive animal. When he is, say, three years old, his beard +and brows, massive shoulders, and set, assured expression give one fair warning +of the commanding presence he will display when he rises. But when he is yet +young he looks a much lesser creature than he is when seen on a show bench, +particularly if, as so often happens, he makes a kind of nest for himself in +the straw. Most of the people specially interested in Wolfhounds paused +opposite Finn's place, and made some passing remark about: "Fine head, that!" +"Good muzzle that youngster has!" or if they noticed one of his forelegs over +the straw: "Wonderful heavy timbers, those!" But they paid no very particular +heed really to the hounds from the cottage beside the Downs. Now and again, +however, an old breeder, passing leisurely along the benches, would pause when +he had passed Kathleen, and, after a quick glance back, return to Finn's place, +looking up his number in the catalogue, and gazing at the young hound with a +gravely calculating eye. "Fifteen months old!" muttered one of these, glancing +to and fro between his catalogue and Finn. "H'm! By old Dermot--Tara. Yes. +Finn. Ah!" And so on down the benches. Finn had a notion that these men knew a +good deal; they had a knowledgeable way with them. Finn would have obeyed them +readily. That was how their manner impressed him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">By the time Finn had to some extent exhausted the first +novelty of his surroundings, and was contemplating the desirability of sleeping +off some of its effects--the number of new impressions he had formed that +morning was at least equal to those of a human's first visit to a great picture +gallery--the Master came along with something of a rush, chains were unsnapped, +and Finn and his sister were taken down from the bench. A number of other +Wolfhounds were leaving the bench at the same time, and being led in the +direction of a fenced-in judging ring (square in shape, by the way) at one end +of the building. The dog classes for Irish Wolfhounds were about to be judged, +and the Mistress of the Kennels brought Kathleen along, though her sex was not +to be judged for some time, because she knew the youngster would be unhappy if +left alone on the bench. The Master was leading Finn, and, before they entered +the ring, he passed his hand solicitously over the dog's immature brows and +beard once or twice, even as a very young man may be noticed to tug at his +moustache with a view, presumably, to making the very most of it. The Mistress +found a place for herself beside the ring with Kathleen, which not only gave +her a good view of the judging, but also showed her plainly to all in the ring. +This was for Finn's especial benefit. And then the Master walked into the ring +with Finn, and took up his place next to the lady who led the grand old hound +who had sired Finn--Champion Dermot.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> In the centre of the ring, accompanied by a busy steward +with a sheaf of notes in his hand, stood the Judge of Irish Wolfhounds; a man +grown grey, white-haired indeed, in the study of dog-folk, and one of whom it +might be said that, by his own single-hearted efforts, he had saved the breed +of Irish Wolfhounds from becoming extinct in the middle of last century, and +accomplished a great deal of the spade work which has brought the modern breed +to its present flourishing state. No man living could claim to know more of +Irish Wolfhounds than this white-haired Judge, who stood in the centre of a +ring formed by all the greatest aristocrats of the historic breed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Move them round, please," he said quietly. "Keep them +moving as freely as possible."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was the only hound in that ring under two and a half +years of age, and Finn was just fifteen months old, a child among the +acknowledged leaders and chieftains of his race. One noticed it in the +comparative angularity and leggyness of his build. He carried less flesh than +the others, was far less set; in a word, they had "furnished," and Finn had +not. The Mistress of the Kennels, from her place beside the ring, noticed these +things, and sighed for the soaring ambition which had led to the entering of +this tyro in Open class.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Finn, boy!" said she, in an impressive, long-drawn +whisper, as Finn passed her place. The youngster's ears lifted, and his fine +neck curved superbly as he looked round at the Mistress. And just then the +Master bent over him, whispering close beside his ear certain nonsense words +which were associated in Finn's mind with certain events, like rabbit-hunting +and racing on the Downs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Chu, chu, chu--u--u--, Finn!" whispered the Master. And +that was a nonsense word connected with two things only: the unexpected rising +of a rabbit ahead, and the new game in which Finn had been led round a ring +with Tara and Kathleen in the orchard at home. And, to be sure, there was the +Mistress of the Kennels looking on all the time, and Finn and the Master +walking round, and other dogs, and----</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And it was thus that Finn passed a Judge at a dog show for +the first time. It was thus that he realized that it was a show; that he, Finn, +was being judged, compared with others of his kind. From that moment Finn +showed the best that was in him to show, with an air as kingly as that of any +of his warrior ancestors in the ancient days when they were the friends and +defenders of kings, the companions in sport of great chieftains. When next Finn +approached the Judge in the march round, the Master touched his flank, and he +rose up to his full towering height, his fore-paws higher than a man's head, +and the Master pretended to rebuke him with: "Down, Finn! Down, you rascal!" +But Finn knew well, by his tone, that all was well, and his own appearance most +imposing. The Judge, in the centre of the ring, chewed the end of his pencil +reflectively, and now and again he said, "That will do, thank you!" to some +exhibitor, and that exhibitor withdrew from the ring with his hound, wearing an +elaborately assumed air of indifference or relief, and feeling much real +chagrin. Occasionally the Judge would merely wave his hand for the same +purpose, with a nod to some particular exhibitor.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During about the fifth or sixth march round the Judge +waved his hand and nodded to the Master with a murmured remark. The Master's +face fell, and, as he drew abreast of the opening in the side of the ring, he +moved out slowly with Finn. To him then came a steward, fussily official. He +was not to withdraw from the ring, it appeared, but only to take up his stand +in one corner of it with Champion Dermot Asthore, Champion Munster, and a +magnificent hound named Cormac. The Judge was making notes on slips of paper +now, and in another minute or so the ring was empty, save for the three hounds +mentioned and Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And now there came the most searching sort of examination +of these four Wolfhounds, who were drawn up in a row before the Judge. Teeth, +eyes, claws, all were in turn closely scrutinized by the man who had weighed +and studied such matters for the half of a century. Muscles and joints were +carefully felt, and all in a manner which no self-respecting hound could take +exception to; with the assured, gentle, knowledgeable touch which soothes and +inspires confidence in all animal folk. Then the four hounds must walk round +once more in single file. Then they must run to and fro, singly. And, lastly, +they must stand together to have the measuring standard applied to their +shoulders. Young Finn was the last to come under the standard; and the Judge +measured him four times over before he would admit himself correct in +pronouncing Finn full 35 1/4 inches at the shoulder: "And I may say, sir, the +biggest hound I ever measured. Fifteen and a half months, you say? Tcha! +Remarkable; <em>re</em>-markable, sir." And this Judge knew more about Irish +Wolfhounds than any other man living.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Cormac's master was told that he could stand aside, and a +murmur went round the ring of spectators to the effect that Cormac was the +winner. Then Champion Munster was told to stand aside, and the crowd placed him +second. And then the Judge spent five reflective minutes in pondering over +Champion Dermot Asthore, the most famous Irish Wolfhound of his day, and young +Finn, his son, and the son of beautiful Tara. The crowd wondered which of these +two was to have third prize, the celebrated old champion or the tyro.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At last the Judge drew back, saying: "That will do, thank +you!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The crowd surged round the notice-board. Excitement ran +high now, for this was the most important Wolfhound class of the whole show, +and the stewards were approaching the board to pin up the winning numbers. The +Master glanced across at the Mistress of the Kennels, and stooped then to +fondle Finn's ears, and murmur nonsense words to him. Then he, too, pressed +forward to the notice-board, and read the awards, thus:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> 1st...No. 247.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> 2nd...No. 248.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> 3rd...No. 261.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> V.H.C...No. 256.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> H.C...No. 259.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Not daring to be quite certain, the Master drew out the +little medal from beside Finn's collar, and read again on it Finn's number: +247. By this single judgment, then, Finn was declared winner of the Open class +for Irish Wolfhound dogs, and that meant that, unless a bitch could be found to +beat him, Finn also won the Challenge Shield for best Irish Wolfhound in the +Show. Champion Dermot Asthore, his sire, came second, Champion Munster third, +Cormac very highly commended, and a dog called Patrick highly commended.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A moment later the Mistress of the Kennels was in +possession of the great news, and her arms were about Finn's neck, while Finn +nosed the momentarily neglected Kathleen's muzzle.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You great, beautiful Finn, do you know you are first? Do +you know you've beaten all the champions?" she said. And Finn nuzzled her +shoulder and wondered why she was in any doubt about his recognition of a thing +so obvious. But it was a very great triumph all the same; the greatest triumph +that had ever fallen to a breeder of Irish Wolfhounds, as some of those who +hastened to congratulate the Master now were careful to point out.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"For a fifteen months' novice, you know, against two +champions, and a hound like Cormac--wonderful!" they said. But all were agreed +that Finn justified the award. "He's the tallest hound in the breed, now," said +the Judge, as he passed that way, and lingered to pass his hand over Finn's +shoulder; "and he will be the biggest and finest if he lives; distinctly the +finest Irish Wolfhound I have ever handled, and--I've handled most of them." +Higher tribute from such a Judge no dog could earn. The Master flushed with +pleasure and pride as he heard it, and turned to receive the congratulations of +the exhibitors of Champions Dermot Asthore, and Munster.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the Limit and Novice classes Finn was awarded first +place as a matter of course. There was nothing there to beat him. And then came +the judging of the bitch classes, in which Kathleen did extraordinarily well +for so young a hound, and in such "good company," as the saying goes. She won +third prize in the Open class, second in the Limit, and first in the Novice. +And then four other young hounds filed into the ring with Finn and Kathleen to +be judged in the junior class. The other four young hounds were of a very good +sort, but they had not the development, the bone, muscle, and stature of Finn +and Kathleen, and there was not much hesitation in the decision which placed +Finn first, Kathleen second, and a youngster called Connemara third.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then Finn had to be judged beside the winner in the +Open class for bitches, to decide who should be given the Challenge Shield for +the best Irish Wolfhound in the Show. And this was a task which tried the +white-haired Judge's patience for a long time. The female was Champion Lady +Iseult of Leinster, and one of the most beautiful hounds of her sex ever seen. +She was fully matured, and her reputation was world-wide. Judged on "points," +as breeders say, she was very near to perfection. Technically, it was difficult +to find fault in her, unless that she was a shade too straight in her hocks, a +fault that often goes with great stature in a hound. Finn's hocks were curved +like an Arab stallion's, springy as a cat's. The Judge tested the two hounds +side by side, again and again, and in every way he could think of, but without +coming to a decision between them. At last, after passing his hand down the +hocks of the Lady Iseult, he asked that they might both be run, quickly as +possible, while led. That seemed to guide him a good deal. But it was clear +that the conscientious old Judge and breeder was not yet fully satisfied. +Finally, he had the opening to the rings closed, and a hurdle brought in. Then +the Lady Iseult was invited to run at and leap the hurdle. She did so, and with +a good grace, returning docilely enough to her master. Then the Master loosed +Finn, and the Mistress of the Kennels called him from the far side of the ring. +Finn bounded forward with the elasticity of a cat, and cleared the hurdle with +a perfect spring and fully two feet to spare. The Judge stroked his imperial, +laid a hand on the shoulders of both hounds, and said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"The young dog has it--the finest hound I ever saw!"</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="dognapper and wolfhound by night" +src="images/fig14.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="261" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER6" id="CHAPTER6">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">REVELATIONS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It is the custom at dog shows for the authorities to +distribute certificates on coloured cardboard of all the awards made by the +judges. At this show of Finn's great triumph, first prize cards were all blue, +second prize cards red, and third prize cards yellow. The custom was for +exhibitors proudly to affix these cards to the wire net-work stretched above +the bench of the winning dog. So it fell out that soon after the judging of +Wolfhounds was over, two red cards and two blue cards were fixed over +Kathleen's bench, and the Mistress of the Kennels lavished considerable +attention upon her, lest she should be moved to jealousy of Finn. The +decoration of the wire-work over Finn's bench was most striking.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">First, there were four blue first prize cards, for his +sensational win in Open, Limit, Novice, and Junior classes. Then there was a +very handsome card with ribbons attached, signifying that Finn had won the +Challenge Shield for the best Irish Wolfhound in the Show. And then there were +two other blue cards telling that Finn had won two special prizes; one, a medal +offered by a member of the Irish Wolfhound Club for the best hound at the Show +bred by its exhibitor; and another, of two guineas, offered by a well-known +Irish sportsman for the biggest Irish Wolfhound in the Show. And so Finn sat in +state beneath a sort of dome consisting of no fewer than seven trophies. It +seemed a little hard on that magnificent hound, his sire, who occupied the next +bench, under the shelter of but one solitary red card. But Dermot Asthore was a +philosopher, and, as has been said, weary of shows. He lay curled, like a great +cat, and slept stolidly, presenting nothing more conscious to the passing +throng than a small triangular section of one blood-shot eye.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">With Finn matters were otherwise. His numerous trophies +won him much attention, even from the large majority who were ignorant of his +great technical claims to fame. There was always a little group in front of +Finn's bench, and those of his admirers who had claims upon the Master--besides +many who had none--were continually begging that he should be taken down from +the bench, so that they might admire his full stature. Then there were +newspaper men with cameras and note-books; and there were dealers with +cheque-books, and a ready hand and eye for deprecation. But these were given no +sort of encouragement by the Master. Finn received as much attention in the +evening papers that day as any leader of human society; and in the papers +devoted to doggy interests, a great deal more. He was conscious of more of this +than you might suppose, even though he could not read newspapers: but the thing +he was most keenly conscious of was the fact that he had managed greatly to +please the Master and the Mistress of the Kennels. Finn felt happy and proud +about this, but, although he was taken down from the bench several times and +led into out-of-the-way corners where his chain could be removed and he was +able to stretch his limbs, still, he became pretty thoroughly tired of the +publicity and racket of the Dog Show before he was led out of the building at +ten o'clock that night, with Kathleen, by the Master. The Mistress had gone +home to Tara, early in the evening; but the Master was sleeping in lodgings +near the Palace, which he had engaged on the clear understanding that he was +allowed to bring the Wolfhounds there with him. Finn had not realized as yet +that one of the penalties of the fame that he had won lay in the fact that he +was obliged to spend another two whole days in the show building.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> But though Finn and Kathleen knew it not, their lot was a +far more fortunate one than that of the great majority of their kind at the +Show. Knowing that they would be unhappy if left in the building at night, that +they probably would be too much wrought up to eat there, and that they would +feel being chained up for so long more than most dogs, the Master had arranged +to take them out at night, in order that they might have half an hour's freedom +before supper and retirement to a sleeping place in the room he had taken for +himself. There were dogs in the Show whose masters did not come near them after +the judging on the first day, until the end of the third day. These +unfortunates were left to the rather chancy attentions of the show attendants, +who, with thousands of dogs to care for, could hardly be expected to give any +of them much individual notice.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the evening of the second day of the Show, while the +Master was engaged in conversation at some distance from Finn's bench, the +young hounds from the cottage by the Downs received a visit from a man who +showed the utmost admiration for them, and particularly, of course, for Finn. +This man, whose appearance rather reminded Finn of one whom he had heard +referred to as the gamekeeper, down in Sussex, looked up Finn's name and +ancestry in the show catalogue, and gave particular heed to the fine display of +prize cards over his head. He fondled Finn for several minutes, and Finn knew +by the various smells which hung about the man that he was accustomed to mixing +a good deal with dog-folk. Before turning away, this friendly and admiring man +presented Finn with a small piece of meat which he took from a paper-bag in one +of his pockets; and, of all the meat that Finn had ever tasted, this piece had +the most fascinating smell and the most provocatively exciting and pleasing +flavour. He meditated over this piece of meat for quite a long time, and when, +during the last afternoon of the Show, the friendly stranger appeared before +him again, Finn welcomed the man effusively, and, with nose and paw, plainly +asked for some more of that fascinating meat. The man chuckled, and rubbed the +backs of Finn's ears in an affectionate manner for several minutes. What Finn +found more to the point was that, before leaving, the man did present him with +another small section of this delicious meat with the fascinating smell. Finn +wished there was more of it, but he felt exceedingly grateful to the stranger +for the one piece and for the rest of his friendly attention.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">By payment of a small fee the Master was enabled to take +Finn and Kathleen away from the Show much earlier on that evening than before, +and a few hours later they were all three being welcomed at home by the +Mistress of the Kennels and Tara. Tara, by the way, was hardly able to spare +time for a remark at first; she was so busy sniffing all round Finn and +Kathleen, and reading for herself the sort of record of their recent adventures +which their coats and her delicate sense of smell provided. The three hounds +dined sumptuously, and in a row, while the Master and the Mistress sat before +them fighting their battles over again and discussing their triumph in the +show-ring. Then, the night being fine, the three were allowed to wander out +into the orchard for a quarter of an hour or so before going to bed. The Master +remained in his den talking.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Directly Tara reached the orchard she barked out loud, +"Who's there?"--an unmistakable sort of bark one would have thought. But the +Master was pretty thoroughly tired, and, perhaps, the fact that he was chatting +with the Mistress prevented his understanding Tara's bark. At all events, he +paid no heed to it. Tara promptly trotted across to the gate between the +orchard and the open down, followed closely by Finn and Kathleen. There, much +to Finn's delight, they found the friendly stranger of the Show. Tara eyed the +man with hauteur, as one whose acquaintance she had not made. Kathleen remained +modestly in the background. Finn, with lively recollections of the peculiarly +savoury meat which the stranger dealt in, placed his fore-paws, on the top of +the gate, and lolled his tongue at the man in friendly greeting. The man gave +Finn a provokingly tiny fragment of the savoury meat, and rubbed the young +hound's ears in the coaxing way he had. Then he stepped back a pace or two, and +produced a large piece of the meat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Here, boy! Here, Finn! Jump, then, Finn!" The gate was +less than five feet high, and the seductive odour of this peculiar meat floated +just beyond it in the still night air. Finn drew back a pace or two, and then, +with a beautiful spring, cleared the gate easily. While giving Finn the piece +of meat he had been holding, the man slipped a swivel on to the ring of the +handsome green collar, and attached to the swivel there was a strong leather +lead. The man moved on slowly, with another piece of meat in his hand, and Finn +paced with him, willingly enough. When Finn had finished the next piece of meat +he was a hundred yards away from the orchard. He looked back then, and an +uncomfortable thrill passed through his young heart; a vague thrill it was, +conveying no definite fear or impression to his mind. Still, it was +uncomfortable. He had half a mind to go back and rejoin Tara and Kathleen, and +so, tentatively, he halted. If the friendly stranger had tried to force Finn +then, there would have been trouble. But he did not. Instead, he bent down and +played with Finn's ears, and then brought another piece of meat out of his +pocket. Holding this out, he moved on again; and the dog followed, forgetful +now of his momentary thrill of discomfort. After all, he thought, vaguely, very +likely this unaccustomed night walk was all part of the Show and its many novel +experiences. There had been night walks at the end of each show day. When Finn +had had another morsel of the meat, the friendly stranger put another collar on +his neck, and removed the green one. Then he began to trot, and Finn trotted +with him, quite contentedly. Finn was always glad to run.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">So the two trotted for miles, through the mild, still +October night, the man breathing heavily. Once something made Finn pause +suddenly; and the pause let him into a secret. The collar he was wearing now +was different from any other he had known in his short life. If you pulled +against it, it slipped round your throat so tightly as to stop your breathing +instantly and absolutely. The only thing to do was to go the way the collar and +lead pulled; then, immediately, the pressure relaxed. It was a collar that had +to be obeyed, that was evident. These "slip-collars" are well known to some +members of the Great Dane family, and particularly to those who are owned by +dealers; but their use came with rather a shock to lordly young Finn, who, +living the free and happy life he always had lived, there beside the Sussex +Downs, had rarely been asked to wear a collar of any sort.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After a time, Finn and the stranger came to a little town, +and walked into the yard of an inn. There another man met them, to whom Finn's +friend said, hurriedly--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'll walk straight on. You drive on with the cart after +me. Don't stop till you're clear of the village."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You've got him, then?" said the second man.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Never you mind about that. Can't yer see I've got him? +You get the pony out."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then Finn followed his leader out of the yard, and +through the quiet little village to the open country beyond. But by this time +Finn was beginning to feel that the night walk had been prolonged far enough. +There was no sign of any more of the aromatic meat coming his way, and he had +given up asking for it, and nosing the man's pocket. He thought he would like +to turn now, and get back to Kathleen and Tara and the Master. The day, and its +immediate predecessors, had been tiring, and Finn thought with strong desire of +his fragrant wheaten straw bed in the coach-house at home. Yes, it was +certainly time to return.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Accordingly, Finn asked his leader to stop, and, finding +that the man took no notice, he asked again, through his nose, and urgently. +The man paid not the slightest heed to this, and that rather angered Finn, who +was not accustomed to being ignored; so he planted his fore-feet firmly, and +stopped dead. As the lead tightened, the slip-collar pressed painfully on +Finn's throat; but he felt that the time had arrived to bring this excursion to +an end, and so steeled himself to ignore this pressure.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"None o' that, now!" said the man, with a new note in his +voice, of extreme harshness. "Come along now; d'ye hear!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's fore-legs remained rigid. He had made up his mind +now, and already he was beginning to regret having stayed so long with this +stranger.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man now gave a powerful tug at the leather lead, and +at that the pressure of the slip-collar forced Finn's tongue out between his +teeth. This was really painful, but it was clear in Finn's mind that he must go +home, so he remained straining backward.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come on 'ere, ye brute!" growled the man savagely, and, +with a vicious jerk at the lead, he took a step to one side, and then kicked +Finn on the hind-quarters as hard as he could. That was the first real blow +Finn had ever received, and it taught him quite a lot. Up till this point it +had not occurred to him for a moment that the man entertained any other than +kindly, friendly feelings for him. In fact, he supposed that every one +entertained kindly feelings towards him. He had never experienced any other +sort of attitude. But this savage kick was a revelation to him. Also, it hurt. +Finn turned in his tracks and plunged forward in the direction from which, they +had come with such sudden strength that he almost dragged the lead from the +man's strong hand, and would undoubtedly have freed himself, but for the +slip-collar. As it was, the sudden jerk nearly throttled Finn, and brought him +rolling on his back with all four feet in the air. Before he could rise again, +the man had planted two ferocious kicks on his ribs; and Finn was thankful then +to draw a free breath by moving towards his persecutor, so as to slacken the +pressure on the lead. But, the moment he had drawn breath, the desire to escape +possessed him once more, and he repeated his leap for freedom. This time the +man was prepared, and, in addition to the pressure brought about by Finn's +reaching the end of his tether, there was the savage extra pressure of a quick +backward jerk at the lead, to bring the hound on his back a second time. This +time the man kicked him very severely, and, in addition, smote him violently on +the nose with clenched fist, as he staggered to his feet, gasping for +breath.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Just then the dim, smoky lights of a cart appeared at the +bend in the road, twenty yards away, in the direction of the village.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"That you, Bill?" cried the man who held Finn, and an +affirmative answer reached him from the cart. "Come on, then, and let's get +this stubborn beast into the cart." He gave a savage jerk at Finn's slip-collar +as he spoke, and once more his nailed boot crashed against the bewildered +Wolfhound's ribs. The man had an itch of anger and brutality upon him by this +time. Finn leaped sideways with a quick gasp as the man's boot struck him and +the cruel collar tightened; and at this sharp movement of his great body, there +in the middle of the road, the pony shied violently, just as it was being drawn +in to a standstill; the cart swerved sharply into the hedge, and a cracking +sound betrayed the breaking of a shaft.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This was the finishing touch required to round off the +naturally vicious temper of the man who held Finn into a passion of sullen, +brutal anger. He cursed unceasingly while the man in the cart made the +necessary repairs with cord and a couple of sticks from the hedge; and with +every curse there was a kick, or a vicious blow, or a savage jerk at the +torturing slip-collar, and sometimes all three together. Finn could have killed +the man with ease; but, so far, the thought of even biting him never occurred +to the Wolfhound. Every hour that he had spent in the world had taught him that +humans were his friends, his very kindly protectors, his guardians and +governors, so to say. Every hour of his mother's life, with but very few +exceptions, had borne the same belief in upon her, and her nature was the +sweetest and gentlest imaginable. With his father, now, the case was somewhat +otherwise. There were those who said that the rather taciturn and shy Dermot +owed some of his wonderfully heavy coat to the mesalliance of a forbear of his +with a Tibetan Sheep Dog of a half-wild sort, with a temper far from reliable. +But, as yet at all events, Finn's temper was that of a clean run, well-bred +English boy; frank, open, trusting, and kindly; and, sorely as he ached, sorely +bewildered as he felt under the rain of blows and kicks, curses and strangling +tugs at his collar, he had as yet no thought of vengeance. His only desire was +for escape, and a return to the sweet, free life he knew beside the Downs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man who held Finn instinctively recognised all this, +and the knowledge whetted the savagery of his temper, and withdrew all +restraint from its cruel indulgence. He had no conscious wish to injure the +hound; quite the contrary, since Finn represented money to him, and money was +what he desired more than anything else; but he was tired, things seemed to be +going ill with him, his temper was thoroughly roused, and the innocent cause of +all this, a sensitive, living creature, was tethered and helpless beside him; +and so he kicked and cursed, and jerked at the lead, and found relief in Finn's +gasps of pain and want of breath.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When the shaft was mended, the tail-board of the little +cart was let down, and, with a savage kick at Finn's hind-quarters, the man +bade him "Get up, there, ---- ye! Get up, ye brute!" Another kick. Poor Finn +tried to squirm forward under the cart to escape the heavy boot of his +persecutor. Then he was furiously jerked backward and half throttled.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Steady with 'im, matey," said the other man. "Don't knock +the dollars off of 'im."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Who asked you to shove your jaw in?" snarled the first +man. "You didn't get the brute, did ye--curse him!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Another kick.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The other man was used to his friend's temper, and said +nothing; but he hated to see a valuable animal knocked about, just as he would +have hated to see money thrown in the gutter instead of into a publican's till; +so he stooped down and lifted Finn's fore-feet from the ground, and placed them +on the floor of the cart.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"My oath!" he said, "but 'e's a tidy weight, ain't he? Up +ye go, my bully boy!" And up Finn went, on the spur of another violent kick, +which broke the skin across one of his hocks. The lead was now fastened close +down to a staple in the floor of the cart, Finn being forced down on his side +by the simple process of being knelt upon by his persecutor. To make doubly +sure of him, his fore-legs were then tightly lashed together with his own green +collar; and then the two men mounted the front of the cart and drove off.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The memory of that night's drive burnt itself deep into +Finn's young mind. He never really forgot it; that is to say, its effect upon +his attitude toward men and life was never completely lost. His skin was broken +in three or four places; every bone in his body ached from the heavy kicks he +had received; an intolerable thirst kept him gasping for every breath he drew; +the cramp set up in his fore-legs by their being strapped tightly together, one +across the other, was an exquisite pain; and his muzzle was held hard down +against the grimy floor-boards of the cart, while his mind was full of a black +despairing fear of he knew not what. It was a severe ordeal for one who, up +till then, had never even known what it meant to receive a severe verbal +scolding; for one who had never seen a man's hand lifted in anger.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">An end came at last to this horrible drive.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Thank Gawd, 'ere's 'orley!" said the man who drove; and +after another minute or two the little cart came to a standstill in a walled-in +yard. The pony was taken out and stabled, and then the man addressed as +"Matey," still sullen and sour, let down the tail-board of the cart with a +jerk, and dragged Finn out by the collar, allowing him to fall with a thud from +the cart to the ground, rendered helpless by the strap round his fore-legs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"'Ere, get up outa that!" growled the man, with a careless +kick. Then, seeing that Finn could not move, he bent down, unbuckled the green +enamelled strap, dragged it roughly away, and kicked the dog again. Cramped and +sore beyond belief, Finn staggered on to his feet. A door was opened, and Finn +was jerked and dragged into a perfectly dark, evil-smelling hole, about four +feet square, with an earthen floor, from which horrible odours rose. The ground +in this place was filthy. It had no drainage and no ventilation, except a few +round holes in the door; which door was now slammed to and locked on the +outside.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Ain't ye goin' to give 'im a drink, matey?" asked Bill, +outside.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Drink be blowed! Let 'im wait till mornin'. Come in an' +'ave one yerself. I'm blessed glad this night's job's done; an' if I can't make +fifty quid out 've it, I shall want to know the reason why, I can tell yer. +Big, ugly brute, ain't 'e! Strong as a mule, too. <em>I'd</em> want to be paid +pretty 'andsome fer the keepin' o' such a brute; but the American gent's red +'ot ter get 'im, I can tell yer. Biggest ever bred, they tell me. I think I +shall 'ave to stick on another tenner, eh, Bill? Come on!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Their very voices were a misery to the shrinking, aching, +choking Finn, who stood shuddering in his fetid den, his sensitive nose +wrinkling with horror and disgust. His need of water was the thing which hurt +him the most cruelly; but the nature of his prison was a good deal of a +torture, too. Remember that his life so far had been as cleanly and decent in +detail as yours or mine. Certainly this was a sad plight for the hero of the +Kennel Club Show, and the finest living descendant of a fifteen hundred year +old line of princes among dogs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound fleeing through downland" +src="images/fig15.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="512" height="352" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER7" id="CHAPTER7">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">FINN WALKS ALONE</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a long while after the men had left the scene of +Finn's miserable captivity, he remained standing, and occupying as small a +space as possible in his prison. The fastidiousness bred in him by careful +rearing told severely against Finn just now. He had never, until this night, +been without water to slake his thirst; and never, never had he smelt anything +so horrible as the earth of the little den in which he was now confined. Also, +the place was actually filthy, as well as apparently so. Finn could not bring +himself to move in it. He stood shrinking by the door, with his nose near a +crack beside its hinges. For long he reflected upon the events of that night, +without moving. Then, gradually, thoughts of Kathleen and Tara, and the sweet +cleanliness and freedom of his home beside the Downs, came swimming into Finn's +mind, and these thoughts seemed to add intolerably to the aching of his bruised +bones and muscles, to the soreness of those spots in which his skin had been +broken, and to the misery of the thirst which kept his tongue protruding at one +side of his jaws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Unable to bear these things any longer, Finn turned +cautiously toward the middle of his loathsome prison, and, though his feet +shrank from the task, scraped a hollow place in its midst of about the bigness +of a wash-hand basin. Then, treading as though upon hot bricks, he squirmed his +great body round to avoid touching the walls of his prison, and sat on his +haunches in the hollow he had made. He was now filled with a desire to inform +Tara and the Master, and, it may be, the rest of the world, about his sorry +plight. But, particularly, he wanted to let the Master and Tara know about it. +And so, seated there in what he had endeavoured to make the one approachably +clean spot available, Finn pointed his long muzzle toward the stars he could +not see, and, opening his jaws wide, expelled from them the true Irish +Wolfhound howl, which seemed to tear its way outward and upward from the very +centre of the hound's grief-smitten heart, to wind slowly through his lungs and +throat, and to reach the outer air with very much the effect of a big +steamship's syren in a dense fog. It is a very long-drawn cry, beginning away +down in the bass, dragging up slowly to an anguished treble note in a very +minor key, and subsiding, despairingly, about half-way back to the bass. It is +a sound that carries a very long way--though not so far as from the place of +Finn's captivity to the Sussex Downs--and carries misery with it just as far as +ever it can reach. Upon the hearer who has any bowels of compassion it falls +with a weight of physical appeal which may not be denied. Above all, it is a +strange, mysterious, uncanny cry, and not a sound which can be ignored. It is a +sound to fetch you hurriedly from your bed at midnight; and that though you had +been sunk in dreamless sleep when first it smote its irresistible way into your +consciousness.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was beginning the bass rumble of his sixth howl when +the door of his prison was flung suddenly open, and he saw Matey, armed with a +hurricane lamp and a short, heavy stick. He was still so new to the ways of +Matey's kind of human, that he thought his howls had brought him release, and, +for an instant, he even had a vision of a deep basin of cold water, a meal, and +a sweet, clean bed, which his innocent fancy told him Matey might have been +engaged in preparing for him. If he had not been so loath to risk touching the +walls of his prison, his powerful tail would have wagged as the door opened and +the clean night air came in to him. As it was, he leaned forward to express his +gratitude for the opening of the door. And as he moved forward, delicately, +Matey's stick descended on his nose, with all the weight of Matey's arm and +Matey's savage anger behind it. There was no more sensitive or vulnerable spot +in the whole of Finn's anatomy, physically or morally. The blow was hideously +painful, hideously unexpected, hideously demoralizing. It robbed Finn of sight, +and sense, and self-respect, and forced a bewildered cry from him which was +part bark, part howl, part growl, and part scream of pain. It planted fear and +horror in a single instant in a creature who had lived in the world for fifteen +months with no consciousness of either. The filth of his prison was forgotten +in this new anguish of pain, and fear, and humiliation, compared with which the +kicks and stranglings of the early part of the night were as nothing at all. In +a few seconds of time the proudest of princes in the dog world was reduced to a +shuddering, cringing object, cowering in one corner of a filthy cupboard.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Matey was not only furiously angry, he was also a good +deal afraid; and that added cruelty to his anger. He had heard a number of +bedroom windows raised as he crossed the walled-in yard; he wanted no enquiries +about the source and reason of the weird, syren-like howls that had brought him +out in his shirt and trousers. It was his business to see that there were no +more howls; and the only means that occurred to his brutal mind were those he +now proceeded to put into operation. He closed the door of the den behind him, +and he rained down blows upon Finn's shrinking body till his arm ached, and the +dog's cries subsided into a low, continuous whimper, the very paralysis of +shame, anguish, fear, and distress. Then, when his arm was thoroughly tired, he +flung the stick viciously into Finn's face, went out, and locked the door.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Matey certainly could not be called a clever dog stealer, +because he had no notion of how to preserve that which he stole. Putting aside +their brutality, his methods were incredibly stupid; but when, five minutes +later, he lay listening in his bed, the only reflection that his stupid mind +brought him was that he had succeeded admirably. No further sound came from the +walled-in yard; and it appeared that there was to be no further risk of +neighbours being disturbed by howls from Finn. Matey was too far away to hear +anything of the low, tremulous, nasal whimpering which trickled out into the +night through the holes in the door of Finn's prison; and, in any case, there +was no fear of that small sound disturbing any one. So, after his own +fashion--which one really hesitates to call brutal, because brutes rarely, and +probably never, indulge in pointless, unnecessary ferocity--Matey had been +successful.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But if Matey had had sense enough to be called a clever +dog-stealer, he would have recognised that, despite his huge bulk and strength, +Finn was one of the gentlest and most docile of created things, whose silence +and tractability a little child could and would have brought about with the +greatest ease, and without so much as an angry word. And, so, one has to admit +that Matey's cruelty was like nine-tenths of the other cruelty in the world, +alike among the educated and the uneducated, in that it was due to ignorance +and stupidity.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a long time Finn was conscious of nothing but fear, +and pain, and misery. He really had been very badly handled, and, though he +knew it not, one of his ribs was broken. After an hour or two, he became +perfectly silent, and began, tentatively and in a half-hearted way, to lick +some of his bruises and abrasions. Then, before this task was half +accomplished, wise Nature asserted her claims, and the exhausted Wolfhound fell +into a fitful sleep just before daybreak. When he woke, fully a couple of hours +later, much of his pain and misery remained with him; but the fear had given +place to other feelings, chief among which came the determination to escape +from the dominion of Matey. His own short experience of life gave Finn nothing +to draw upon in coping with the situation in which he now found himself. He was +drawing now, not upon teaching or experience, but upon what we call instinct: +the store of concentrated inherited experience with which Nature furnishes all +created things, and some more richly than others. Deep down in Finn's share of +this store there were faint stirrings in the direction of hatred and vengeance; +but of these, Finn was not actually conscious as yet. What he was acutely +conscious of was the determination with which instinct supplied him to seize +the very first opportunity of getting clear away from his present environment, +and from Matey. So much, instinct taught him: that he must get his freedom if +he could, and that he must never, never again, for one moment, trust Matey. +This was only the surface of the lesson instinct taught him. There was a lot +more in the lesson which would permanently affect Finn's attitude toward humans +and toward life itself. But the surface was the immediate thing; to win to +freedom, and never to trust Matey again.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The first result of Finn's lesson was that he examined the +whole of his prison very carefully, by the aid chiefly of his sense of smell +and touch. There was hardly any light in the place. His nose was very sore, +because Matey's stick had knocked a large piece of skin from it and bruised it +badly. Also, the smell of every part of Finn's prison was revolting to him. +But, though with sensitively wrinkled nostrils, Finn made his examination very +thoroughly. And in the end he decided that he could do nothing for the present. +Three sides of his prison were brick-work, and the fourth, the door, presented +no edge or corner which his teeth could touch. So Finn sat still, waiting, +listening, and watching, with his tongue hanging out a little on one side of +his mouth, by reason of the horrid dryness which afflicted his throat. And +every hour that he waited brought greater strength to his determination, +besides teaching him something in the way of patience and caution.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Presently, the waiting Finn heard heavy footsteps in the +yard outside, and the muscles of his body gathered themselves together for +action. The door opened, and Finn saw Matey standing there with a stick and a +chain in his hand. Instinct told Finn on the instant that he must at all +hazards avoid both the stick and the chain; but, more than anything else, the +chain.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come 'ere!" said Matey. And Finn came. But, whereas Matey +had reckoned on a slow movement, in the course of which his hand would have +fallen on Finn's slip-collar preparatory to fixing the chain on that, the +movement was actually very swift and low to the ground, and resulted in Finn's +passing out scathless into the walled-in yard.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oho! So we don't like our new master, don't we? Haven't +forgotten our blooming gruellin', eh? Better take care we don't get some more +o' the same sort, Mister Wolfhound, if you arst me!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The walled-in yard was quite safe. Matey was in nowise +perturbed, and, moreover, having slept soundly and breakfasted copiously, he +was, for him, in an amiable mood. Still, he had no wish to waste time, and he +wanted to overhaul his plunder, and groom Finn up a little before the +prospective purchaser arrived. So Matey turned round, leaned forward with a +hand resting on one knee, and tried to twist his features into an ingratiating +expression, as he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Here, then, good dog! Come on, Finn! Here, boy!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But instinct made Finn's intelligence upon the whole +superior to Matey's in this matter, and, having already satisfied himself by +means of hurried investigation that at present he could not escape from the +walled-in yard, the Wolfhound stood half a dozen paces distant from the man, +waiting, with every nerve and muscle at concert pitch. The man moved forward, +with hand outstretched invitingly. The Wolfhound moved backward, with hackles +slightly raised. Thus they followed each other round the little yard perhaps +six times, the distance between them being maintained with nicety and precision +by Finn. Then Matey's mental inferiority appeared. He was expecting very +shortly now the man from whom he hoped to receive his reward--the price of +Finn. His intelligence, such as it was, told him that strategy would now be +necessary to enable him to lay hands on the Wolfhound; but, even while +recognising that, he could not refrain from angrily flinging his chain in +Finn's face, after his sixth promenade of the yard, and cursing the dog +savagely, before retiring into the house to prepare a stratagem.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn did not snarl as the chain struck him. Instinct had +not carried him so far from education. But he barked angrily, and bounded to +one side. While the man was away Finn examined the gate of the yard through +which he had been driven on the previous night, and, though it rattled +hopefully when he plunged against it with his fore-paws, raised high above its +fastening, it remained solidly closed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As Finn turned away from the doors of the yard, Matey +appeared from the house, holding in one outstretched hand a piece of the same +kind of meat with which he had seduced Finn into accompanying him on the +previous evening, and calling the hound to him in a friendly tone. But Finn had +learned a good deal since his first taste of that savoury meat; more a good +deal than the man who offered the meat had learned in the same time. Taking the +middle of the yard, so as to leave himself ample space for retreat, he remained +watchfully regarding Matey, and refused to advance a step. Matey's spoken +blandishments were now a dead letter to Finn. Having once discovered the +possibilities of human treachery, he would never forget them. And here the folk +who belong to what we call the brute creation are apt to be a good deal wiser +than their betters in the scale of evolution. They do not forget the teaching +of experience so readily as do those of us who are farther removed from Nature. +To be sure, Matey's notion of strategy was puerile enough; but, apart from +that, it is safe to assume that Finn would never again completely trust this +man, who had been the first to introduce him to fear and misery, to +humiliation, and to knowledge of the existence of treachery and cruelty in men +folk.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Matey cursed the Wolfhound angrily, but that did not +incline Finn to trust him any the more. Then the man advanced a little in his +strategy, and tossed a piece of the meat on to the ground, before Finn, to +inspire confidence. But Finn's mistrust was too profound to admit of his +stooping to pick this up. He was not very specially hungry, in any case; and if +Matey had been an observant creature, or even one who used his memory wisely, +he would have known that</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">the offer of drinking-water would have been infinitely +more tempting to Finn than any quantity of savoury meat. But, as a fact, Finn +was too much possessed just now by his determination to escape from Matey and +all his works to be very clearly conscious of any other need.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then, his petty strategy exhausted, and his paltry measure +of self-control with it, Matey started to chase Finn with a stick. Now and +again he succeeded in getting a blow home, as Finn wheeled and leapt before him +within the narrow limits of the yard; and every time the stick touched him Finn +barked angrily. This performance was extremely bad for Finn. It was calculated +to break down some of the most valuable among his acquired qualities; the +characteristics that he acquired with his blood through many generations of +wisely-bred and humanely-reared hounds. In one sense it was more harmful than +the merciless and unreasonable punishment of the previous night, because there +was no faintest hint of a punishment about it; not even of the sort of +punishment that had followed his howling. That had had the bad qualities of +cruelty and unreasonableness, unjustifiableness. This was not punishment at +all, it was sheer savagery, the savagery of a running fight in which the man, +though he might hurt occasionally, could not conquer. And that is a most +demoralizing sort of a happening, as between dog and man. Its demoralizing +influence could have been detected by an observant spectator in the notes of +Finn's barks when the stick reached him. They approached momentarily nearer the +threatening nature of a growl; a new, dangerous note to hear in Finn's speech +with mankind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Matey was rapidly becoming exhausted, and in another +moment or two would probably have flung his stick at Finn and given up his +senseless pursuit, when, just as the Wolfhound bounded forward from under his +stick at the house end of the yard, the gate leading into that yard opened, and +Bill appeared. In an instant Finn had sprung for the opening, Bill's legs were +thrust from under him, and as he stumbled, with one hand on the ground and an +oath on his lips, Finn reached the open road outside. Behind him, for a moment, +Finn heard a hurried scrambling, and a deal of broken, breathless whistling, +and calling aloud of his name. And then he heard no more from the place of his +captivity and anguish, for the reason that he was already nearing the limits of +the little town, and galloping hard for the open country, over the road by +which he had travelled some ten hours earlier in Matey's cart.</p> + +<p><a name="L3433" id="L3433"></a><img +alt="man opening yard gate onto wolfhound" src="images/plate04.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="540" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">The gate leading into the yard opened, and Bill +appeared</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn galloped for about three miles, his heart swelling +within him for joy in his freedom. Then, gradually, his gait slackened to a +canter, and then to a trot, and, finally, the sight of a wayside pond brought +him to a standstill; and, after a mechanical look behind him, he walked into +the water and drank, and drank, and drank till he could drink no more. Finn +emerged from the pond with heaving flanks and dripping muzzle, conscious now of +some of his hurts and bruises, but licking his wet chops with satisfaction, and +supremely glad of his freedom. He lay down on the grass near the pond and +proceeded to lick those of his wounds and bruises which were within licking +reach, and to pity himself regarding the sharp pain in his side which his +broken rib was causing. Presently a cart came jolting along from the direction +in which Finn had come, and the Wolfhound shrank back as far as possible into +the hedge behind him. But the driver of the cart took no further notice of Finn +than to stare idly at him, possibly without even seeing him; at all events with +an absolutely incurious stare. With renewed confidence, the young hound +stretched himself out again on the cool grass and presently began to doze, this +being the wise manner of all his kind in assisting Nature to cure them of their +various ills.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">While Finn dozed, another cart approached him from the +little town he had left behind, and in this second cart were two extremely +angry men, one of whom strongly desired Finn's recapture on mercenary grounds, +while the other desired it upon these grounds and others also. Bill wanted his +share of Finn's price; Matey wanted his larger share of that price, and he also +wanted badly to have Finn securely tied up in a convenient position for being +soundly beaten. Matey would almost rather have foregone the money than the +satisfaction of administering the beating, the very thorough beating which he +pictured himself administering to Finn. His heavy mouth twitched viciously as +Matey thought about it. Suddenly Bill pulled the pony on to its haunches with a +jerk.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm jiggered if that ain't 'im a-waitin' for us!" +exclaimed Bill, in a hoarse whisper.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Matey was out of the trap in an instant, and, with meat in +his hand, was already beginning a whining call, which was meant to be extremely +ingratiating. But Finn sprang to his feet at the sound of the cart coming to a +standstill, and, after one glance at Matey, was off like a wolf down the empty +country road.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This was yet another lesson learned. Finn would not be in +a hurry to rest by the wayside again. After two miles of galloping at the rate +of nearly twenty miles an hour, Finn steadied down to a fast loping gait, which +would have kept him abreast of any other road vehicle than a motor-car, and +maintained this for quite a long while. Then, by reason of the pain in his +side, and of other pains, he decided to stop. But, with his last-learned lesson +fresh in his mind, he had no intention of resting by the roadside. With a twist +of pain that cut into his side like a knife, he leapt a field gate, and crept +along the inner side of the hedge for some distance before finally curling up +in a dry hollow beside a hayrick. Here, sheltered by the rick and half buried +in dry hay and straw, Finn courted the sleep he needed, so that it came to him +swiftly. In his sleep the young Wolfhound whimpered occasionally, and once or +twice his whole great body shook to the sound of a growling bark, causing two +bloodshot eyes to be half opened, and then mechanically closed again, with a +small grunt, as Finn's muzzle drove a little deeper into the dry hay under his +hocks, and he allowed sleep to strengthen its healing hold upon him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was a dream that caused Finn to give that growling +bark, and it was a dream of a kind that had been foreign to his breed for +generations. He dreamed that he was chasing Matey, in the form of a huge +rabbit, armed with a stick. Matey, the rabbit, bounded away from him, just as +ordinary rabbits did; but sounds came from Matey's rabbit mouth, and they were +the horrid, venomous sounds of the curses with which Matey had followed him +that morning in the walled-in yard. In the dream Finn was always on the point +of leaping upon the back of rabbit-Matey's neck, with jaws stretched wide for +slaughter. But something always intervened to prevent Finn taking the leap. The +something was this: at the moment of the leap, Matey always looked more like a +man and less like a rabbit, and the instinct which told Finn not to slay a man +was a very strong one. But, somehow, rabbit-Matey seemed an exception. Finn was +very anxious to feel the crunching of his shoulder and neck bones; and +altogether it was unfortunate that such a dream should have been inspired in +the brain of so nobly born a hound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn finally woke he gaped right in the eye of the +setting sun, and all about him was the solemn silence of a fine October +twilight. He yawned cavernously, and, raising his haunches, stretched his huge +trunk from fore-paws placed far out. But, in the midst of the stretch, he gave +a little smothered yelp of pain, and came to earth again, solicitously licking +at the ribs of his right side. Matey's heavy boot had done great execution +there. Slowly, then, Finn rose, and walked out into the darkening twilight of +the field. Before he had covered a hundred yards, a rabbit started up from +behind a bush, and scurried hedgewards for its life. But the distance was too +great for bunny by three yards, and Finn's jaws snapped his backbone in sunder +within six feet of his own burrow. This was hard on the rabbit; but it was no +more than one tiny instance of the outworking of Nature's most inexorable law. +Finn had killed many rabbits before this evening; but in the past he had merely +obeyed his hunting and killing instinct. Now this instinct in him was sharpened +by hunger, by having slept on the open earth, and by being conscious of no +human control or protection. Finn proceeded to eat this particular rabbit, and +that was distinctly a new experience for him, and one that left him upon the +whole pleased with himself. He was not aware of the fact, of course, but this +simple act placed him more nearly on terms with his ancestors than anything +else he had ever done, unless, perhaps, one counts the dream acts of that +afternoon.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After his meal Finn strolled along the hedge-side till he +came to a gap, and then slipped through to the road. For a mile or two he +trotted along the silent road with no particular object in view, and then, +coming to a grassy lane, turned into that, and trotted for another mile or two, +leaping a gate and a stile which barred his way at intervals, and coming +presently to a group of three large ricks. His side was aching dully, and Finn +was rather unhappy over finding no sign of the home beside the Downs where his +friends were, and his own comfortable bed. Having allowed his mind to dwell +upon this for several minutes, he sat down on his haunches near one of the +ricks, and howled to the stars about it all for quite a while, and so +effectively that a farmer, sitting in his comfortable dining-room nearly half a +mile away, made a remark to his daughter about the new-fangled way these pesky +motor-car people have of blowing fog-horns like the ships at sea, and carrying +on as if the road belonged to them--drat 'un!</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was not active unhappiness, let alone misery like that +of the previous night, that moved Finn to this vocal display; but only a kind +of gentle melancholy such as we call home-sickness, and after five minutes of +it, he curled up beside one of the ricks, after scratching and turning round +and round sufficiently to make a kind of burrow for himself, and was fast +asleep in about two minutes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the morning, long before the dew was off the grass, +Finn set out to do what he had never done a before: he set out deliberately to +hunt and kill some creature for his breakfast. He very nearly caught an unwary +partridge, though the bird did not tempt him nearly so strongly as a thing that +ran upon the earth, and ran fast. In the end his menu was that of the previous +evening, and, as he eyed its still warm and furry remains, Finn felt that life +was really a very good thing, even when one had a pain in one's side, and a +large assortment of bruises and sore places in various other parts of one's +body.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Towards midday Finn lounged into a rather large village, +and did not like it at all. It stirred up in him the recollection of Matey and +his horrible environment, and he began to hurry, impelled by a nervous dread of +some kind of treachery. Towards the end of the village he passed a pretty, +creeper-grown cottage, from the door of which a policeman issued. The policeman +stared at Finn, and smacked his own leg. Then he bent his body in an +insinuating manner and called to the Wolfhound: "Here, boy! Here, good dog! +Come along!" But Finn only lengthened his stride, and presently broke into a +gallop. He was no longer the guileless, trustful Finn of a week ago. The rural +constable sighed as he resumed an erect position and watched Finn's +disappearing form.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"He must be the dog that's wanted, all right; reg'ler +monster, I'm blessed if he isn't. But, takin' one thing with another, I'd just +as soon they catched him somewhere else than here. Why, I reckon my missis 'ud +have a fit. I don't call it hardly right, myself; not 'avin' 'em that size."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Half an hour later, to his great delight, Finn found +himself clear of roads and houses, and on the warm, chalky slopes of the Sussex +Downs. These great, smooth, immemorial hills, with their blunt crests, and +close-cropped, springy turf, brought a rush of home-feeling into Finn's heart, +which made his eyes misty, so that he had to sit down and give vent to two or +three long-drawn howls by way of expressing his gentle melancholy. But Finn's +nose told him plainly that he had never before been on these particular Downs. +And so, good and kindly as this ancient British soil was to him, it brought him +no sight of actual home.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Towards evening he coursed and killed another rabbit, +eating half of it, and providing, in the other half which he left, a +substantial repast for a prowling weasel who followed in his trail.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Something--it may have been merely the fact that the day +had not been in any way exhausting like its predecessors--prevented Finn from +being inclined to curl down and sleep, when he passed a convenient wheat rick +in a valley an hour after his supper. The night was fine and clear, and night +life in the open, with its many mysterious rustlings, bird and animal calls, +and other enticing sounds and smells, was beginning to present considerable +attractions to Finn. The events of the past few days had aroused all sorts of +latent tendencies and inclinations in him; feelings which resembled memories of +bygone days in their effects upon him, but yet were not memories of any life +that he had known, though they may have been blood memories of the experiences +of his forbears. Later on, however, the young Wolfhound began to tire of the +freedom of the night, and home-sick longings rose in his heart as he thought of +the coach-house and of Kathleen. It was at about this time that Finn fell to +walking along a narrow, white sheep-walk, on the side of a big, billowy down, +which seemed to him pleasanter and more homely than any of the hills he had +traversed that evening. Gradually the track in the chalk deepened and widened a +little, until it became a path sunk in the hill-side to a depth of fifteen or +twenty feet, and ended in a five-barred gate beside a road. Finn leaped the +gate with a strange feeling of exultation in his heart, which made him careless +of the sharp pain the leap brought to his side. Something rose in his throat as +he reached the road. His eyes became misty, his nose drooped eagerly to the +surface of the road, and he whimpered softly as he ran, with tail swaying from +side to side, and a great tenderness welling up within him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Two minutes later he came to a white gate leading to a +shrub-sheltered garden before a small, low, rambling little house. He leaped +the little gate, and turned sharply to the right in the garden. But then his +way was blocked by high doors, set in masonry, which could not possibly be +climbed or jumped. Before these gates, which evidently led to the stables and +rear of the house, Finn sat down on his haunches. Then he lifted his long +muzzle heavenward and howled lugubriously. He continued his howling steadily +for about one minute and a half, and at the end of that time a door opened +behind him in the front of the house, and a man clad in pyjamas rushed out into +the garden. Finn had studiously avoided men for these two days past now; but, +so far from avoiding this man, he rose on his hind-legs to give greeting, and +could hardly be induced to lower his front paws, even when the man in pyjamas +had removed his caressing arms from about the Wolfhound's shoulders. The man, +you see, was the Master, and three minutes afterwards he was joined by the +Mistress of the Kennels. But they were all three in the Master's outside den +then with Tara.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="standing wolfhound with reclining wolfhound" +src="images/fig16.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="568" height="348" /></p> + +<h2 class="MsoNormal c1"><a name="CHAPTER8" id="CHAPTER8">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE HEART OF TARA</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Mistress of the Kennels held on to one of Finn's +fore-paws as though she feared he might be spirited away from the den, even +while he was being welcomed home there. The fatted calf took the form of a dish +of new milk and some sardines on toast which had been prepared for the next +morning's breakfast. But this came later, and was polished off by Finn more by +reason of its rare daintiness and his desire to live up to what the occasion +seemed to demand of him, than because he was hungry. At an early stage in +proceedings the Master noticed, and removed, the slip-collar.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, that disposes of the theory that Finn wandered away +of his own accord," said the Master. "If the police know their business this +ought to help them." Then he turned to Finn again. "You didn't know there was a +twenty-five pound reward out for you, my son, did you? It was to have been made +fifty in another day or two; though, if you did but know it, our solvency +demands rather that you should be sold, than paid for in that fashion."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Mistress nodded thoughtfully.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"But that's quite impossible after this," she said; +"selling Finn, I mean."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master smiled. "I suppose it is. That seems to be +rather our way. It's a dead sure thing there can be no selling of Tara, +and--I'm inclined to think you're right about Finn, too. Heavens! If I could +lay my hands on the man who took that chip off his muzzle, I think I'd run to +the length of a ten pounds fine for assault. I'd get my money's worth, too. The +dog has been clubbed; he has been man-handled; I could swear he has had to +fight for his freedom. Poor old Finn! What a dog! What a Finn it is!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">While the last of these remarks was being made the Master +was carefully examining Finn all over, parting the Wolfhound's dense hard hair +over places in which the skin beneath had been broken, and pressing his fingers +along the lines of different bones and muscles solicitously. There was a +half-spoken oath on the Master's lips when Finn winced from him as his hand +passed down the ribs of the hound's right side.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"There is a rib broken here," he said to the Mistress, +"unless I am much mistaken. When the post office opens in the morning we must +wire for Turle, the vet. Thieving's bad enough, but--there are some stupid +brutes in this world!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Mistress stared.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, no, I don't mean Finn; nor any of his honest +four-legged kind. I meant two-legged brutes. Finn has been handled more roughly +than an understanding man would handle a tiger. And look at his face. Look into +his eyes. Notice his keenly watchful air, even while I am handling him. Well, +Finn, my son, you have said good-bye to puppyhood with a vengeance now. Unless +I am much mistaken he has crowded more into the last three days than all the +rest of his life till now had taught him. That dog's years older than Kathleen +to-night in some ways. Do you get the effect I mean? The youth has gone; there +is a certain new hardness. Watch his eye now as I lift my hand!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master lifted his hand with a sudden jerk, and the two +who were watching Finn's eyes saw that in them which they had never seen in +Kathleen's, nor yet even in Tara's eyes; for neither Tara nor her daughter had +ever pitted their agility against man's brutality. They had never been clubbed +or kicked; they had never seen as far into the ugly places of human nature as +Finn; and you might brandish your arms in any way you chose before old Tara or +Kathleen, and, while the one would have blinked at you with courteous tolerance +of your foolishness, the other would have suspected you of inventing a new +game, and gambolled before you like a huge kitten.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was not, of course, that Finn was foolish enough to +distrust the Master, or suspect him of any hostile intention. But certain +instincts had been awakened in the young Wolfhound, and, for a long time, at +all events, and probably for the rest of his life, those instincts would not +again become latent. In some respects he may have been the better off; +certainly he was better equipped to face the world; but the Master, naturally +enough, could not withhold a sigh for the old utter trustfulness which had held +even the instincts of self-preservation in abeyance. But, as has been said, +Finn was better equipped to face the world than either his sister, or that +gentle great lady, his mother; all his instincts were more alert, and his +senses also. His eyes moved more rapidly than their eyes; his attitude toward +life and toward men-folk was more elastic and less absolute. Men-folk remained +his superiors in Finn's eyes, his superiors in a hundred ways, and it might be +his dearly loved friends; but they were not any more the absolute, omnipotent, +and all-perfect gods that they had been, and still were to Kathleen, for +example, who would not have felt the slightest uneasiness if the Master had +placed his heel on her throat, or touched her head with a club, as she lay on +the ground before him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">To a great extent, however, the Master's sympathetic anger +over Finn's wounds, and twinges of regret regarding the subtle changes which he +recognised in the hound he affectionately called "son," were out-balanced by +the joy he felt at seeing Finn safe in his den again. The loss of Finn had been +hard to bear, and not the less hard because it came immediately after the great +triumph of the Show. There were the seven prize cards adorning the wall over +Tara's great bed in the den; but their presence had been something of a mockery +in the absence of their winner. When the Master and the Mistress finally bade +Finn good night, after making him thoroughly comfortable in his own clean, big +bed, the coach-house door was carefully padlocked.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It could not have been said a month later that Finn was +physically the worse for his adventure in the hands of Matey. His ribs were +sound once more, and all his wounds and bruises were healed, though a +light-coloured scar remained, and would remain on his muzzle, where the +dog-stealer's stick had bitten into the bone. If it had come nine months +earlier, such an experience would have been bad indeed, for sets-back in +puppyhood are hard to make up. But at fifteen months Finn had as perfect a +physical foundation to go upon as any living creature could have. He was +fortified against physical ills as few animals can be; his system lacked +nothing that makes for resisting power; he had attained his full growth without +having known a day's illness, and his reserve strength was enormous.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And now came a long and rather severe winter, in which no +evil thing befell Finn, and the process of "furnishing" went on in him with +never a hitch of any sort, and in circumstances that could not possibly have +been more favourable. All day long he drank in the heartiest air in England; on +every day he had ample exercise and ample food, and when young summer of the +next year brought him to his second birthday, Finn scaled 149 lbs., and his +shoulder bones just skimmed the under side of the measuring standard at +thirty-six inches. Hard measurement brought him within an eighth of an inch of +the yard, and it was fair to say that, favourably measured, standing well up, +he did reach full thirty-six inches at the shoulder.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Remember that, when his head was inclined upward, the tip +of his nose would be more than a foot higher than his shoulder. With all four +feet on the floor, he could rest his nose on a window-ledge that was exactly +four feet high. His eyes, and shaggy brows and beard, like the tip of his tail, +were dark as night; there were some extra dark hairs at his hocks, fetlocks and +shoulder blades; and all the rest of Finn was of a hard, steely grey brindle +colour; the typical wolf colour of northern climes, very steely, and with odd +suggestions about it of ghostly fleetness, of great speed and enduring +strength. His fore-legs were straight as gun-barrels, his knees flat as the +palm of your hand; his feet hard, close, round, and rather cat-like, save that +his claws were more like chisels, black, and hard, and strongly curved. His +hind-legs, on the other hand, were finely curved, with swelling rolls of muscle +in the upper thighs. The first or upper thighs were very long and strong, +curving sharply out to hocks that were well let down, and without a hint of +turn inward or outward. His loins were well arched, his chest deep, like an +Arab stallion's, his neck long, arched, and very strong, like the massy muscles +of his fore-arms. It was difficult to say that he had grown much since his +fifteenth month, and yet he looked a very much bigger dog, and, above all, he +looked and was very much stronger. There was no longer anything immature or +unformed about Finn. During his next year he might possibly add half a score of +pounds to his already great weight; but on his second birthday he was set and +furnished, a superb specimen of pure breeding and perfect rearing in Irish +Wolfhounds.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For almost six months now Finn's only companion of his own +kind had been Tara. He had not seen Kathleen's departure from the cottage +beside the Downs, and for some days he was greatly puzzled by her absence. He +even stood by the orchard gate and growled fiercely, with the hair on his +shoulders standing almost erect, because the thought was in his mind that Matey +may have had something to do with this disappearance. The Master saw him +engaged in this way, and was greatly puzzled by it. He said to the Mistress of +the Kennels afterwards--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I really think old Finn must have gone mad for five +minutes this morning. I never saw a more fearsome-looking creature than he was +when he stood and growled beside the orchard gate. I assure you he was +terrible. He looked about six feet high, and as fierce as any tiger. It made me +think of his ancient godfather, or namesake, the Finn of fifteen hundred years +ago, who kept King Cormac's three hundred Irish Wolfhounds in fighting trim, as +the most awe-inspiring and death-dealing portion of his master's army. I must +read over those 'Tales of the Cycle of Finn' again; they are fine, stirring +things. But in these worrying days I hardly seem to get time for sleep, let +alone for reading about old Finn. But I wish you had seen Finn--our Finn--this +morning. He was very terrible, but I never saw a dog look more magnificent. +Upon my word, I believe there are very few living things that Finn could not +implant fear in, if he set his mind to it; yes, and pull down, to boot--a +hundred and fifty pounds of muscle and bone, and teeth and fire and spirit!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But Finn need not have worried for Kathleen's sake. She +had gone to a good home, and lives there to-day in honoured old age. Her owner +paid a hundred guineas for her, and would not sell her for ten times the +figure. But there was no way of telling Finn these things, for though he could +understand most things that the Master said to him, and was able to tell the +Master most things that he wanted to tell; yet the matter of buying and selling +and its causes were naturally beyond him. He had no way of telling that the +Master was in sore straits financially, though he did know that his friend was +not over and above happy. Neither could he tell that the mere keeping of a +Wolfhound like Kathleen runs away with the better part of twenty pounds a year. +Things were not prospering with the Master, and, feeling that he could not part +with Finn or Tara, he had been absolutely obliged to sell Kathleen.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But that was by no means the end of the Master's troubles, +the root of which lay in the fact that he loved the country, and hated the +town, but was unable to earn money enough in the country to meet the various +obligations with which he saddled himself, and was saddled by circumstances. +And so it fell out that soon after Finn's second birthday the Master began to +spend a good deal of time away from the house by the Downs. Tara liked to pass +the greater part of her time in the Master's outside den with her muzzle on his +slippers, but Finn was not like that. Tara was a matron getting on in years, +and her matronhood had cost her dear in illness from which it had been thought +she could never recover. Finn, on the other hand, was the very personification +of lusty youth and tireless virility. The Mistress of the Kennels would take +him out behind her bicycle, while Tara lay dreaming at home, and it may be that +the Mistress fancied her gentle ten and twelve mile runs tired Finn. She never +saw him when he would set off upon his hunting expeditions, in the course of +which he covered every foot of the Downs for a dozen miles around. He was safe +enough, too, for he would have had nothing but angry growls for any man of +Matey's ilk, charmed he never so wisely with spiced meats and the like. The +weasels and the stoats, and a score of other wild things that roamed that +country-side, could have told the Mistress of the Kennels just why Finn did not +always clear his dinner dish in these days, and thereby saved her an addition +to her many worries of that period. She did not like to depress the Master with +tales of half-eaten meals, and she had no knowledge of the half-eaten hares and +rabbits and other wild creatures which Finn left behind him on his hunting +trails.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From one point of view, Finn suffered at this stage from +the absence of the Master's eye and hand, and so did the rabbits; but, from +another point of view, Finn gained. He became harder, more wily, and a far more +expert hunter than he would have been under a more disciplined regime. But +certainly he also became less domesticated, and vastly less fastidious than, +for example, that exquisite great lady, his mother.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There came a certain late summer's day, with more than a +hint of autumn in the air, when something happened which Finn never quite +forgot. The Master had been away for three weeks on end, and Tara had missed +him sadly. In the evening the great bitch would often whimper quietly as she +lay outstretched, with her long, grey muzzle resting on the slippers which the +Mistress never thought of taking from her. Of late she had cared less and less +for any kind of activity, and seemed more and more to desire the presence of +the Master. Now, in the evening of the day which brought strong hints of coming +autumn with it, Finn lay beside Tara in the outside den, thinking lazily of an +upland meadow, with a copse at its far end, which he meant to hunt presently. +Suddenly there came a sound of a man's footfall on the gravel beyond the +gateway and in front of the house. Tara's nostrils quivered as her head rose. +With one mighty bound she was outside the den. The gates stood open. The +Master, at the garden's far end, called--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Tara! Tara, girl! Here, girl!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was by Tara's flank, and he saw her leap forward, +hurtling through the air like an arrow from a bow. Six great bounds she gave, +while fleet Finn galloped a good twenty paces behind her, and then Tara stopped +suddenly with a strange, moaning cry, staggered for a moment, as the Master ran +towards her, and then fell sideways, against his knee, with glazing eyes turned +up for a last glimpse of the face she loved. The Master was kneeling on the +gravel, and Tara's shoulders were in his arms; but at the end of two long-drawn +sighs, Tara was dead.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was sniffing at his mother's back. He did not know +just what had happened, but he was profoundly conscious that the happening was +tragic, and that his beautiful mother was the victim. The shock to the Master +was very great; for he was already unhappy, and he had loved this mother of +heroes of his very dearly. But the shock to Finn, though far less complex, was +scarcely less great. He had killed many scores of times, but it seemed that he +had never seen death till now. He recognized it clearly enough. He knew that +Tara was never going to move again; the instant his sensitive nostrils touched +her still, warm body he knew that. But there had been no killing. That was what +baffled Finn, and struck a kind of terror into his heart, to lend poignancy to +his sorrow. One more look he gave at his mother's sightless face, this time +where it rested on the crook of the Master's arm, and then he sat down on his +haunches, and with muzzle raised high poured out his grief in the long-drawn +Irish Wolfhound howl; the most melancholy cry in nature.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master had looked careworn and weary before he called +Tara to him. It was a very grey, sad face he showed when he rose gently and +bade Finn go into the coach-house and be silent. He had known that Tara's heart +was weak, but this thing that had happened he had never anticipated, and the +nature and circumstances of Tara's death were such as to move a man deeply. In +a sense, her love of the Master had killed this beautiful hound. Her great love +had burst her heart in sunder, and so she died, the very noble daughter of an +ancient, noble line.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="fox sniffing dead rabbit" +src="images/fig17.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="185" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER9" id="CHAPTER9">CHAPTER X</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">A TRANSITION STAGE</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">To Finn it seemed that life was never the same after the +evening of Tara's death. He did not know, of course, that changes had been set +afoot during many months before his mother's end came. And in a way he was +right; life never was quite the same for him. Active changes, toward which the +Master's circumstances had been leading for some time past, began immediately +after that strange home-coming which finally separated Finn from his own +kin.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For instance, the Master seemed generally to be away from +the house beside the Downs; and the Mistress of the Kennels seemed always to be +busy, and never to be in playful mood. Days passed without even one of those +gentle runs behind a bicycle to which Finn had grown accustomed; days during +which no one ever spoke to Finn except at meal-times, and the home seemed +strangely silent and deserted. Finn was always locked up at night, or he would +have chosen that time for hunting expeditions. As it was, however, the long +days were his own, and he grew to devote less and less time out of these days +to the home life. He was not inclined, as his mother had been, to lie dozing +and dreaming for hours together in the outside den. He would slip through the +orchard, and over its gate to the open Downs; and there, roaming that +country-side for hours at a stretch, he would hunt; only occasionally killing +to eat, and for the greater part of his time hunting for the sheer pleasure of +it. For so great a hound, he became wonderfully adept and cunning in the +pursuit of the small creatures of the open; stalking them as silently, +cautiously, and surely as a cat, and acquiring, day by day, more and more of +that most distinguishing characteristic of the wild creatures: indomitable +patience. Great fleetness and great strength were his by birth; tireless +patience and cunning he learned in these lonely days beside the Sussex Downs; +and learned them so well that his silent, shadowy great form became a very real +terror to all the wild things of that district. There was, of course, no +creature among them that could attempt for an instant to meet Finn in open +combat; and as time went on, there were few who could successfully pit their +cunning and their agility against those of the great hound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> There was one wild creature, however, in this district, +who grew to know Finn well, and to fear him not at all; and this was a large +male fox, born and bred in a copse not half a mile from Finn's home. To this +strong and cunning fox, Finn appeared in the light of a provider of good +things, and for long he waxed fat and lazy upon Finn's numerous kills, without +the Wolfhound ever having suspected his existence. Then, late one autumn +afternoon, Finn saw Reynard descend from a little wooded hillock and seize upon +the half of a rabbit which the Wolfhound had left lying there in the valley, +beside a little brook, where he had killed it. Like a flash, Finn wheeled and +gave chase; but the fox disdained even to drop his prize, and, by reason rather +of his superior woodcraft, and his knowledge of every leaf and twig in that +country-side, than of his fleetness, Reynard was the winner of the long race +that followed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This interested Finn more than anything that had happened +for a long while. His trailing faculties, though they had been greatly +developed of late, were nothing like so keen as those of a foxhound, or a +pointer, or a setter; his race having always done their hunting by sight and +sheer fleetness. But, as against that, the big fox had grown very lazy of late. +He had done practically no hunting at all, preferring to trail Finn on his +hunting expeditions, and fare sumptuously upon Finn's leavings. As it happened, +this particular fox had never been hunted, and during a big slice of his life +he had been wont to regard himself as the unquestioned monarch of that +country-side; so far as its wild life went. He did not realize, even after +Finn's first pursuit of him, that he had made a powerful enemy, and one in whom +the determination to run him down had already taken firm root.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And now, for days, Finn's great interest in life was the +pursuit of the big fox. For the rest, he only killed rabbits and the like when +they came in his way; and, even so, he supplied ample food for the cunning fox. +At first, Finn spent his time largely in looking for his new quarry, and then +giving forthright chase. But gradually he learned that the fox was his master +in this work, if only by reason of its comparative smallness, which enabled it +to twist and double through places which were impenetrable to the great hound +who followed. So Finn fell back upon his recently acquired cunning. He killed a +rabbit, and left three-quarters of its carcase in an exposed, open place, while +he himself crawled into a clump of brush and lay waiting, with eager, watchful +eyes peering through the leaves. Presently, Reynard approached from some +undergrowth a hundred yards away on the other side of the kill. But he did not +approach very nearly. His sharp, sensitive nose wrinkled and pointed skyward +for a moment, and then, as the breeze gave him Finn's scent, he turned promptly +round and trotted back to covert.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn gave an immense amount of reflection to this, and two +days later, his cunning evolved a very much cleverer scheme. He killed another +rabbit, and placed it in a convenient run-way of the big fox's. Then he trotted +off on the lee side of the kill, and quietly made towards his entrance to the +orchard at home. But, instead of entering the orchard, he circled again, and, +keeping religiously to leeward of his track, flew at great speed for the far +end of the run-way in which he had left his kill. When Reynard discovered the +rabbit, he merely glanced at it, and then quietly took up Finn's trail, to make +sure of the Wolfhound's whereabouts. This trail he followed to a point that was +as near as he cared to venture to the orchard fence. Then, satisfied that Finn +had gone home, he trotted back to where the kill lay, being naturally to +windward all the while of Finn's second trail.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><a name="L3446" id="L3446"></a><img +alt="wolfhound attacking fox" src="images/plate05.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="542" />Finn's teeth sank deep.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Arrived in the run-way, Reynard picked up the dead rabbit +and slung it carelessly across his shoulder. Then he trotted leisurely down the +run-way toward his own earth, where he meant to feast in security and comfort. +At the end of the run-way came a wide, open stretch of waste land, on the far +side of which lay the track to Reynard's cave. Well hidden by the bushes at the +end of the run-way, on its lee side, crouched Finn, every nerve tensely alert. +He waited till Reynard was well clear of the run-way and fairly started across +the open, and then he sprang out from the place of his concealment, his leap +carrying him to within a yard of Reynard's flank. The insolence of good and +easy living, and long mastery over the creatures that dwelt about him, led the +fox into perhaps two seconds of indecision; and those two seconds cost him +dear. There was no indecision about his flight, of course, and almost before +Finn's feet touched the ground, the fox was stretched to the full stride of his +top gait. The indecision was in the matter of relinquishing his booty; and that +it was which cost the fox dear by reducing his starting speed. At the end of +his fourth stride, he dropped the rabbit; but at the end of his fifth stride +the Wolfhound was abreast of him, with neck bent sideways, and jaws stretched +wide. Less than a second later, Finn's great jaws closed upon the back of the +fox's shoulders; and that was where Finn made his first mistake. He was, for +all his recent experience, quite new to the killing of such a quarry as the +fox, who himself was easily able, and big and strong enough for the killing of +such prey as Finn had learned to hunt. The shoulders of a hare or a rabbit were +easily smashed between Finn's jaws; but the shoulders of the big fox, with +their mat of dense fur, were far otherwise. Finn's teeth sank deep, but they +broke no bones.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, his weight and the force of the impact +between the two, brought Reynard to earth, where he rolled smartly on his back, +slashing at Finn's fore-arm with his sharp white fangs, and snarling +ferociously. In the same instant almost, the fox was on his feet, but before he +could leap away, Finn's jaws descended on the back of his neck, gripping him +like a vice, and shaking him almost as a terrier shakes a rat. With a desperate +squirm the fox wriggled earthward from this terrible grip, and, as Finn drew +breath, stabbing at the fox with one fore-paw, as he would have stabbed at a +still living rabbit, to hold it, Reynard's fangs cut deeply into the loose skin +of his chest. As he slashed, the fox, after the manner of his kind, leaped +clear. But he had no time to run before Finn was upon him, with a roar of +awakened fury. The fox dodged and slashed again, drawing blood from the fleshy +part of Finn's fore-arm. Reynard fought like a wolf, or a light-weight boxer; +and after this last slash, he wheeled like lightning and flew for cover. But +the Wolfhound's fighting blood was boiling in him now, and Finn swept down upon +the fox, exactly as a greyhound sweeps upon a hare. When his great jaws closed +upon the fox's neck this time, it was to kill. Reynard squirmed valiantly; but +Finn flung him on his back, and took new hold upon his throat. The fox's two +hind-feet, drawn well up, scored down Finn's belly like the feet of a lynx; but +it was Reynard's last movement, for, as he made it, Finn's long fangs met in +his jugular, and his warm blood streamed upon the ground.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That was Finn's first big kill, and it marked an epoch in +his development, leaving active in him a newly-wakened instinct of fierceness +which had been foreign to his family for several generations. If the big fox +could have kept clear of Finn for but two more days he would have saved his +life; and, in any case, such killings as Finn's had been during the past month +or so could hardly have continued much longer in that country-side without +attracting human attention, the result of which might have been awkward for the +Wolfhound. As it was, the superficial wounds the fox had inflicted upon him +were never noticed by the Master or the Mistress of the Kennels, by reason of +other happenings in which Finn also was concerned. His wounds were not deep, +his coat was dense, and Finn doctored himself effectively with his own +tongue.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Early on the morning after his successful hunting of the +fox, Finn found several strange men about the house and grounds. The Master had +arrived home late on the previous evening, unconscious, not alone of Finn's +fox-hunting, but of his foraging habits generally; ignorant even of the fact +that his one remaining Wolfhound ever left the premises, unless with the +Mistress of the Kennels. It was a very large slice of Finn's life during the +last few months that was unknown to his human friends. All through this day +Finn pottered about the house and garden and the outside den, observing with +curiosity the behaviour of the strange men who wore green aprons. It seemed to +Finn that these men were bent upon turning the whole place upside down. The +game they played seemed to consist of laboriously lifting heavy articles of +furniture, carrying them about, and putting them down again, in what seemed to +Finn a confused and pointless manner. Evening found the Wolfhound scarcely more +comfortable than his human friends, who were evidently in very poor spirits. +They were moved by conscious regret, and by conscious anxiety regarding the +future. Finn was moved by conscious discomfort, and vague mental stirrings of +impending trouble of some sort. When he slept, he dreamed of Matey; this time +in the form of a huge fox, whose jaws slashed the air in the most fearsome +manner. (Up till the previous day, Finn had hunted and killed innumerable wild +creatures, but never fought with one.)</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The next day was one of even less comfort and more +bewilderment. In addition to the men with green aprons and strongly vocal +boots, there was quite a large assemblage of other people, who strode about +through the rooms of the little house, and in its garden, stable, and outside +den, as though the place belonged to them, and they were rather disgusted with +it. Later on, however, these noisy men-folk (there were women among them, too) +drew together in one of the front rooms of the house, and made all sorts of--to +Finn--meaningless noises, while one among them stood upon a kitchen-chair and +occasionally smote the top of a salt-box with a small white hammer, before +proceeding to call forth more meaningless noises from the other people. Finn +prowled about in a most unhappy mood, and once, the Mistress of the Kennels led +him into an empty bedroom, and knelt down on the floor and cried over him, +while he endeavoured to lick her face, whimpering the while, to show his +sympathy. Later on, the people flocked out into the den, and made more vain +noises there; and then to the stable. Finally, they streamed out into the +orchard, and made stupid remarks about the kennels there; and at long last they +went away, leaving the green-aproned men in undisputed possession, and free to +throw furniture about, and pile it on carts in the road, as they chose.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then the Master and the Mistress and Finn went away +together to the station, saying nothing, and looking very unhappy. Finn carried +his tail so low that it dragged, and its black tip picked up mud from the wet +road, upon which a fine autumnal drizzle had begun to fall. That night, and for +two subsequent nights, Finn lived unhappily in a poky London lodging with his +friends; and on the third day, he walked with the Master to a railway station, +while the Mistress of the Kennels drove in a cab with a mountain of baggage. +Finn was not allowed in the carriage with his friends, but had to travel in a +van full of boxes and bags, with a rough but amiable man whose coat had shiny +buttons, and whose attitude toward Finn was one of respectful and distant +deference.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Some time before this, Finn had come to the conclusion +that they were all going to a Dog Show; and, remembering vividly a Great Dane +who had snarled viciously at him in the last show he had visited during the +middle of the summer (when, as on each other occasion of his being exhibited, +he had been awarded first prize in each class for which he was eligible), he +decided that he would adopt a killing demeanour and stand no nonsense at all. +Four or five months ago, at the time of this last show, the Dane's fang-bearing +snarl had made him shudder. To-day he would have rather welcomed it than +otherwise, and returned it with interest.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After walking some fifty or sixty yards from the train, +among a great crowd of people and baggage, Finn, with the Master, entered what +he supposed was the show building. The chief reason, by the way, of his +conviction that he was bound for a show, lay in the fact that a long, bright +steel chain was attached to his best green collar, with its brass name-plate +bearing Finn's name and the Master's. The odd thing about this show building, +however, was that there appeared to be only two other dogs in it, besides Finn; +one a collie, and one an Irish terrier, whose head, so far as its shape went, +was a tiny miniature of Finn's own head. In colour, however, the terrier +reminded him rather of the big fox he had slain. Finn found these two +dogs--both, of course, unimportant small fry, from his lofty standpoint--each +chained to the front part of a barrel half filled with straw; and that seemed +to the Wolfhound an extremely odd kind of show bench. But the bed to which Finn +himself was chained was a good deal more like the kind he had seen before at +shows, in that it was a flat bench, well strawed, and a good foot above the +floor level; but it had solid wooden sides and roof, so that, while he lay on +it, Finn could not see the other dogs, unless by craning his head round the +corner. And before he left, the Master fixed up some wirework before the bench, +so as to shut Finn in, while on the inside of that network a notice was hung, +for the benefit of passers-by, most of whom read the notice aloud, until Finn +was thoroughly tired of hearing it. It ran like this: "Warning! Do not +touch!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After arranging this matter of the network, the Master +disappeared, with a hurried wave of his hand in Finn's direction, and a "Wait +there, old man!" a rather unnecessary request Finn may have thought, seeing +that he was securely chained.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Upon the whole, Finn decided that this was the most +curious show he had visited. He heard no barking, beyond an occasional yap from +the Irish terrier, and among the innumerable people who passed the front of his +bench, the majority seemed to be carrying bags or bundles, and none seemed to +have come there to see dogs. After a time Finn tired of the whole thing and, +curling up on his bench, went to sleep. He slept and waked, and slept and waked +again, for what seemed a very long time; and then the Master came to see him, +with the Mistress of the Kennels. He was taken down from his bench and allowed +to stroll to and fro for a few minutes, though not for any distance. The Master +knew that cleanly habits had long since become second nature with all the +Wolfhounds of his breeding, and that it would have been cruel to have left Finn +on his bench for very long stretches of time. Supper was given Finn, on the +floor near his bench, and fresh water was placed in his dish in the front +corner of the bed. Then he was chained up again, and the Master told him to be +a good Finn boy, and go to sleep till the next morning.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Days passed, all manner of odd things happened, and Finn +saw many strange sights before he actually realized that he was not at a Dog +Show at all, but a passenger aboard a great ocean liner. And even then, when a +good part of the ship had become quite familiar to him, the Wolfhound did not +know, of course, that they were all bound to the other side of the world, that +their passages were booked for Australia, and that this great steamer, which +had once belonged to the Atlantic service, was now given over entirely to +passengers of one class, who were travelling at a uniform and cheap rate to the +Antipodes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound chasing rabbit into burrow" src="images/fig18.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="267" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER10" id="CHAPTER10">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">A SEA CHANGE</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That long sea voyage was a strange, instructive experience +for Finn. The preceding few months had made for rapid development upon his +wilder side; they had taught him much as a hound and a hunter. This voyage +developed his personality, his character, the central something that was Finn, +and that differentiated him from other Irish Wolfhounds. Above all, the voyage +brought great development in Finn in the matter of his relations with the +Master and the Mistress of the Kennels.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The first three or four days of the passage did, as an +experience, resemble a Dog Show, in that Finn spent almost the whole time on +his bench, and was only taken down for a few minutes at a time. Later on, +however, when things and people had settled down into their places on board the +big liner, the Master obtained permission to give Finn a good deal more +freedom, on the understanding that he held himself responsible for the +Wolfhound's good behaviour. This meant that, by day and night, Finn was given +his liberty for hours together; but during the whole of that time he was never +out of the sight of one or other of his two friends, and, the Mistress not +being a good sailor, it meant that Finn was nearly always with the Master. +This, again, meant a marked change in Finn's ways of life, and a change which +affected his character materially. Here was no orchard through which he could +wander off to the open country, there to roam and hunt alone, and out of touch +with humans. Now, whether moving about or at rest, Finn was continuously within +hearing and sight of the Master, and practically always within touch of him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One result of all this was that Finn became greatly +humanised. He grew to understand far more of the Master's speech than he had +ever understood before; he came to depend greatly upon the Master's company and +kindly intercourse with him. With this came the development of an enduring and +conscious love of the Master, which filled Finn's mind and heart through all +these warm and lazy days, and entirely dominated his environment. With regard +to other people, he was a great deal more reserved than he had been in the old +days before he met Matey, and before he took to hunting. He permitted their +attentions courteously and, in the case of children, he would lend himself to +their desires readily enough. But he never invited attention from any one, +excepting the Master; and, whereas he would settle down comfortably to doze on +the sun-bathed deck, with his muzzle resting on the Master's feet, he never +volunteered to touch other people, though he accepted their caresses +good-humouredly enough.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Hitherto, putting aside the exuberant demonstrativeness of +early puppyhood, this had been Finn's attitude toward all humans, including +even the Master. He had liked the Master and the Mistress; he had trusted them, +and he had been deeply thankful to find them again after his escapade with +Matey; but it could hardly have been said that he had loved them, in the sense, +for example, that his mother had loved the Master, or that he himself loved the +Master now; now that he would lie for hours on his bench, waiting, watching, +and listening for the sound of the footfall which he easily distinguished from +among the many that he heard. In short, what had been no more than friendly +affection and confidence, grew now to personal attachment, to a feeling which +could fairly be called love, seeing that it comprised intense and jealous +devotion, and a contentedness which approached rapture, in the touch and +presence and society of one person. When they sat on the deck together at +night, the Master and Finn, under the gorgeous sky which so often favours +Pacific travellers by sea, the Wolfhound's intercourse with the man stopped +only just short of articulation, and went far beyond the normal companionship +of man and dog.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For instance, the Master would sometimes growl out low +remarks to Finn about the Old Country, about Tara, and the house beside the +Sussex Downs; and Finn understood practically every word he said on those +occasions. And then the Master might wind up by stroking his head in a heavy, +lingering way that Finn loved, and saying--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Ah, well, Finn boy; there's other good places in the +world, too. The Australian bush is a mighty big hunting ground, I can tell you. +We'll have some good times there, Finn boy; rabbits, and wallabies, and +kangaroos, Finn; great sport for my big Wolfhound and me. And maybe we'll get a +good home together out there before long, old man; might even strike it rich, +somehow, and go back to the Downs again, and do the thing in real solid style, +my Finn, with big kennels and half a score of hounds for you to lord it +over!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And at such times, Finn's inability to speak after the +human fashion was no particular bar between them. Understanding was so clearly +voiced in his dark, glistening eyes, in the eager thrust of his wet, cool +muzzle, and sometimes, for emphasis, in the compelling weight of his great arm, +as he laid it, with a pulling pressure, over the Master's shoulder. In addition +to all this, he would occasionally whimper, or make low growling noises, while +he pawed the Master's shoulder; and these sounds said as plainly as any words +could, and perhaps more emphatically: "I love you. I understand; and I love +you, Master. It's you and me, for always; and nothing else matters, wherever we +may be!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then the Master would say something about the Mistress +of the Kennels, and Finn would beat the deck with his thirty-inch tail, which +was as thick and strong at its roots as a man's arm. Or perhaps, if the weather +were calm as well as fine, the Mistress herself would come along and join them, +seated in a low deck chair; and then, though Finn's eyes would take on a +momentarily anxious look if her hand touched the Master, he would yet be very +happy, stretched out between them, with the half of one dark eye to spare for +one of them, and his whole big heart shining out upon the Master in the gaze +which held his head always turned the one way.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Just as something always seems to strike a balance in the +affairs of men-folk, so the gods who watch over the affairs of Finn's kind are +wont to provide compensations. For months, before this sea voyage, Finn's whole +being had been absorbed by the interests of the half-tame wild, in the country +beside the Sussex Downs. Dreaming and waking, the hunt had held his thoughts, +and solitary roaming had been his delight. Here aboard the great steamer he was +suddenly and completely cut off from all these things; but something else had +come to take possession of his active nature, his busy mind, his growing heart; +and the great love of the Master which grew in him now effectually shut out +anything like regret for the old life, by making the new life all-sufficing and +more compact of interest, of satisfying fullness, than ever the home life had +been at its best.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If it had not been for this remarkable development of +Finn's character which was brought about by his confinement on board a ship +with the Master, he would never have played the part he did in what was really +the most important event of his life up till this time; and one, too, which +taught the Master a good deal, regarding his own relationship to the great +Wolfhound he had bred. It all happened on a Sunday morning when, the weather +being very hot, the captain held service on the upper deck, under awnings, of +course. Half a dozen children were allowed, during the latter part of the +service, to withdraw, and play quietly by themselves, twenty yards away from +the last row of chairs occupied by the congregation. At one end of this last +row the Master sat, with Finn beside him on the deck. Among the children, one, +a curly-headed rascal of a boy named Tim, aged eight, was everybody's +favourite, and the leader of the rest in most kinds of mischief. Exactly how he +managed it was never rightly understood, but when the piercing sound of a +childish scream smote upon the Master's ears, through the droning periods of +the captain's read sermon, Tim was in mid-air, half-way between the ship's rail +and the sea, and the other children were staring, horror-stricken, at the place +he had occupied a moment before, with his chubby arms about the stem of a +boat's davit, and his brown legs astride the rail.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master was a man given to acting swiftly upon impulse. +Finn had leaped to his feet at sound of the scream. The Master followed on the +instant, and reached the ship's side within a second or two of Finn's arrival +there. Finn's muzzle was thrust out between the white rails, and he saw the +tiny figure of Tim in the smoothly eddying water a little abaft of the ship's +beam. The Master saw it, too, and, turning, with one urgent hand on Finn's +neck, he shouted--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Over and fetch him, Finn! Over boy! Over!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There was no mistaking his meaning. Finn had instant +understanding of that. But Finn was no water dog. The sea was very far below. +He let out two short nasal whimpers. The Master swung one arm excitedly.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Over, boy! Fetch Tim! Over, then!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then the growing love of the past few weeks spoke strongly +in Finn, overriding instinct in him, and, with a whining sort of bark of +protest against the order his new love forced him to obey, he leaped over the +white rail, and down, down, down through five-and-thirty feet of space into the +smooth, blue sea, where it swirled and rippled past the high steel walls of the +ship.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This exhausted the Master's first impulse. Instantly then +there flashed through his mind knowledge of the fact that Finn was no water +dog; that he had never been trained to fetch from the water, or to handle human +beings gently with his teeth. The Master had never even seen Finn swim. That +was a great love, a wonderful trust which had shone out from Finn's eyes, when, +instinct protesting in his whining bark, he had leaped the rail in obedience to +orders given on the impulse, and without thought. Would Finn be able to help +the child who had often played with him about the deck? And how if that whining +bark were a last good-bye?</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the next moment the Master acted on his second impulse, +regardless of the shouts he heard behind him. His shoes and coat were shed from +him in a moment, and he, too, leaped the rail, reaching the warm, blue water +feet first, and striking out at once towards Finn and the child. As a swimmer +his powers were not at all above the average.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For all his inexperience of the water Finn was a quicker +swimmer than the Master, and he reached little Tim within a very few seconds, +and seized the youngster firmly between his great jaws, while turning in the +water towards the ship he had left. Finn was careful enough to prevent his +teeth from injuring the child; there was no more fear of his doing that than of +his biting the hand of a man who caressed him. But he was no trained +life-saver, and it did not occur to him to notice which side up the child was +held. Also, a few seconds later, he caught sight of the Master in the water, +and that made him loose his hold of Tim, in his haste to reach one whose claim +upon him he regarded as infinitely greater. This was only momentary, however. +Some instinct told him he must not leave undone the task he had been set, and +with a swift movement he plucked the child to him again, and exerted all his +great strength to reach the Master. This time little Tim's face was uppermost; +but his small arms hung limply and helplessly at right angles from his body.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was only a matter of seconds now till Finn and the +Master met in the water. The Master seized little Tim, and Finn seized the +Master, by one arm.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Down, boy! Get down, Finn!" shouted the Master; and Finn +obediently loosed his hold, and swam anxiously round and round his friend in +short circles, while the Master trod water, and held Tim high above him, head +down, and body bent in the middle.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was less than three minutes later that the second +officer of the liner shouted, "Way enough!" and a big white lifeboat slid past +the Master's shoulder. The second officer leaned far out, and snatched little +curly-headed Tim from the Master's hands, passing him straight to the waiting +arms of another officer, the ship's surgeon.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Help the dog in!" shouted the Master, as two sailorly +hands reached out toward himself. But Finn was watchfully circling behind him. +It was rather an undertaking getting the great Wolfhound into the lifeboat; but +it was presently accomplished, the Master thrusting behind, and two men in the +boat tugging in front. Tim was lying on his face on the doctor's knees, and +gasping his way back to life under a vigorous kneading treatment. Whatever it +may have been for the man and the Wolfhound, it had undoubtedly been a close +call for the child. There were great rejoicings on the big Australian liner +during the rest of that sunshiny Sunday, and you may imagine that Finn came in +for a good deal of flattering attention. But he paid small heed to this. What +did make his heart swell within him, till his great chest seemed scarcely big +enough to hold it, was the little talk he had with the Master before they +boarded the ship from the lifeboat. The Master had one dripping arm about +Finn's wet shoulder, and held it there with a warm pressure, while he muttered +certain matters in Finn's right ear which sent hot blood pumping into the +Wolfhound's heart. The Master knew that Finn had done a big thing for love of +him that day, and he would never forget it. Finn would have leaped overboard +fifty times to earn again that pressure about his shoulder, and that low murmur +of loving commendation in his ear. The half-hysterical caresses of Tim's +mother, and the admiring attention of the whole ship's company were trifles +indeed after this.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The voyage to Australia took Finn into a new world in more +senses than one. Nature and the Master had endowed him richly before. This +voyage endowed him with the gift of true love, which he had not known before; +and whereas he had come aboard that ship a very magnificent Wolfhound, he would +leave it, the richer by something which would almost be called a soul, a +personality developed by these long weeks of close intercourse with a man, and +the final mental triumph which had ended in his successfully rebelling against +the dominion of instinct, by reason of the completeness of his devotion to the +Master.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p><img alt="encamped circus" src="images/fig19.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="585" height="242" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER11" id="CHAPTER11">CHAPTER XII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE PARTING OF THE WAYS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If Finn had been transported on a magic carpet and in an +instant of time, from England to that part of Australia in which he did +eventually land, the first few months he spent in the land of the Southern +Cross would have been a desperately unhappy time. As it was, he landed under +the influence of six weeks of steady character development, his whole being +dominated by the warm personal devotion to the Master which had taken the place +with Finn of mere friendly affection. And that made all the difference in the +world, in the matter of the great Wolfhound's first experience of the new +land.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But it is a fact that it was not a very happy period for +Finn. The intimate understanding he had acquired regarding the Master's moods +and states of mind and spirits, gave him more than a dog's fair share of the +burdens of that curious period. It was a bad time for the Master, and for that +reason, quite apart from anything else, it was not a good time for Finn. Some +of the evil happenings of that period Finn understood completely, and with +regard to others again, all that he could understand was their unhappy effect +upon his friends and himself. The first of them saluted Finn's friends before +they left the ship, in the shape of news of the death, one week before this +date, of the one man upon whom the Master had been relying for help in +establishing himself in Australia. So that, instead of meeting with a warm +welcome, Finn and his friends had to find quarters for themselves, and to spend +days in the country without a friendly word from any one.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man who had died, suddenly, was a bachelor, and a +squatter on a large scale. His spacious country home was now in the hands of +the representatives of the Crown, pending its disposal for the benefit of +relatives in remote parts of the world who had never seen the man who made it. +This meant that, instead of going up country on their arrival in Australia, the +Master and the Mistress and Finn were obliged to find economical quarters for +themselves in the city. It was a pleasant, sunny city enough, but no city would +ever commend itself much to an Irish Wolfhound, and cheap town lodgings formed +a poor substitute for the Sussex Downs for one of Finn's kind. And then, before +the situation had ceased to be strange and unfamiliar, the Master was smitten +with an illness which confined him to one room for several weeks, and kept the +Mistress of the Kennels pretty constantly employed in tending him. If it had +not been for his consciousness of the Master's trouble and weakness, Finn would +have had no great fault to find with this period, for he was allowed to spend +the greater part of his days and nights beside the bed, and within sight of the +man he loved.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But after the Master's recovery came many weeks of anxiety +and increasing depression, during which every sort of misfortune seemed to +pursue Finn's friends, and they were obliged at length to move into a cheaper, +smaller lodging, into which Finn was only admitted by those in authority upon +sufferance; in which he had hardly room to turn and twist his great bulk. The +Master's walks abroad at this time took him principally into offices and places +of that sort, where Finn could not accompany him, and, if it had not been for +the Mistress's good care, the Wolfhound's life would have been dreary indeed, +and without any outdoor exercise. All these matters, however, Finn could have +endured cheerfully enough, by reason of the content that filled his mind when +the Master was by, and the anticipations that possessed him while he waited for +the Master's return. But the thing that sapped Finn's spirits and vitality was +his consciousness of the growing weight of unhappiness and anxiety and distress +which possessed the Master. Finn knew by the manner in which his friend sat +down when he entered the poor little lodging at night, that things had gone +evilly during the day. The touch of his friend's hand on his head, languid and +inert, told the Wolfhound much; and the nightly messages which reached his +understanding were increasingly depressing. He did not understand the Master's +explanations to the Mistress of how he had been swindled here, turned away in +the other place, and misled by such and such a person. But he did realize very +keenly the effects of these things, and the distress they produced.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But this little party of strangers in a strange land had +not reached the end of the long train of misfortunes with which the new world +tested them before making them free of its bounty. The climax of several +long-drawn months of unhappiness came to them in the form of serious illness +for the Mistress of the Kennels, which, for weeks, prevented the Master from +seeking any further to better his fortunes. At the end of a month, in which the +Master and Finn plumbed unsuspected deeps of misery, the Mistress, white and +wan, and desperately shaky, left her bedroom for the tiny sitting-room which +Finn could almost span when he stretched his mighty frame. (He measured seven +feet six and a quarter inches now, from nose-tip to tail-tip; and when he stood +absolutely erect he could just reach the top of a door six feet six inches high +with his fore-paws.) And there the Mistress sat, and smiled weakly, as she bade +the Master go out to take the air and walk with Finn. By her way of it, she was +to be quite herself again within a few days, but a fortnight found her +practically no stronger; and the doctor spoke plainly, almost angrily, of the +necessity of change of air and scene. When the Master hinted at his inability +to provide this, the doctor shrugged his well-clad shoulders.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I can only tell you, my dear sir, that if the patient is +to recover she must leave this place. A month up in the mountains would put her +right, with a liberal diet, and comfortable quarters. The expense need not be +great. I should say that, with care, twenty pounds might cover the whole +thing."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was then that, with a certain gruff abruptness, the +Master informed the doctor, outside the door of the sitting-room, that his +resources were reduced to less than half the amount mentioned, and that there +were bills owing. The doctor looked grave for a moment, and then shrugged his +shoulders again. As he was leaving he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Why, you have a dog there that must eat as much as a man. +I imagine you could sell him for twenty pounds. Indeed, there is a patient of +my own who I am sure would pay that for so fine a hound."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I dare say," said the Master sadly, "seeing that I +refused a hundred guineas for him before he was fully grown. That is the finest +Irish Wolfhound living, a full champion, and the most valuable dog of his breed +in the world. But we could not part with Finn. He---- No, we could not sell +Finn."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Again the young doctor shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Ah, well, that's your business, of course; but I have +told you the patient will not recover in this place. If the dog is such a fine +one as all that, perhaps you could get more for him; enough to set the patient +on her feet, and establish yourself in some way. In fact, I think my friend +would give more, if I were to ask him; he is one of the richest men in the +city, and a great lover of animals."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The rest of that day proved the most miserable time that +the Master and Finn had spent in Australia. But a pretence at cheerfulness had +to be maintained until the Mistress had retired for the night; and then, for +many hours, the Master sat before an empty fire-place, with Finn's great head +resting on his knees, and one of his hands mechanically rubbing and stroking +the Wolfhound's ears, while he thought, and thought, and found only greater +sadness in his thinking. Finn felt plainly that a crisis had arrived, and he +tried to show his agreement and understanding, when at long last, the Master +rose from his comfortless wooden chair, saying sadly--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I don't see what else a man can do, my Finn, boy; +but--but it's hard."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Early next morning, before the Mistress appeared, the +Master took a leash in his hand, and set out with Finn from the poor house that +sheltered them, in the dingy quarter of the town where they lived. They walked +for two miles through sunlit spacious streets, and then they came to the house +of the doctor. The Master waited in the hall, and the doctor came to see him +there, a finger napkin in his hands.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Doctor," said the Master; "I want the address of that +rich patient of yours who is fond of animals."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Ah! Yes, I thought you would," answered the doctor. "Just +step in here a moment, and I will give you a note for Mr. Sandbrook. If you are +going there right away, you will certainly be sure of catching him in."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was nearly an hour later that the Master and Finn +reached the entrance to a beautiful garden, in the centre of which stood a big, +picturesque house, with windows overlooking the sparkling waters of a great +harbour. The house had only one storey above the ground floor, and its walls +rambled over a large expanse of ground. All round the house, with its deep, +shady verandahs, spread a host of ever-diminishing satellites, in the form of +outbuildings of one kind and another; extensive stabling, coach-houses, wood +and coal lodges, laundry, tool-sheds, workmen's living-rooms, and so forth.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master and Finn were kept waiting for some time, and +were seated on the verandah when Mr. Sandbrook, the portly broker, merchant, +and shipping agent, came to them. Finn was lying stretched at his full great +length on the cedar-wood planks of the verandah, fore-legs far out before him, +head carried high, his big, dark eyes fixed lovingly on the Master's face. Mr. +Sandbrook was a good-natured, kindly soul, very prosperous and very vain, and +little accustomed to deny himself anything which his quickly roaming little +grey eyes desired. As these eyes of his fell upon Finn, they told him that this +was the most magnificent dog he had ever seen; the handsomest dog in Australia; +as indeed Finn was, easily, and without a doubt.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then the merchant shook hands with the Master, and +read the note from the doctor.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I don't know, I'm sure, what made the doctor think I +wanted another dog," he said; "but this is certainly a noble animal of yours, +Mr.----er."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then the Master showed him Finn's printed pedigree, +with one or two newspaper descriptions of the Wolfhound, and a list of his +championship honours, and other papers showing the Master's own connection with +the Irish Wolfhound Club, and so forth. Mr. Sandbrook had already made up his +mind that this dog must belong to him, however; he almost resented, in a +good-humoured way, the fact that Finn had not belonged to him before. It seemed +to him only right that the best should be his. But he was a business man, and +he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Of course, in this country no dogs have the sort of +market value that you speak of this hound having in England. That would be +regarded as absurd here. You understand that, I am sure."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"No price you could name, sir, would tempt me into parting +with Finn; only dire necessity makes that possible. But, in this country or any +other, Finn's value, not to me, but to the dog-buyer, would be a hundred +guineas; and he would be very cheap at that. He would bring double that in +England. But I will sell Finn to you, sir, for fifty guineas, because I am +assured that he would have a good home with you--on one condition; and that is +that you will let me have him again for, say, eighty guineas, if I can offer +you that sum within a couple of years."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Mr. Sandbrook stuck out his chin, pulled down his white +waistcoat, and said that he was afraid he could not make such an offer as +that.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You see, I am not a dealer in animals," he said. And the +Master answered him rather sharply with: "Neither am I. You know why I am here, +sir." "Yes, yes," said Mr. Sandbrook, stroking his whiskers with one plump +white hand; "but you see, I don't want to feel that I have to give up a--er--a +possession of my own whenever I may happen to be called upon to do so. No; I +could never do that. But, I'll tell you what; I'll give you seventy guineas for +the dog outright, if you like; but I assure you there's not another man in the +country but would laugh at such a figure for a dog, for any dog. But I can see +he's a fine fellow, and--er--I'll do that, if you like."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Master shook his head.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly then, the Master turned upon the merchant, with a +little upward movement of both hands.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Sir, I would ask you to reconsider that," he said. "I +would ask you please to try and think what this means to me. It is not a +business proposition to me at all. I have told you what the doctor said. I +cannot neglect that--dare not. But Finn--Finn is like a child of my own to me; +like a young brother. Take him from me for thirty guineas, and promise to let +me buy him back for sixty, if I can do it, in two years, in one, then. It--it +would be a great kindness."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The merchant measured the Master with his little grey +eyes. He was good-natured and very vain. He wanted to own that magnificent +hound. No one else in the colony (it was not a State then) owned such a hound +as that. He pictured Finn lying on a rug in the fine hall of his fine house, +which he was told was equal to that of one of the stately homes of England. It +had cost enough, he thought, with its armour, and its dim old portraits of men +and women whose names he had never heard, though he was wont to refer to them +vaguely as "family portraits, you know--the old folk at Home." And it was true +enough they had come from the Old Country; through the dealer who supplied the +armour. But then to have some one come and take his fine hound away from +him--no, his dignity forbade the thought of such a thing. He turned half round +on his heels.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"No," he said decisively; "I'm sorry, but I couldn't think +of it. I'll make it seventy-five guineas for an outright sale, and that's my +last word."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">While the Master pondered over this, he had a vision of +the Mistress of the Kennels, sitting, white and shaky, in the dismal little +room on the far side of the city, waiting for the change which was to give her +health again. He did hesitate for another minute; but he knew all the time that +there was no alternative for him, and, watching the expression on his careworn +face, the merchant, good-natured creature though he was, told himself that he +had been a fool to offer that extra five guineas. It really was a preposterous +price for a dog, he thought.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Five minutes later the merchant was making out a cheque in +his study, and the Master was engaged in writing down a long list of details +regarding Finn's dietary, and the sort of methods and system which should be +followed to secure health and happiness to an Irish Wolfhound. The Master used +great care over the preparation of these instructions. At least, he thought, +Finn would be sure of a luxuriously good home.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You don't think he'll run away, do you?" asked the +merchant.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"No; I don't think he'll run away," said the Master. "I'll +tell him he mustn't do that." The merchant stared. "But, for a week or two, you +should be careful with him, and not leave him quite at large." The Master had +already made it clear to the merchant that Finn was an aristocrat in all his +habits. And now the merchant was anxious to get to his much-deferred breakfast, +always a rather late function in that house; and the Master had no wish to +prolong a situation of unmitigated wretchedness to himself.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">They parted in the big hall, the Master and Finn, among +the dim portraits of somebody's ancestors and the armour which came from a +street near Regent's Park. Finn had been eyeing the Master with desperate +anxiety for some time past. At frequent intervals he had nervously wagged his +tail, and even made a pretence of gaiety, with jaws parted, and red tongue +lolling. Now he sat down on his haunches on a big rug, because the Master told +him to sit down. For a moment the Master dropped on one knee beside him, one +arm about his shoulders. Finn gave an anxious little whine. His heart was +thudding against his ribs; the prescient anxiety stirring within him affected +him with a physical nausea.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Good-bye, my old Finn, son! Good-bye, you--you Irish +Hound! Now mark me, Finn, you stay here; you stay here--stay here, Finn!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Such episodes are always suspect when seen in print. I +have no wish to exaggerate by a hair's-breadth about Finn. His whole nature +bade the Wolfhound follow his friend. The Master said, "Stay there!" And there +was no mistaking his meaning. Finn crouched down. His body did not touch the +floor; his weight rested on his outstretched legs, though his position appeared +to be that of lying. There he crouched; but, as though the thing were too much +for him to see as well as feel, he buried his muzzle, well over the eyes, +between his fore-legs, just as he might have done if a strong light had dazzled +him. It was obedience such as a great soldier could appreciate. Finn stayed +there, hiding his face; but as the house-door closed behind the Master, a cry +broke from Finn, a muffled cry, by reason of the position of his head; a cry +that was part bark, part whine, and part groan; a cry that smote upon the +Master's ears as he stepped out upon the gravel drive in the sunlight, with the +biting, stinging pain, not of the parting, but of an accusation. There was a +twinge of shame as well as grief in the Master's heart that day, though he knew +well that what he had done was unavoidable. Still, there was the sense of +shame, of treachery. Finn had been wonderfully human and close to him since +they left England together.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Before noon of that day the Master was on his way to the +mountains with the Mistress of the Kennels.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound looking at closed door" src="images/fig20.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="472" height="402" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER12" id="CHAPTER12">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">AN ADVENTURE BY NIGHT</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For some thirty-six hours after his parting with the +Master, Finn mourned silently in the big house, which overlooked the harbour +and was filled with brand-new luxuries, including the brightly polished suits +of mail and the carefully matured family portraits in the hall. If Finn had +been a year younger the Sandbrook family would have learned from him the exact +nature of the Irish Wolfhound howl, and they would not have liked it at all. +But, though Finn would be capable of the howl as long as he lived, he had no +mind to indulge in it now. His grief was too deep for that and too +understanding; so understanding, indeed, that he was perfectly well aware that +no howls of his would bring the Master back to him. It was true he had not +understood the nature of the transaction which made him the property of the +Australian merchant; but he had clearly understood that some grievous necessity +had forced the Master to hand him over to Mr. Sandbrook, and that his, Finn's, +duty to the Master involved remaining there in the house by the harbour.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, as he saw it, his duty did not make it incumbent upon +him to enter into communication with a whole pack of people who had nothing to +do with the Master. In some dim way he comprehended that he owed deference and +obedience to Mr. Sandbrook; that the Master had undertaken so much on his +behalf; but he had no wish to become familiar with the Sandbrook household; and +the consequence was that the daughters, and the servants--there were no sons at +home--and the lady of the house, while they admitted the magnificence of the +new acquisition's appearance, agreed in pronouncing him a rather sulky animal. +They showered caresses and foolish remarks upon him, and he lay with his +grey-black muzzle resting on outstretched fore-legs, staring through them all +at the door by which the Master had disappeared. The only sign he would give of +consciousness of the presence of these other people, was in turning his head +away from them when they touched his muzzle. Once, when the younger daughter of +the house went so far as to sit down beside Finn, and bend her head close down +to his, he submitted courteously, though his nose wrinkled with annoyance, +until the young lady raised her head; and then, very gently, lie rose, walked +away from her to the mat beside the door, and lay down there, with his nose +close to the spot on which the Master's feet had last rested in that house.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was taken out in the garden two or three times on a +leash; but he had no thought of escape. The Master had left him, and bade him +stay there; and his heart was empty and desolate within him. Now and again his +dark eyes filled with moisture, and the sadness of his face was so wonderfully +striking as to impress the Misses Sandbrook, who, truth to tell, were not over +and above intelligent, nor even very kind-hearted. They had not half the kindly +good-nature of their vulgar parents, though they had much better taste, and a +great variety of accomplishments.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Through the night Finn did not sleep, though he dozed +occasionally for a few minutes at a time, dreaming fitfully, waking and dozing, +of the Master and the Mistress, and the lodging they had shared of late. The +whole of the next day he passed in the same employment, except that, in the +afternoon, he had to go through the wearisome ceremony of being introduced to a +number of strange ladies, not one among whom seemed from the smell of her +clothes to have anything to do with the Master. He comported himself through +this ordeal with dignity and patience, but, as one of the ladies said--"The +dear darling, he does look so dreadfully sad and tired of everything, doesn't +he?" To which Mrs. Sandbrook replied that this was just his "strangeness," and +that he would soon get over it. She added that she did not object to this look +of Finn's herself, he being such a regular a-<em>ris</em>tocrat. It seemed to +her in keeping with his general appearance, she said, and quite suggestive of +the sort of ancient, ivy-covered mansion he had come from in the Old Country. +The good lady drew upon her imagination, of course, in the matter of Finn's +home in England. But she meant well, and Finn suffered her head-pattings more +gladly than those of the rest of the household, recognizing clearly in her just +about what there was to recognize, and rightly appreciating that simple +character, as being of greater worth than the frothily pretentious nature of +her daughters.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That night the master of the house announced that he +thought Finn had quite settled in his new home, and that he would now take the +Wolfhound for a stroll in the grounds without the leash. He did so, and when +they had walked twice round a lawn and down an avenue, they came to the green +gate by which Finn had first entered that place. Finn had been walking +dejectedly, his head carried low and close to Mr. Sandbrook's legs, his mind +still too full of mournful thoughts of his lost Master to permit of his +inquiring closely into those smells and other details of his immediate +surroundings, which would have interested him in ordinary circumstances.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now, as his eyes fell upon the green gate, an overpowering +desire to see the Master swept through his mind. He had no intention of running +away from his new owner. His one thought was just to run down to the old +lodging and see the Master again. His hind-quarters bent under him, and the +next instant saw him neatly clearing the top of the five-foot gate, with never +a thought of the consternation he left behind him in poor Mr. Sandbrook's +mind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Before the portly merchant had the gate fairly open, Finn +had trotted thirty or forty yards down the moonlit road in the direction from +which he had approached the house with the Master on the morning of the +previous day. He paused once, and looked back at Mr. Sandbrook, in response to +agitated cries and whistles; but, not being able to explain his precise object +in going out in a manner that would have been comprehensible to the merchant, +he decided that it would be better to get on with the matter in hand without +delay. So he went forward again, and this time at an easy canter which took him +out of earshot of Mr. Sandbrook in less than one minute.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn arrived in the streets of the city he was more +than a little confused, and once or twice took a wrong turning. But he always +retraced his steps and found the right turning before going far, and in due +course he arrived at the house in which he had lodged with his friends. Rising +on his hind-feet, he pawed the front door vigorously. A few moments later the +door was opened by the landlady, to whose utter astonishment Finn brushed +hurriedly into the little passage and up the stairs to the door of the room the +Master had used, where he paused, with one foot pressed against the closed +door.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Here, Sam!" cried the startled landlady, "you talk about +your blessed menagerie, come an' look 'ere. My word, this'll surprise yer!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The landlady's son, who had paid her a flying visit that +day, appeared in the passage in his shirt sleeves, holding a small lamp. The +landlady closed the front door, and together the two walked upstairs to where +Finn sat, whining softly, and pawing at the closed door of what had been the +Master's sitting-room.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"My bloomin' oath, what a dog!" exclaimed Sam, as his +mother reached forward and opened the sitting-room door, leaving Finn free to +plunge forward into the dark interior, which he did on the instant. In the next +instant he was out again, and pawing at the opposite door, leading to the +bedroom. This, too, was opened for him, and in another moment he had satisfied +himself that neither room had been occupied by the Master or the Mistress for a +considerable time. This was a grievous blow to Finn, and as he returned to the +little landing between the two rooms, he sniffed despairingly at the landlady's +skirt, and even nuzzled her rough hand, with a vague feeling that she might be +able to produce his friends. Not that he had any serious purpose in this, +however, for it was strongly borne in upon Finn now that he had lost his +friends for good and all.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, what jer think of 'im?" the landlady asked of her +son.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam was a tall, loosely built, rather slouching fellow; a +typical young Australian of a certain class; not unintelligent, rather lazy, +given to drawl in his speech, and extremely self-centred. He had been eyeing +Finn all this while with growing interest, and now he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Is he savage?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Wouldn't hurt a sheep," replied the mother. "Wouldn't yer +like to know where I got such a beauty?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"No kid. He's not yours," said Sam.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, I reckon he could be, if I wanted sech a great +elephant. 'Is Master lodged 'ere these two months an' more, but 'e went off to +the mountins yesterday with his sick Missis. Why, come to think of it, er +course, that's what it is. 'Is Master's sole him, that's what 'e's done; and +that's why 'e was able to pay me, an' the doctor, an' go off to the mountins +yesterday. An' now the bloomin' dog's run away an' come back to look for 'im; +that's what that is, you can take yer oath."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam spat reflectively on the little coloured door-mat. +"Well, the dog's no use to you, mother," he said. "You can't do nothin' with +him."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'm not so sure about that, Sam," replied the landlady +thoughtfully. As a matter of fact, the idea of keeping Finn had not occurred to +her for a moment, up till then. But hers was not an easy life; she was always +short of money, and found it extremely difficult to worm anything out of this +big son of hers during his rare visits to her. In fact, of late she had given +up the attempt, so that his visits represented only an additional expense for +her. "I don' know about that, Sam. I might keep 'im, an' watch out fer the +reward. A dawg like that's worth money."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Too bloomin' big an' clumsy to be worth much," said Sam +disparagingly. "Clumsy" was no more applicable to Finn than it would be to a +panther, and Sam was well aware of it. "Tell you what," he said, "I've got to +be makin' for the station in half an hour, anyway. I'll take the dog out o' yer +way, an' give you half a quid for him, if yer like. I shall lose on it, fer +it's not likely the boss could make any use of 'im, anyway. But I'll chance the +ducks this time, if yer like. You can't keep a bloomin' camel like that +here."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But the landlady knew her son tolerably well, and he could +not deceive her very much. When he left the house half an hour later he was +leading Finn at the end of a rusty chain, and the poorer by twenty-five +shillings than he had been an hour before. So Finn changed hands for the second +time in forty-eight hours, once for seventy-five guineas, and once for +twenty-five shillings; and upon this second occasion the transaction was a +matter of complete indifference to him. He thought vaguely of returning to Mr. +Sandbrook's house later on. In the meantime this young man seemed to want him +to take a walk in another direction, and all ways were alike to Finn in his +bitter disappointment over not finding the Master. He did not know that he was +treading exactly the path the Master and the Mistress had trod on the previous +clay, when leaving their lodging for the mountains. He only felt that he had +now completely lost his friends, and that he was rather well-disposed than +otherwise toward long-legged Sam, for the reason that Sam came from the house +in which the Master had lodged.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="tiger behind bars" src="images/fig21.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="279" height="350" /> </p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER13" id="CHAPTER13">CHAPTER XIV</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE SOUTHERN CROSS CIRCUS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The night which followed Finn's departure from his old +lodging with Sam was the most peculiar that he had ever spent in his life, and, +not even excepting the night in Matey's back-yard in Sussex, the most +unrestful. It was the second consecutive night during which he went practically +without sleep; but on this occasion it was not so much grief over his loss of +the Master that kept him awake as the peculiar nature of the immediate +surroundings.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the first place, the greater part of the night was +spent on a moving railway train; and, secondly, Finn's particular resting-place +was a sort of wooden cage, sheathed in iron, and having another similar cage +upon either side of it. In the compartment upon Finn's right were two native +bears. These philosophical animals slept solidly all the time, and made no +noise beyond a husky sort of snoring. But they had a pronounced odour which +penetrated Finn's compartment through a grating near its roof; and this odour +was peculiarly disturbing to the Wolfhound. In the cage on Finn's left was a +full-grown, elderly, and sour-tempered Bengal tiger, who had sore places under +his elbows, and other troubles which made him excessively irritable, and a bad +sleeper. The tiger also had a pronounced odour; and it was much more disturbing +to Finn than that of the philosophical little native bears. In fact, it kept +the wiry hair over Finn's shoulders in a state of continual agitation and his +silky ears in a restlessly upright position, with only their soft tips +drooping. Sometimes, when the train jolted, the tiger would roll heavily +against the iron-sheathed partition between his abode and Finn's, and then Finn +would spring to his feet, against the far side of the compartment, every hair +on his body erect, his lips drawn right back from the pearl-white fangs they +usually sheltered, his sensitive nostrils deeply serrated, and all the +forgotten fierceness of bygone generations of Wolfhound warriors and killers +concentrated in his long-drawn snarl of resentment and of warning threat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It may be imagined, then, that for Finn the night was even +less restful than the one he spent in Mr. Sandbrook's house. The smells and +sounds about him strained every nerve in the Wolfhound's body to singing point, +even as a prolonged gale strains the cordage of a ship that flies before it +through a heavy sea. They penetrated farther into the pulsing entity that was +Finn than even his experience with Matey, or his hunting and killing of the fox +beside the Sussex Downs. They stirred latent instincts which came to him from +farther back in the long line of his ancestry; from just how far back one could +not say, but it may well be that they came from a dim period, beyond all the +generations of wolf-hunting and, earlier, of man-fighting in Ireland, when +forbears of Finn's had been pitted against lions and tigers and bears, as well +as Saxons, in Roman arenas. Again, it might be that that reputed Thibetan +ancestor played his part in endowing Finn with the hitherto unsuspected +instincts which stirred within him now, changing his aspect from its usual +courtly dignity and grace to lip-dropping ferocity, and fierce, forbidding +wrath. It was curious, the manner in which the play of these instincts affected +Finn's very shape, giving to his massive depth of chest a suggestion of the +hyæna, to his head a marked suggestion of the wolf, and to his drooping +hind-quarters more than a hint of the lion. The facts that the hair along his +spine stood erect like wire, and that his exposed fangs and updrawn lips +changed his whole facial aspect, had a good deal to do with the alterations +wrought in his shape by the curious position in which he found himself this +night. A wiser man than Sam would have refrained from putting Finn in this +predicament, and that more especially while he was still a stranger to the +great hound. But Sam had been invited to join a party of his companions who +were supplied with euchre cards and a bottle of whisky, and, as he told +himself, he "couldn't be bothered with the bloomin' dawg!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam rather regretted his carelessness when he came to +release Finn next morning. Since the small hours, the part of the train in +which Sam had travelled had been lying in a siding, close to a little mountain +station. And now the different wagons, including that containing Finn and the +tiger and the bears, with a lot of paraphernalia, were being swung out upon the +ground, preparatory to being drawn by road to the neighbouring town. At this +stage Sam had intended to take Finn out to be inspected by his employer, and, +if fortune willed it, sold to that gentleman for what Sam considered a handsome +figure, say, fifteen or twenty pounds.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam was one of the underlings employed by Rutherford's +famous Southern Cross travelling circus; and his idea was that Finn would be +found a suitable and welcome addition to the menagerie of performing animals +attached to that popular institution. But when Sam came to look at Finn by +daylight, and to note the extreme fierceness of the Wolfhound's mien--brought +about entirely by his own stupidity in locking the hound up beside a tiger and +two bears--his heart failed him in the matter of releasing his prize, and he +decided to wait until the camp had been formed, and things had settled down a +little. That cowardly decision of Sam's affected the whole of Finn's future +life.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The process of transferring his cage to the road, and +travelling along that road, which was in reality no better than a very rough +mountain track and exceedingly bumpy, worked old Killer, as the tiger was +ominously called, into a frenzy of wrath, the which was by no means softened by +the removal of the outer side of his cage, in order that the casual passer-by +might observe his ferocity through the inner iron bars. Now the tiger's frenzy +meant something very like frenzy for Finn. When the tiger snarled, and thrashed +the inner side of his cage with his great tail, Finn's snarl became a fierce, +growling bark; his fore-legs stiffened, like the erect hair along his backbone, +his white fangs were all exposed, and his aspect became truly terrifying. +Saliva began to collect at the corners of his long mouth; his great wrath and +unreasoning, instinctive fierceness and resentment made him look twice his +actual size; and altogether it may be admitted that when Sam came to +investigate, after the camp had been formed, Finn truly was, to all +appearances, a fearsome and terrifying creature. His snarls and growls waked +fury in the breast of the irritable old tiger, who was not accustomed to hear +threats or warnings from any of his neighbours, he being the only large +carnivorous animal in the show, and, in consequence, he threw himself against +the partition between Finn's cage and his own, snarling ferociously. This put +the strength of centuries of hunting and fighting courage and fierceness into +Finn's replies, and left the Wolfhound, to all outward seeming, a more +formidable wild beast than the tiger himself.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam marvelled at his own courage in having led this +monster through the streets, and told himself that nothing would induce him to +be such a fool as to take Finn out of the cage. His mother had given him both +Finn's name and the name of the breed, but Sam had never before heard of an +Irish Wolfhound, and, looking now at Finn's gleaming fangs and foamy lips, all +that he recalled of the name was "Irish Wolf." It was thus that Finn was +presented to the great John L. Rutherford himself, the proprietor of the +circus.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"He's the Giant Irish Wolf, boss," said Sam, "and the only +one in the world, as I'm told. I bought him cheap, an' I got him into that cage +single-handed, I did; an' now I'll sell him to you cheap, boss, if you'll buy +him. If you don't want him, he goes to Smart's manager, who offered me +twenty-five quid for him, as he stood last night."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Smart's" was the opposition circus; but the rest of Sam's +remarks were imagination for the most part, based upon his desire to make a +good sale of Finn, his cowardly fear of handling the now infuriated hound, his +ignorance, and a natural wish to afford an explanation, a plausible and +creditable explanation, of the liberty he had taken in appropriating the empty +cage. As a matter of fact, the great John L. Rutherford experienced quite a +thrill of satisfaction when his eyes lighted upon the raging Wolfhound. He had +lost his one lion from disease some weeks previously, and felt that the +menagerie lacked attractiveness in the way of fierce-looking and bloodthirsty +creatures. Like Sam, he had never even heard of an Irish Wolfhound, or seen a +dog of any breed who approached Finn in the matter of height and length and +lissom strength.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From the point of view of one who regarded him as a wild +beast, and was without knowledge of the tragic chance which had made so gallant +and docile a creature appear in the guise of a wild beast, Finn did actually +present both an awe-inspiring and a magnificent spectacle at this moment. His +cage was seven feet high, yet at one moment Finn's fore-paws came within a few +inches of touching its roof, as he plunged erect and snarling against the +partition which separated him from the growling and spitting tiger. The next +moment saw him crouched in the far corner of the cage, as though for a spring, +his fore-legs extended, rigid as the iron bars that enclosed him, his black +eyes blazing fire and fury, his huge, naked jaws parted to admit of a snarl of +terrifying ferocity, his whole great bulk twitching and trembling from the +mixture of rage, bewilderment, fear, and wild killing passion with which his +neighbours and his amazing situation filled him. It was an amazing situation +for such a creature, reared as Finn had been reared, and, withal, having behind +him the lordly fighting blood of fifteen centuries of Irish Wolfhound +history.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, Sam, he sure is a dandy wolf," said the astonished +Mr. John L. Rutherford, who hailed, men said, from San Francisco. "I'd just +like to know who you got him from, and how you got him aboard the train last +night."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam began to feel that he really was a very fine fellow, +and one who had accomplished great things.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, I'll tell ye, boss; I bought him from a wild +Irishman named O'Flaherty, who landed yesterday from the steamer, <em>Prince +Rupert</em>, yer know; and I brought him to the train in a zinc-lined +packin'-case with iron bars to it, which I sold to a bummer in the goods-yard +for a bob." Sam did not mention at the same time that he had flung away the +brand-new collar Finn had worn, with Mr. Sandbrook's name upon it. "Yes, I got +him into that cage single-handed, boss; but I reckon it'll take the Professor +all he knows to handle the brute." "The Professor" was the world-renowned +Professor Claude Damarel, lion-tamer and performer with wild beasts, known +sometimes in private life as Clem Smith.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Giant Irish Wolf, you say," mused John L. Rutherford, who +knew the world tolerably well between Chicago and San Francisco, and in the +continent of Australia, but nowhere else. He could both read and write, but his +favourite literature was the <em>Police Gazette</em>, and for other writing +than his signature he preferred where possible to employ some one else, because +it was work which made him perspire copiously. It also made his lower lip +droop, even when he signed his name, and altogether was a laborious business. +"Well, he's certainly a giant right enough; big as any two wolves I ever see. +My! He must stand a yard at the shoulder." Which he did, and at that moment his +hackles were giving him another three inches, and his rage was giving him the +effect of another foot all round. "What figure have you got the gall to ask for +him, Sam?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, I'm only askin' a fiver for meself out've him, +boss; so I'll take twenty down."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You will, eh? Why, what a generous son of a gun you are, +Sam! I should've thought twenty would've given you three fivers profit."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"What, an' him the only Irish Wolf in all the world, boss! +Why he'll be the draw of the show inside of a week. See him jump, now! Look at +the devil! Strike me! He is a dandy from way back, boss. How'll the Giant Wolf +figure on the bills, boss? Why I believe Smart's man'd rise to thirty for him, +sure."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, Sam, we won't quarrel for a pound or two. It was +smart of ye to get the beast, an' you shall have fifteen for him, though ten's +his price; an' if the Professor makes a star of him, why you'll get a rise, my +boy. Say, touch him up with that stick there, an' see how he takes it."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Sam thrust a stave in between the bars of Finn's cage, +where they adjoined those of the tiger's place, and prodded the Wolfhound's +side as he stood erect. The thing seemed to come from the tiger's cage, and +Finn was upon it like a whirlwind, his fangs sinking far into the tough wood, +till it cracked again.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, say," said the boss, with warm admiration, "if he +ain't two ends an' the middle of a jim-dandy rustler from 'way back, you can +search me! Say, Sam, cut along an' find the Professor. Tell him I'd like to see +him right here."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The great barred cage, with its three divisions, was now +enclosed, with various other cages and properties of the circus, within a high +canvas wall in the centre of the camp. The circus was to open that night, and +much remained to be done in the way of preparing a ring in the big main tent, +and so forth. A number of piebald horses stood in different parts of the +enclosure, nosing idly at the dusty ground, and paying not the slightest heed +either to the scent of the different wild creatures, or to the roaring snarls +and growls that issued continuously from Killer's cage. Familiarity had bred +indifference in them to things which would have sent a horse from outside half +crazy with fear.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Professor arrived with Sam, after a few minutes. He +wore knee boots, a vivid red shirt, and a much soiled old leather coat which +reached almost to his boots. From his right wrist there dangled a long quilt, +or cutting whip, of rhinoceros-hide. Born in the neighbourhood of Pretoria, the +Professor had been through most phases of the showman's business in South +Africa and, during the past half-dozen years, in Australia. In one sense he was +a cruel man; but in the worst possible sense of the word he was not cruel. That +is to say, it gave him no particular gratification to inflict pain; but he +would inflict it to any extent at all, in the pursuit of his ends. He was not +afflicted with the loathsome disease of wanton cruelty, but there was no pity +in his composition, and practically no sentiment. He was reckoned an able tamer +of wild beasts. By stirring up the tiger, as the Professor approached, the boss +provoked a striking exhibition of savage strength and ferocity in Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Say, Professor," he said, with a smile, "what d'ye think +of the latest? How does the Giant Irish Wolf strike you, as an addition to the +domestic fireside? Sweet thing, ain't he? Couldn't you make him do some +sentimental stunts with the Java love-birds, now?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Professor inspected the furiously raging Finn with +considerable interest.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You'll not manage much taming with this fellow, +Professor, will ye?" asked the boss, craftily aiming at putting the lion-tamer +on his mettle. "You'll hardly manage the Professor among his pets act in this +cage, eh?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I'd like to know what's goin' to stop me, boss," said the +Professor doughtily. "I guess you've forgotten the fact that Professor Claude +Damarel was the man who tamed the Tasmanian Wolf, Satan; and the Tasmanian Wolf +is about the fiercest brute in the world to tackle, next to the Tasmanian +Devil; an' I had one o' them pretty near beat in Auckland, till he went an' +died on me. Tame this Giant Irishman--you bet your sweet life I will; an' have +him cavortin' through a hoop inside of a month--or maybe a week--if I'm not +kept busy wastin' my time over groom's work."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Right-ho, Professor!" said the boss, good-humouredly. +"You shall have a groom of your own, right here an' now. I'll promote Sam to +the job, with half-a-dollar rise. I'll find a feller in the town here for your +job, Sam. Enterprise goes with me every time, an' brings its own reward--sure +thing. But I'd like to be on hand when you tackle the Giant Wolf, Professor. +You might want help."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Help! Me want help! You wait here two minutes, boss, an' +I'll show you."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The boss grinned over the success of his tactics in +rousing the Professor's pride, and strolled round among the horses for five +minutes or so till the tamer returned with Sam, carrying a brazier full of live +coals, and an iron rod with a rough leather handle at one end of it. The other +end of the iron rod was buried among the live coals. At sight of it the Killer +crouched down in the far corner of his cage with a snarling whine, half +covering his face with his huge paws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Now I'll show you how much help I need in taming, boss," +said the Professor.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Grasping the leather handle of his now red-hot rod, the +Professor deftly opened the gate of Finn's cage, far enough to admit of his own +swift entrance; the gate being instantly slammed to behind him by Sam, and +bolted. Finn was lying crouched in the far corner of the cage, and if the light +there had been good, the tamer would surely have seen by the expression on the +Wolfhound's intelligent face that he was no wild beast. On the other hand, +froth still clung to Finn's jaws, the hair on his shoulders was still more or +less erect, and a few minutes before this time he had been raging like a +whirlwind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a moment or two the Professor glared steadily at Finn. +He undoubtedly had pluck, seeing that he believed the Wolfhound to be as +ferocious and deadly a beast as any tiger. Then, slowly, Finn rose from his +crouching position, prepared to come forward and to treat his visitor as a +friend, even as a possible rescuer from that place of horrid durance. The +Professor's plan was all mapped out in his mind, and he did not waver in its +execution. Had he been given to wavering he would long ago have been killed by +some wild creature. In the instant of Finn's move towards him the Professor +took a quick step forward and, with a growling shout of "Down, Wolf!" smote +Finn fairly across the head with the red-hot end of his iron bar, so that +pungent smoke arose. One portion of the red-hot surface of the iron caught +Finn's muzzle, causing him exquisite pain; pain of a sort he had never known +before. At the moment of the blow, a terrific snarling roar came from the +tiger's cage. Half blinded, wholly maddened, dimly connecting this strange new +agony that bit into him with the tiger's roar, Finn sprang at the Professor +with a snarl that was itself almost a roar. The red-hot bar met him in mid-air, +biting deep into the soft skin of his lips, furrowing his beautiful neck, and +stinging the tip of one silken ear. The pain was terrible; the smell of his own +burnt flesh and hair was maddening; the deadly implacability of the attack, +coming from a man, too, was baffling beyond description. Finn howled, and sank +abruptly upon his haunches, giving the Professor time for a flying glance of +pride in the direction of the admiring John L. Rutherford.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And now, had he been really a wild beast, Finn would +probably have remained cowering as far as possible from that terrible bar of +fire. Even as it was, he might have done this if the Professor had not made the +mistake of raising the bar again, with a suddenly threatening motion. Finn had +greater reasoning power, and greater strength of will, than a wild beast. He +was robbed of all restraint by his surroundings and by the Professor's absolute +and crushing reversal of all his preconceived notions of the relations between +man and hound. The snarl of the tiger in his ears, the smell of his own burnt +flesh in his nostrils, the pitilessness of the Professor's wholly unexpected +attack, filled him with a tumultuous fury of warring instincts which +generations of inherited docility were powerless to overcome. But, through it +all, he was more capable of thought than a really wild beast, and, as the hot +iron was lifted the third time, he leaped in under it like lightning, and with +a roar of defiance brought its wielder to the ground, and planted both +fore-feet upon his chest, while the iron bar fell clattering from the man's +hand between the bars of the cage.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Be it remembered that Finn stood a foot higher at the +shoulder than the average wolf, and weighed fully twice as much, being long and +strong in proportion to his height and weight. The Professor was momentarily +expecting to feel Finn's great jaws about his throat, and his two arms were +crossed below his chin for protection of that most vulnerable spot. The tiger +was now furiously clawing at the partition a few inches from Finn's nose, and +emitting a series of the most blood-curdling snarls and roars.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Draw him off with a stick!" shouted the Professor; who, +even in his present sorry plight, was concerned most with the injury to his +pride. Sam jabbed viciously at Finn's face with a long stake, through the bars, +and as Finn withdrew slightly, the Professor wriggled cleverly to his feet, in +a crouching posture, and reached the gate of the cage. Finn growled +threateningly, but made no move forward, being thankful to see the retreat of +his enemy. In another instant the Professor was outside the cage, and the gate +securely bolted. He was bruised, but bore no mark of scratch or bite, and so +far was able to boast; having no knowledge of the fact that Finn had not +thought of biting him, but merely of overpowering him, as a means of evading +his hot iron. This the Wolfhound had done easily. He could have killed the man +with almost equal ease, had that been his intention.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, he sure is a rustler from 'way back, Professor, +every single time," remarked the boss.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You'll see him hop through a hoop when I say so, inside +of a week," replied the tamer, sourly, as he brushed the dust from his coat. +"As it is, you'll notice that he didn't dare to bite or scratch. Don't you fear +but what I'll tame the beauty all right, Giant Wolf or no Giant Wolf. I've +handled worse'n him."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And a couple of days before this, the younger Miss +Sandbrook had been resting her carefully dressed curls against Finn's head.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p><img alt="snarling wolfhound head" src="images/fig22.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="318" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER14" id="CHAPTER14">CHAPTER XV</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE MAKING OF A WILD BEAST</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The transformation begun in Finn by the night he had spent +in a rocking train, caged between a tiger and two bears, was enormously +accentuated and confirmed by his encounter with the Professor. If zoologists +had deliberately set themselves the task of converting an Irish Wolfhound into +a wild beast, they could hardly have taken any more effective measures than +those which had been adopted by pure chance with Finn, from the time at which +he reached Sam's hands; and it is probable that no zoologist with any humanity +in him would have made progress so extraordinarily rapid. The mere fact of +being caged behind iron bars for the first time in his life, and that between a +roaring, snarling tiger and two grunting little bears, strongly odoriferous of +the wild, affected Finn in somewhat the same manner that a highly excitable and +nervous man of quite untrained intellect might be affected by being flung into +a cell, surrounded by raving maniacs. If such a man, after a dozen hours in his +cell, were approached by some one whom he had every reason to regard as a +friend and a rescuer, and beaten cruelly with a weapon possessed of strange and +altogether horrible qualities--supernatural qualities, so far as he could +tell--it is fair to suppose that he would be as much transformed by the ordeal +as Finn was by his ordeal.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Shortly after the episode of the red-hot iron, Finn's cage +was again visited by Sam and the Professor, the former being laden with a big, +blood-stained basket. From this basket the Professor took a large chunk of raw +flesh, and pushed it through the bars into Finn's cage. A bone was also thrust +through the bars, and a fixed iron pan near the gate was filled from outside +with water. The Professor eyed Finn curiously while he performed these +operations, and was surprised that the Giant Wolf, as they called him, did not +spring forward upon the food.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I've put the fear of God into him all right, Sam," said +the Professor. "He's not going to touch his grub while we're here. Like all +wolves, he's mighty frightened of traps; and I guess he reckons there's a trap +attaching to this meat. Watch how Killer tackles his."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Killer was already ravening furiously at the bars of his +cage, his yellow eyes ablaze as he watched the meat his soul desired being +thrust into Finn's cage. The tiger's roars kept Finn's hackles up, and his +fangs bared in a fierce snarl; so that the Professor was struck afresh with the +savageness of the latest addition to the menagerie under his care. Killer's +meat barely reached the floor of his cage before he had snatched and carried it +to the rear, where he tore it savagely, while maintaining an incessant growling +snarl. But he dropped the meat as though it burned, and crouched fearfully in +the opposite corner of his den, when--by way of display for Sam's benefit--the +Professor picked up his iron bar and threatened the tiger with it. Now Finn, on +the other hand, when he saw the cruel bar raised, sprang forward with a +growling roar of defiance, fore-feet outstretched, bristling back curved for +the leap, and white fangs flashing.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Too sulky to eat it, but mighty concerned when he thought +I was goin' to take his meat from him," commented the Professor, in explanation +to Sam. As a matter of fact, Finn had not thought of the meat. His present +feeling was that he had fallen among a lot of mad wild beasts, some of whom, by +curious chance, had the appearance of men folk. If one among them should lift +an iron bar, and more especially if the maddest and most hated among them, the +Professor, should lift the bar, why then, as Finn saw it, his one chance for +life was to fight; to strike hard and swiftly.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"We'll have to keep these two always caged together," said +the Professor, with a careless glance at Finn and the tiger. "Old Killer works +him up in great style. I guess he'll fetch the public all the time, while he +can hear old Killer at his antics. He certainly is the finest-lookin' beast I +ever saw in the wolf line, and he's as strong and heavy as a horse. I guess +your number would 'ave been up for sure, Sam, if you'd been in my shoes a while +back, when he got me down. What I don't like about the beggar is you can't +reckon on him; he don't seem to have the same ways as most of 'em. He don't fly +at ye right away; he doesn't even jump for his grub, you see. He seems to lie +back an' consider. It's a bad thing that, for he's hefty enough, anyway, +without stopping to think out his wickedness like a man. He's goin' to be a +rough, hard case to tame, Sam, that Giant Wolf of yours; but he's come to a +hard-case tamer, too, and don't you forget it. He's got to bend or break, and +you can gamble clear down to the butt of your sack on that, my son. Come on +now, and I'll show you how the others are fed. Just fill old Killer's +water-dish first."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was now thirty hours since Finn had tasted food, and +three days since he had eaten a proper meal. If his experiences of the past +four-and-twenty hours had been in every other respect distressing, they had at +least robbed him of grief about the Master. His outraged physical senses, and +the tremendous strain placed upon his nervous system, effectually shut grief +out from his mind. Finn was accustomed to have meals served to him in spotless +enamelled dishes, and it had always been food of which a man might have +partaken: well-cooked meats, bread, vegetables, and gravy, nicely cut and +mixed. Now for a long time the condition of passionate protest and irritability +produced in him by all that he had gone through, and by Killer's continuous +growling, prevented his touching the meat which lay near the bars of his cage. +But hunger triumphed after a while, and with a quick, rather furtive movement, +but with lips drawn back and every sign exposed of readiness to defend his +action, Finn lifted the big chunk of meat from its place by the bars, and +carried it into a corner at the back of the cage, where he tore it into +fragments, and ate it, of necessity, very much as a wolf eats, the blood of the +raw meat trickling meanwhile about his jaws. To drink, Finn had to place his +head close to those bars which most nearly adjoined the front of the tiger's +cage. But drink was necessary to him now, and so, with his nose all furrowed, +his fangs bared, and a formidable low snarl issuing from his throat, he slowly +approached the water-pan, and lapped his fill, pausing to snarl aloud at the +tiger between each three or four laps of his tongue. But Killer had fed full, +and crunched his bone to splinters and eaten that; so now he was preparing +himself to sleep.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If Finn could have followed Killer's example and slept it +would have helped him immensely, for his overwrought system needed rest more +badly than anything else just then. But this was impossible as yet for the +sensitive Wolfhound. The two bears in the next cage were playing together +fubsily, and the tiger's breathing while he slept was a maddening kind of cross +between a purr and a snore; maddening, that is, to one who found the creature's +mere proximity incredibly distasteful. This hatred of the Killer's +neighbourhood was no whim, no personal fastidiousness on Finn's part. It went +much deeper than that. For example, so far, the hair on Finn's back would not +assume its natural position; it still stood half erect, and harsh and stiff as +fine wire; by which the tension of his nerves may be imagined. No, Finn could +not sleep.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The hours of the day dragged slowly by, and Finn began to +suffer in new ways. He had never been confined for any length of time before, +and strict cleanliness was an instinct with him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At length, as the hot afternoon drew to its close, a +number of men came to the cages, and horses were hitched on to the heavy wagon +which supported them, at a level of less than three feet from the ground. +Killer woke with a start and, with his tail, angrily flogged the partition +which divided him from Finn, while delivering himself of a snarling yawn. Finn +leapt to his feet, answering the tiger's snarl viciously, himself looking to +the full as savage as any of the wild kindred. The wagon moved with a jerk, +Killer rolled against his side of the partition and growled ferociously; Finn +sprang at the partition as though he thought his great weight would carry him +through it, and his jaws snapped at the air as he sprang. The men roared with +laughter at him, and this accentuated his feeling that they were all mad wild +beasts together. Presently, Finn's cage, with others, was ranged along the side +of a canvas-covered passage way by which the public were to approach the main +tent, where that night's performance was to be given. This double row of cages +was arranged here with a view to impressing the public; a kind of foretaste of +the glories they were to behold within. The Southern Cross circus had patent +turnstiles fixed at both ends of the main tent, those at one end admitting only +of ingress, those at the other end admitting only of egress.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was shortly after this that Finn became conscious of a +curious grinding small sound at the back of his cage. Presently a sharp, bright +point of steel entered the cage from behind, just above the level of Finn's +head, as he sat on his haunches. The steel wormed its way into the cage to a +length of fully six inches, and then it reached the side of Killer's cage, +pointing diagonally, and bored slowly through that. The auger was well greased, +and made only a very slight sound, so slight indeed that Killer was not aware +of it. He was not so highly strung as Finn at this time.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This auger-hole was an idea of Sam's, for which he hoped +to derive credit from the boss. He had noted carefully the remark of the +Professor about keeping the Giant Wolf close to the tiger, in order to lend +additional fierceness to his demeanour. And so, with the thoughtlessly cruel +cunning of a schoolboy, he had devised a means of improving upon this. He took +a thin iron rod, and covered the end of it with soft, porous sacking, which he +moistened with the blood of raw meat. Then, by thrusting this between the bars +of Finn's cage, and jabbing violently at the Wolfhound with it for several +minutes, he endeavoured to impregnate the sacking on the rod with a smell of +Finn. Then he invited John L. Rutherford to take up a stand in front of the +cages, as though he were a member of the general public, and to whistle, by way +of signalling that he was ready. Directly Sam heard the whistle, he being now +behind the cages, he thrust his sacking-covered rod through the auger-hole he +had made from Finn's cage into the tiger's, and there rattled it to and fro to +attract the Killer's attention. Killer not only heard and saw the intruding +object, but smelt it, and sprang at it violently, with a rasping, savage snarl +which challenged the Giant Wolf to come forward or be for ever accursed for a +coward. The rod was withdrawn on the instant, and Finn's whole great bulk +crashed against the partition, as he answered Killer with a roar of defiance. +The great Wolfhound stood erect on his hind-feet, snapping at the air with +foaming jaws, and tearing impotently at the iron-sheathed partition with his +powerful claws. The boss applauded vigorously, and gave Sam a shilling for +beer.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You keep that up while the people are coming in, Sam, an' +by gosh we'll have 'em in fits. The Giant's a sure star performer, every time. +He's worth two or three of the Killer, when he prances round on his tail that +way. It was quite a bright notion o' yours, Sam, that auger-hole."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It must have been nearly two hours later, when the public +was being admitted in a regular stream to the big tent, and Sam had succeeded +in working the tiger and the Wolfhound into a perfect frenzy of impotent rage, +of snarling, foaming, roaring fury, that a faint odour crossed Finn's nostrils, +and a faint sound fell upon his ears, through all the din and tumult of the +conflict with his unseen enemy. In that moment, and as though he had been shot, +Finn dropped from his erect position, and bounded to the front bars of his +cage, with a sudden, appealing whine, very unlike the formidable cries with +which he had been rending the pent air of his prison for the last quarter of an +hour. He had heard a few words spoken in a woman's voice, and those words +were:--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I cannot bear to look at them; I never do. Let us hurry +straight in."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In a passion of anxiety, and grief, and love, and remorse +for not having been on the look out, Finn poured out his very soul in a +succession of long-drawn whines, plaintive and insistent as a 'cello's +wailings, while his powerful fore-paws tugged and scratched ineffectually at +the solid iron bars of his cage. The woman whose voice he heard was the +Mistress of the Kennels, and the man to whom she spoke, who walked beside her, +looking obstinately at her and not at the cages, was the Master. Something +seemed to crack in poor Finn's breast, as the two humans whom he loved +disappeared from his view within the great tent. He did not know that they +would not pass that way again, because the audience left the place by the +opposite end of the tent. But he gave no thought to the future. Here, in the +midst of his uttermost misery and humiliation, the Master, the light of his +life, had passed within a few feet of him, and passed without a glance, without +a word. For long, Finn gazed miserably out between the bars, sniffing +hopelessly at the air through which his friends had passed. Then, slowly, he +retired to the furthermost corner of his cage, and curled down there, with his +muzzle between his paws, and big drops of bitter sadness trickling out from +beneath his overhanging brows. And not all the ferocity of Killer, nor all the +ingenuity of Sam with his sacking-covered rod, availed to draw Finn from his +corner again that night. It seemed as though his heart had cracked, and every +other emotion than grief trickled out from it in the form of tears. It was the +saddest moment of Finn's life till then; and it was a bitter kind of sadness, +too. Not one little look; not one glance for Finn in the midst of his +torment!</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="wolfhound gnawing bars of cage" +src="images/fig23.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="259" /> </p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER15" id="CHAPTER15">CHAPTER XVI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">MARTYRDOM</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It may be that a good deal of the wisdom and philosophy of +mankind is born of grief and suffering. It is certain that a good deal of +philosophy came to Finn as the aftermath of that evening upon which he retired, +heart-broken, to the farthest corner of his cage, after seeing the Master and +the Mistress of the Kennels pass him without a word or a glance. His mind did +not deal in niceties. He did not tell himself that if the Master had only +guessed at his presence there, all would have been different. He was conscious +only of the apparently brutal fact that the Master had walked past his cage and +ignored him; left him there in his horrible confinement. He bore no malice, for +there was not any malice in his nature; which is not at all the same thing as +saying that he was incapable of wreaking vengeance or administering punishment. +He simply was smitten to the very heart with grief and sorrow. And so he lay, +all through that night, silent, sorrowful, and blind to his surroundings.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The natural result was that sleep came to him after a +while, when all was dark and silent, and the folk who had visited the circus, +like those who had entertained them, were in their beds. And this sleep he +badly needed. While he slept the burns on his muzzle and ear were healing, the +searing heat of his grief was subsiding, and his body and nervous system were +adapting themselves to his situation, and recharging themselves after the great +drain which had been made upon them during the past couple of days.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Killer's long, snarling yawn woke Finn in the morning +he did not fling himself against the partition which hid the tiger from him. He +did not even bark or snarl a defiant reply. He only bared his white fangs in +silence, and breathed somewhat harshly through his nostrils, while the hair +over his shoulders rose a little in token of instinctive resentment. This +comparatively mild demonstration cost Finn a great deal less in the way of +expenditure of vitality than his previous day's reception of the tiger's +snarls; and left him by just so much the better fitted to cope with other +ordeals that lay before him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If Finn had been a wild beast, his experience in the +Southern Cross Circus would have been a far less trying one for him than it +was. He would have learned early that the Professor was a practically +all-powerful tyrant, who had to be obeyed because he had the power and the will +to inflict great suffering upon those of the wild kindred who refused him +obedience. That he was a tyrant and an enemy the wild creature would have +accepted from the outset, as a natural and an inevitable fact. In Finn's case +the matter was far otherwise. His instinct and inclination bade him regard a +man as a probable friend. Naturally, if the Professor had been aware of this, +he would never have approached Finn with a hot iron, and their relations would +have been quite different from the beginning. As it was, or as Finn saw it, +anyhow, the Professor had proved himself a creature absolutely beyond the pale; +a mad wild beast, disguised as a man; a devil who met friendly advances with +repeated blows of a magic weapon, a stick made of fire, against which no living +thing might stand. Matey had seemed to Finn a mad man, and one to be avoided. +But Matey had not been a wild beast as well, neither had he carried fire in his +hand. The Professor was a far more formidable and deadly creature. However he +might disguise his intentions, his purpose clearly was Finn's destruction. That +was how Finn saw it, and he acted accordingly; consistently, and not from +malice, but upon the dictates of common sense and self-preservation, as he +understood them.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Having said so much, it is hardly necessary to add that +Finn suffered greatly during the next few weeks of his life; for had not the +Professor sworn to make the Giant Wolf his obedient creature, and a docile +performer in the circus? That he never did. His boast was never made good, +though with a real wolf it might have been; and again it almost certainly would +have been, had he ever guessed that Finn was not a wolf at all, but one of the +most aristocratic hounds and friends of man ever bred. But his failure cost +Finn dear, in pain, humiliation, fear, and suffering of diverse kinds.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The boss jeered at the Professor when the failure to tame +Finn had extended over a week; and that added greatly to the severity of Finn's +ordeal. The Professor was on his mettle; and now, while he made no further +spoken boasts, he swore to himself that he would break the Giant Wolf's spirit +or kill him. He never guessed that his whole failure rested upon one initial +mistake. To the wild beast the red-hot iron bar was merely the terrible +insignia of the Professor's indubitable might and mastery; a very compelling +invitation to docility and respectful obedience. To Finn it was not that at +all; but merely terrible and unmistakable evidence of basest treachery and +malevolent madness. And it was largely with the red-hot iron that the Professor +sought to tame Finn, believing, as he did, that this was necessary to his own, +the Professor's, preservation.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Upon one occasion--one brilliantly sunny morning of Finn's +martyrdom--it did dimly occur to the Professor that it might be the hot iron +which somehow stood between himself and the mastery of Finn. Accordingly, he +twisted some wire round the end of his quilt, or cutting whip, and entered the +cage without the iron, while Sam stood outside with the brazier, ready to pass +in the iron if that should prove necessary. Finn absolutely mistrusted the man, +of course--he had suffered what he believed to be the man's insane lust of +cruelty for a fortnight now--but yet he saw that the iron was not in the cage, +and so he made no hostile demonstration; and that was a notable concession on +his part, for, of late, the Professor's tactics, so far from taming him, had +taught the naturally gracious and kindly Wolfhound to fly at the man with +snapping jaws the instant he came within reach. Now the man moved slowly, very +slowly, nearer and nearer to Finn's corner, using ingratiating words. When it +seemed that he meant to come near enough for touch, Finn decided that he would +slip across the cage to its opposite far corner in order to avoid the hated +contact. He did not snarl; he did not even uncover his fangs, for the fiery +instrument of torture was not there. He rose from his crouching position, and +of necessity that brought him a few inches nearer to the Professor, before he +could move toward the far side of the cage.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Would yer? Down, ye brute!" snarled the man, in his best +awe-inspiring tone. And in that instant the wire-bound rhinoceros-hide whistled +down across Finn's face, cutting him almost as painfully as the hot iron was +wont to sear him. He snarled ferociously. Down came the lash again, and this +time a loose end of wire stabbed the corner of one of his eyes. The next +instant saw the Professor flung back at length against the bars of the cage; +and in his face he felt Finn's breath, and heard and saw the flashing, clashing +gleam of Finn's white fangs. Sam thrust the white-hot bar in, stabbing Finn's +neck with its hissing end. The Professor seized the bar and beat Finn off with +it; not for protection now, but in sheer, savage anger. Then he withdrew from +the cage, and seizing a long pole beat Finn crushingly with that, through the +bars, till his arms ached. Meantime, Finn fought the pole like a mad thing; and +the Professor, unable to think of any other way of inflicting punishment upon +the untameable Giant Wolf, took his food from the basket and gave it to Killer +before Finn's eyes, leaving the Wolfhound to go empty for the day.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3450" id="L3450"></a><img +alt="wolfhound standing over man in cage" src="images/plate06.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="546" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">The next instant saw the Professor flung back at length +against the bars of the cage.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">That was the result of the Professor's one attempt, +according to his lights, at humouring the Giant Wolf, by approaching him +without the iron. That also was a specimen of the kind of daily interviews he +had with Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">By this time the Wolfhound actually was a very fierce and +savage creature. But he was not at all like the magnificently raging whirlwind +of wrath which had aroused the boss's admiring wonder on the day he first saw +Finn. Killer might growl and snarl himself hoarse now for all the notice Finn +took of the great beast. Scarred from nose to flank with burns, bruised and +battered and aching in every limb, Finn remained always curled in the darkest, +farthest corner of his cage now, roused only by the daily fight, the daily +torture, of his interviews with the Professor. At other times, as the boss said +bitterly, he might have been dead or a lap-dog, for all the spectacle he +offered to the curious who visited his cage. All they saw was a coiled, +iron-grey mass, and two burning black eyes, with a glint of red in them, and a +blood-coloured triangle in their upper corners.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now and again, in the midst of the night, Finn would rise +and go down to the bars of his cage and stand there, motionless, for an hour at +a stretch, his scarred muzzle protruding between two bars, his aching nostrils, +hot and dry, drinking in the night air, his eyes robbed of their resentful +fire, and pitiably softened by the great tears that stood in them. At the end +of such an hour he would sometimes begin to walk softly to and fro, inside the +bars, the four paces that his cage allowed him. Thus he would pad back and +forth silently for another hour, with tail curled toward his belly and nose on +a level with his knees, almost brushing the bars as he passed them. He made no +sound at all, even when the moon's silvery light flooded his cage, or when +Killer snarled in his sleep. But always, before returning to his corner, he +would systematically test every bar at its base with teeth and paws; and then +sigh, like a very weary man, as he slouched despairingly back to his corner.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, for all the glowering misery that possessed him by +day and the despair to which he would give rein by night, it was always with +dauntless ferocity that the tortured Wolfhound faced his enemy, the Professor. +Short of starving him to death, or killing him outright with the iron bar, the +Professor could see no way of making the Giant Wolf cringe to him; he could +devise no method of breaking that fierce spirit, though he exhausted every kind +of severity and every sort of cruelty that his wide experience in the handling +of fierce animals could furnish. For any one who could have comprehended the +true inwardness of that situation, its tragedy would have lain in the +reflection that, had he but known it, Finn could without difficulty have earned +not alone ease and good treatment, but high honours in the Southern Cross +Circus. But Finn had no means of guessing that the Professor merely desired to +master him, and to teach him to stand erect, or leap through a hoop at the word +of command. No sign of any such desire, that Finn could possibly read, had been +furnished. But, on the contrary, the one thing made evident to the Wolfhound's +understanding was that here was a bloodthirsty man in a leather coat who +desired to burn him to death, when not engaged in beating him with a pole, or +thrusting at him viciously through the bars of his cage with a stick, or +slashing at him with a whip that cut through hair and skin. And, be it +remembered, that the hound who was faced with these, to him, utterly gratuitous +and senseless atrocities, was one who, if we except the single occasion of his +night with the dog-thief in Sussex, had never known what it meant to face an +angry man, or to receive a blow from a man, angry or otherwise. It was small +wonder that Finn had only snarls and snapping jaws for the Professor. The pity +of it was that he could have avoided as much suffering if he had only known +what it was desired of him. The wonder of it was that he faced the Professor +day after day with such unfailing courage, with a spirit which remained +absolutely uncowed, though the body which sheltered it could not present a +single patch of the bigness of a man's hand which was neither burned, nor +bruised, nor cut.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There came a day when, other matters occupying his +attention, the Professor did not trouble to pay one of his futile visits to +Finn's cage. Sam fed him as usual, when Killer was fed. (One of the features of +Finn's captivity, which, while in his confinement it helped to injure his +physical condition, also helped to make him the more fierce, was the fact that +his diet consisted exclusively of raw meat.) Finn waited through the long day +for the Professor, steeling himself for the daily struggle and the daily +suffering. His body free of new pains he rested that night more thoroughly than +he had rested for a long time; and there were faint stirrings of hope in his +mind. Next morning the boss happened to walk past the cages with the Professor, +and when they came to Finn's place the Professor said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I reckon I'll give that brute best, unless you'd like him +killed. I'll tackle that job for you with pleasure; but your Giant Wolf's no +good for the show."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"No, the joke's on me about the Giant Wolf," admitted the +boss, crossly. "Sam had me for fair, over him. Fifteen quid for a useless pig +like that! Why, he won't even stand up to make a show. The brute's not worth +his tucker, is he?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"He is not. And, if you ask me, you'd better let me feed +him to the others, while there's any meat left on his bones. He's no good for +aught else, as I can see. The Tasmanian Devil was a lap-dog to him, and he died +before I could get him trained, you remember."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"H'm! Well, we'll see. We might get some fool to buy him. +Anyway, you'd better tell Sam to pry him round a bit somehow when the show's +opening. He looks all right when he gets a move on him, but he ain't worth a +hill o' beans lyin' curled up there in a corner. How'd it do to get a dingo, +and put it in there with him!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You might as well give him a mouse. He'd swaller it +whole. He's twice the size of a dingo."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"He sure is twice as sulky as any beast I ever saw. An' +that blame book-writin' chap from the city the other night said he reckoned the +Giant was a dog, an' not a wolf at all! Nice sociable sort of a dog for a +family gathering, I <em>don't</em> think!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You should have asked the gent to go in his cage an' try +'im with a bit of sugar. My bloomin' Colonial! He wouldn't have written any +more books."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And now, whenever the boss met Sam, he would "jolly" the +young man a bit, as he said, regarding the Giant Wolf as a bargain, and ask +what Sam had done with the fifteen pounds, and whether he had any other cheap +freaks to sell. Also, Sam's half-crown was docked from his wages; and Sam, +after all, had never laid claim to any bigness of heart or philosophy of mind. +He had long since spent the fifteen pounds. The twenty-five shillings he had +paid for Finn loomed larger in his recollection now than the fifteen pounds he +had received; particularly after a dose of the boss's chaff.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Why the blazes can't yer learn, an' work fer yer livin', +ye ugly great brute?" Sam would growl, as he threw Finn his daily portion of +flesh. And, more often than not, he would pick up a stake, and thrust viciously +at the Wolfhound, or strike at him as he crept forward to snatch his meat. +Thus, as poor Finn saw it, another of the strange man-like beasts had gone mad, +and was to be treated as a dangerous enemy.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If the Professor had continued his daily attempts to cow +Finn, as a preliminary to training, he would have been likely to succeed at +about this time; for the Wolfhound was losing strength daily, and though the +fire of wrath and fierceness burned strongly when he saw the leather-coated +man, it had little to feed on now, and must soon have died down under the hot +bar and the wired whip. But the Professor could not be expected to know this. +He had had as many as sixty futile struggles with Finn, and, as he thought, had +only stopped short of killing the Giant outright. But idleness, or some other +cause, did lead him to make one other attempt, on a hot afternoon, just before +the hour of tea and of dressing for the evening show. Finn's fighting blood, +inherited through long centuries of unsmirched descent, made him put his best +foot foremost, and meet the Professor with a mien of most formidable ferocity +as soon as the red iron appeared. The Professor did not know how near to +breaking-point Finn's despair had reached. There was little sign of it in the +roaring fierceness with which he faced the iron and whip. A wolf in such a +case, with the cunning of the wild, and without the life's experience of humans +which made the Professor's part so incredibly base, so gratuitously cruel and +treacherous to Finn, would have given in long before. Finn fought with the +courage of a brave man who has reached the last ditch, and with the ferocity +that came to him out of the ancient days in which his warrior ancestors were +never known either to give or to receive quarter.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Professor felt that this was a last attempt, and he +did not greatly care whether the great hound lived or died. The Giant Wolf had +defeated him as a trainer; but the Giant Wolf should never forget the price +paid for the defeat. It was a cruel onslaught. The iron bit deep, and--it had +been better for the Professor's character development, better for his record as +man, if he had left Finn alone when he decided to make no further attempt at +taming. But men, too, have fierce, brutal passions, with less than the +simplicity of brutes, and more, far more, of the knowledge which makes cruelty +leave a permanent stain upon them. The Professor himself was aching and sore +when he flung passionately out from Finn's cage and slammed the iron gate to; +and as for Finn, I have no words in which to explain how his poor body ached +and was sore. If the iron had been stone cold, Finn would still have been a +terribly badly beaten hound, when he staggered to his corner, after this last +visit from the mad beast-man in the leathern coat--so he thought of the +Professor, in that tumult of sinking flames which we may call his mind. He lay +in his corner, quivering and shuddering, and did not even find the heart to +lick his wounds till long hours afterwards, when silence ruled in the field +where the circus was encamped that night.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This field was on the outskirts of a considerable +township; the twenty-second that Finn had visited with the Southern Cross +Circus. The authorities had refused to allow the boss to come closer in, and so +one side of his camping-place was walled by virgin bush; a dense tract of +blue-gum and iron-bark stretching, almost as far as the eye could reach, to the +foot-hills of a gaunt mountain range. For a mile or so from the circus camp the +trees had all been ring-barked a couple of seasons or more before this time, +with the result that they were now the very haggard skeletons of mighty trees, +naked for the most part, their white bones open to all the winds of heaven, but +here and there sporting a ghastly kind of drapery, remnants of their +grave-clothes as it might be, in the shape of long hanging streamers of dead +bark, which moaned and rustled eerily in the night breezes. High above the +tattered grave-clothes of their lifeless trunks, the knotted, tortured-looking +arms and fingers of the trees groped painfully after the life that had fled +their neighbourhood.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn could just see the ghostly extremities of these +spectral trees over the top of the main tent as he lay crouched in his corner, +after devoting an hour to the licking of his sores. Presently, an almost full +moon rose among the trees' fleshless limbs, and painted their nakedness in more +than ever ghostly guise. It was then that Finn rose, painfully and slowly, to +his feet, and moved, like an old, old man, across the floor of his cage to the +bars, the bars that were of an inky blackness in that silvery light. For almost +an hour this great hound, this tortured prince of a kingly race, stood sadly +there, staring out at the moonlight between the bars of his prison; and for +almost an hour, big clear drops kept forming in his black eyes and trickling +along his scarred muzzle, till they pattered down upon the floor of the cage. +If he had ever heard of such a thing as suicide, it may be that his soul would +have known the final humiliation of self-destruction that night. But there is +something that strikes a balance, as well in a Wolfhound's life as a man's +life.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Near as Finn was to the limit of his endurance, his brave +spirit lived within him yet, and he did not forego the nightly habit he had +formed long since of trying the bars that made him a prisoner. It is possible +that there never was a much more pathetically forlorn hope than that which +animated this sorely racked prisoner when he felt his bars. But if the iron of +them had entered into his soul, then it had made for endurance. The process was +not made easier by the existence of Finn's latest wounds. Both his fore-legs +and his muzzle had suffered severely under the iron that day; and it was with +these that he now tested his bars, slowly, conscientiously, and with painful +thoroughness, from the bar nearest Killer's cage to that at the end of the gate +of his own, which closed on to the partition of the native bears' division. It +was the bottom of the bars that Finn always tried, where they entered the floor +of the cage. He took each between his teeth and pushed and pulled; sometimes +pushing or pulling with his paws as well. And the result, on this night of +bright moonlight and great pain, was as it had always been. The iron did not +change.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3461" id="L3461"></a><img alt="wolfhound fleeing circus by night" +src="images/plate07.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="401" height="547" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Was lost in the shadow of the main tent.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Having reached the end of his task, Finn sat erect on his +haunches for it may have been a quarter of an hour, gazing out at the risen +moon, which sailed serenely now, high above the praying hands of the skeleton +trees. Certainly, Finn's spirit was near to breaking-point. He rose, meaning to +seek his corner again, as after so many other futile testings of his bars; but +something moved him first to look out as far as he could, over the tent-top, to +the great world beyond. Sore though his body was, he rose erect upon his +hind-feet, placed his fore-feet against the upper half of the gate, and only +narrowly escaped falling forward through the gate to the ground beneath. In his +passion the Professor had slammed the barred gate to as usual and, in flinging +himself angrily off from the place, had omitted to slip the two thick bolts +which normally held it secure. The gate fitted closely, and was rusty, besides; +so that Finn's jaws, tugging at its extreme foot, and upon this particular +occasion less strongly no doubt than usual, had not shifted it. But his weight +pressing against the upper half was quite another matter; and now the gate +stood wide open before him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For an instant, Finn's heart swelled within him, so +sharply, and so greatly, that a little whine burst from him, and it seemed he +was unable to move. So the sight of the open gate, giving upon the silent open +night, affected the Wolfhound. In the next instant he dropped quietly to the +earth, and was lost in the inky shadow of the main tent.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p><img alt="man and kangaroo hound outside tent" src="images/fig24.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="255" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER16" id="CHAPTER16">CHAPTER XVII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">FREEDOM</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Very wonderful and wolf-like, cat-like, too, in some +respects, was Finn's progress through the circus encampment on that bright +moonlight night. The field was full of silvery moonlight you would have said; +but never a glint of all that liquid silver touched Finn's outline for a +moment. Just so, beside the northern mountains of another continent, one has +watched a leopard--mountain lions we call them there--braving the strange +terrible smells and dangers of a man's camp, to stalk a sleeping fox-terrier; +in absolute ignorance of the rifle barrel that covered it, yet miraculously +successful in never giving the man behind the rifle the chance of a moonlight +shot. Finn was sore and aching from many wounds, and stiff from long +confinement. He knew that every one connected with the circus was sleeping; but +on this occasion he gave no hostages to fortune, he took no risks. The stakes +at issue, as he saw it, were, upon the one side, life and freedom, freedom +which was almost unbearably sweet to think of, after the long-drawn agony of +the past couple of months; and upon the other side, slow death under the +torture of confinement, the iron, the lash, and the mad man-beast in the +leathern coat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It is the greatest mistake in the world to suppose that an +animal like Finn has no imagination. Indeed, the animals which have no +imagination are comparatively few; while such an Irish Wolfhound as Finn has, +at the least, as much of it as some men the writer has known.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A fiery picture of the issues at stake was floating in +Finn's mind as he crept in and out among the tents and wagons of the enclosure: +and he was conscious neither of wounds, or weakness, or stiffness; but only of +his great resolve, based upon the wonderful chance that had come to him. Once +he came to a place where ten feet of brilliant moonlight lay between the black +shadow he occupied and the next. He paused for a moment or two, looking about +him upon every side with all the cunning of the truly wild kindred; and then, +with a very good imitation of the lightness and elasticity of other, happier +days, he sprang clear from the one shadow to the other, landing as delicately +and silently as a cat, though the impact jarred all his stiffened joints, and +touched, as with living fire, every one of his almost innumerable wounds.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then he came to the outer canvas wall of the big +enclosure. It was too high to jump, a good twelve feet. An attempt to jump and +scramble over it might have led to noise. Finn approached it in the deep shadow +cast by a caravan wagon, and, thrusting his muzzle underneath the canvas, +midway between two stakes, easily forced it up, and crawled under it into the +open. When he was half-way out, the boss's fox-terrier gave one sleepy +half-bark, too languid and indifferent a sound to be taken as a warning; and +for the rest, complete silence paid tribute to the extreme deftness of Finn's +passage through the sleeping camp. But that low, sleepy bark from the +fox-terrier who slept beside the boss's own caravan, served to stop the beating +of Finn's heart for one long moment. In the next moment, almost as silently as +a passing cloud shadow, the great Wolfhound streaked across the thirty yards of +moonlit paddock which divided the camp from the ring-barked bush, and melted +away among that crowded assembly of tree ghosts. The barbed wire fence of the +paddock was no more than four feet high, and this Finn took in his stride, +without appreciable pause.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The ring-barking of trees admits sunlight and air to the +earth, and this means rich "feed" and a sturdy undergrowth. On the other hand, +the death of the trees introduces a kind of nakedness and publicity to the bush +which naturally is not favoured by wild folk during daylight. But this does not +detract from the merits of ring-barked country as a night feeding-ground; and +Finn was amazed by the wealth and variety of wild life which he saw as he loped +swiftly through the few miles of bush lying between the circus camp and the +foothills of the mountains beyond. His immediate purpose, of putting a +considerable distance between himself and the place of his captivity, was too +urgent to admit of delays, no matter what the temptation; and, accordingly, +Finn made no pauses. But it added greatly to the joy of his escape to find +himself surrounded by so great an abundance of creatures which instinct made +him regard as game for him. Upon every hand there were rustlings and +whisperings, tiny footfalls and scufflings among dead leaves and twigs; and +here and there, as the great grey, shadowy Wolfhound swept along between the +white tree-trunks, he had glimpses of rabbits, bandicoots, kangaroo-rats, and +many of the lesser marsupials, all busy about their different night affairs, +all half-paralysed by amazement at his passage through their midst. Once he +heard a venomous spitting overhead and, as he hurried on, caught a flying +glimpse of a native cat, who had pinned an adventurous young 'possum on the +lower limb of a giant black-butt. Once, too, he was startled into momentary +horror of some human trap of the Professor's invention; and his speed +approached that of flying, under the spur of a laughing jackass's raucous +cachinnation.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The ring-barked country was soon left behind, and then +Finn found himself among dense living bush, climbing a steep ascent. Here his +speed was necessarily a great deal slower. There was a good deal of undergrowth +upon the mountain side, besides much heavy timber; and hidden among this lush +undergrowth were occasional boulders and innumerable fallen tree-trunks, over +which Finn stumbled heavily again and again, he being without that curious +bush-lore which enables men-folk born in the bush, no less than its own wild +folk, to steer clear of these obstructions by means of a sort of sixth sense, +which tells them when they must leap, and helps them to know when the leap must +be an extra cautious one, because of the danger of disturbing the deadly people +of the wild. The Australian bush has many varieties of snakes, and quite a good +number of them are deadly; though some of those most formidable in appearance +are not. Finn had never even seen a snake; so that, though his ignorance made +him run many risks that night, he was at least spared all anxiety regarding the +deadly folk, their quick tempers and swift methods of attack.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Dawn was not far off when Finn emerged, with heaving flank +and lolling tongue, into the green but stony glade which formed the ridge and +crest of the Tinnaburra range. The last hundred yards of his progress had been +a good deal of a scramble, through thick scrub and over lichen-covered +boulders, on a very steep rise. And now that he had reached the cool glade of +topmost Tinnaburra, he found that his arrival had caused considerable +perturbation among a small mob of brumbies, or wild horses, consisting of some +seven or eight mares and foals, led by a flea-bitten old grey stallion, who +snorted angrily as he saw Finn, and minced forward toward the Wolfhound, his +long chisel teeth bared, his four-foot tail billowing out behind him like a +flag, and his black hoofs (the feet of mountain-bred brumbies are prodigiously +hard and punishing in the attack) rising and falling from the dewy earth like +spring hammers.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn devoted the little breath he could spare to the +rather whining note of explanation which means: "Don't fear me! I pursue my own +affairs only, and they are harmless for you!" But the old stallion was taking +no chances. Age made him fussy, and his family included two very recent +additions. Also, Finn brought a baffling mixture of scents with him, including +those of men and of wild creatures such as the stallion had never seen and did +not wish to see. So he continued his threateningly mincing progress toward +Finn, and whinnied out a declaration to the effect that this could be no +resting-place for dingoes, however huge and diversified in their smells. Finn +was not in the least like a dingo; but, on the other hand, he was not like a +kangaroo-hound. He was twice the size of a dingo, very nearly, and a good seven +inches taller than the biggest kangaroo-hound the stallion had seen. Also, his +coat was shaggy and long, instead of close and short like that of a greyhound, +or kangaroo-hound. As against that, he carried with him more suggestion of the +fellowship of the wild kindred than of the tribe of renegades who are +men-folk's adherents; and therefore, for the moment, dingo was a good enough +name for him, so far as the old stallion was concerned, the dingo being the +only creature of the wolf kind which he knew.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was in no mood for disputes of any sort, and so, +though exceedingly weary now, he made a wide detour to satisfy the nervousness +of the flea-bitten grey stallion, and began a diagonal descent upon the south +side of Tinnaburra. Just as the sun cleared the horizon over his right +shoulder, Finn dropped wearily down from a clump of wattle upon a broad, flat +ledge of many-coloured rock which caught the sun's first glinting rays upon its +queer enamel of red and brown and yellow lichen. From this point Finn looked +down a densely-wooded mountain side, and out across a tolerably well-timbered +plain to hills which stood nearly forty miles away. It would have made an eyrie +for a king eagle. Finn had already slaked his thirst hurriedly a mile back, in +a chattering, rock-bedded mountain streamlet. And now he was weary beyond all +further endurance. He had been sick, and sore, and stiff, and sadly out of +condition when he started; and he had been travelling now for six hours. A +feeling of security had stolen over him since he reached the topmost ridge of +Tinnaburra. The very fragrance of the air told him, as he drew it in through +his nostrils, that he was far from the works of men. Food he could not think of +while every bone and muscle in his great body ached from weariness. By the edge +of the rock was a sandy hollow, over which a feathery shrub drooped three or +four of its graceful branches at a height of three feet from the ground. Finn +eyed this inviting spot steadily for two or three minutes, while his aching +sides continued to heave, and his long tongue to sway from one side of his +jaws. Then he stepped cautiously into the sheltered nook, turned completely +round in it three or four times, and finally sank to rest there in a compact +coil, and with a little grunt of contentment and relief.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn opened his eyes, and half-opened them, many times +during the day; once, to his utter amazement, when a huge wedge-tailed eagle +swept gloriously past with a lamb in its talons no more than ten feet from his +nose; but the day was practically done, and nightfall approaching, when the +Wolfhound finally rose from his sandy bed and stretched his seven-foot length +from nose to tail. The long stretch drew a sharp whine from him towards its +end, when the stiffness and soreness of his limbs, and of some of his more +recent burns and bruises, found him out. But even in the pain there was a sense +of luxury and gladness for Finn. His sleep had not been devoid of sudden +starts, of shudderings and twitches, born of fearful dreaming; but now that he +was broad awake, and in the hushed grey twilight looked out across forty miles +of wild open land, with never a sign of tent or house, or other work of man, +his heart swelled within him with satisfaction and content, and he drew deep +breaths of grateful pleasure and relief before setting out upon the descent of +Tinnaburra, and, if it might be, the capture of a supper.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Before Finn had travelled half a mile along the hill-side, +he made his first acquaintance with the snake people. In descending at a sharp +angle from the side of a fallen tree, his fore-feet just scraped the end of the +tail of a nine-foot carpet snake, whose colouring was vivid and fresh. Before +Finn knew what had happened, one coil of the sinuous reptile's body was about +his left hind-leg, and, as the startled Wolfhound wheeled in his tracks, the +big snake's head rose at him with a forbidding, long-drawn "Ps-s-s-s-t!" of +defiance. The rapidly tightening pressure about his muscular lower thigh +produced something like panic in Finn's breast; but, luckily enough, his panic +resulted in speeding him toward precisely the right course of action. He +feinted in the direction of his hind-leg, and then, as the snake plunged for +his neck, his jaws flashed back and caught the reptile just behind the head. A +single bite was sufficient, for it smashed the snake's vertebrae and almost +divided it. A moment later Finn's teeth were at the coil about his hind-leg, +and in another instant he was free. But he was too greatly shocked to make a +meal upon the remains of his enemy, which is what he should have done, and, +after taking a good look at its long, brilliantly-coloured body, he was glad to +make off down the hill, travelling now with a good deal more caution than he +had shown before. It was a merciful thing for Finn that his first contact with +the snake people should have brought him in touch only with the powerful and +courageous carpet snake, and not with one of the many deadly venomous members +of his tribe.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This experience rather shook Finn by reason of its utter +strangeness to him. He recalled the spitting venom of the native cat, of whose +kill he had caught a fleeting glimpse on the previous night. That again was +rather strange and outside his experience. This great open wild world was +certainly quite unlike the mild, half-domesticated and cared-for little patch +of wild that Finn had claimed as his hunting-ground beside the Sussex Downs. +Just then a laughing jackass started a hoarse chuckle above Finn's head, and a +big white cockatoo, startled by the jackass, flew screaming out from the +branches of a grey gum, with the agonized note in its cry which these birds +seem to favour at all seasons, and quite irrespective of the nature of their +occupations at the moment. The loose skin on Finn's shoulders moved uneasily, +as he trotted along, using the most extreme care.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, with all his care, he was in strange surroundings, +and his bush-lore was all to learn; and because of his strangeness his most +careful gait seemed a noisy and clumsy one to the little wild folk of that +mountain side, and Finn saw none of them. By chance he saw one of the larger +kind, however, and the sight of it added to his sense of strangeness, for it +was unlike any other beast he had ever seen. This was a large female rock +wallaby, a big grey doe, with her young one. The youngster was at the awkward +age, free of the teat, yet unable to travel alone. It was nibbling and playing +some distance from its big mother when she had her first warning of Finn's +approach, in the crackling of dead twigs under his powerful feet. The youngster +showed awkwardness in getting to its snug retreat in the mother's pouch, and +so, by these delays, Finn was given his glimpse of a big marsupial in the act +of taking a fifteen-foot leap through the scrub. Finn almost sat down on his +haunches from astonishment. But, unlike the snake, the wallaby inspired him +with no sort of fear, possibly by reason of its evident fear of him. It was, +however, another item in the strangeness, the complete unfamiliarity of Finn's +present surroundings.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It seems absurd to suggest that the great Wolfhound may +have been suffering from loneliness, seeing that he had never been so thankful +for anything else in his whole life as he was for his escape from the circus, +with its small army of men-folk and animals. But it is a fact that as Finn +plodded along through the wild bush to the south of Tinnaburra, he began to be +haunted by a sense of isolation and friendlessness. It was now thirty hours +since he had tasted food, and it seemed that game shunned his trail, for he saw +none of the many small animals he had passed on the previous night; and the +sight he had had that day of the great wedge-tailed eagle, of the carpet snake, +and of the grey rock wallaby, these only added to the uncanny strangeness of +his surroundings. In one sense, persecution, witting and unwitting, had made a +wild beast of him during his confinement in the circus; but, by reason of the +close confinement which had accompanied these persecutions, increasing +self-dependence and self-reliance had not come with the access of fierceness +and wildness. Finn inherited fighting instincts and savage ferocity under +persecution from a long and noble line of hunting and fighting ancestors. But +he inherited few instincts which bore practically upon the matter of picking up +his own living, of walking alone, of depending exclusively upon himself, and of +leading the solitary life of the really wild carnivora. But this would have +troubled him very little if the scene of his present wanderings had been, say, +some part of Sussex. As it was, the big snake, the huge eagle, the screaming +cockatoo, the nerve-shaking cachophony of the jackass, and the half-flying +progress of the big wallaby, all combined with the huge wildness of the country +and its vegetation to oppress Finn with the sense of being a lone outcast, an +outlier in a foreign land which was full of sinister possibilities. The +recollection of that hissing nine-foot worm, of a thickness as great and +greater than that of his own legs, lingered unpleasantly with Finn. Also, he +was getting very hungry.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">While these impressions were sinking into the Wolfhound's +mind, the country through which he was travelling was becoming more open, more +like a long-neglected park, in which many of the trees were dead, and all had a +gaunt and scraggy look, with their thin, pointed grey-green leaves, their +curiously tortured-looking limbs, and their long, rustling streamers of +decaying bark. But, however Finn might feel in the matter of loneliness, it was +with a pang of something like horror that he came presently upon a barbed wire +fence, exactly like the one he had leaped on the previous night, directly after +leaving the circus. Could it be possible that the circus had been moved during +the day to this place, and the barbed wire fence brought with it? Finn prowled +cautiously up and down that fence for a couple of hundred yards in each +direction, peering beyond it, and sniffing and listening with the extreme of +suspiciousness, before he finally leaped the wire and continued his way in a +south-easterly direction.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Five minutes later he saw a rabbit, and though he lost it, +by reason of the fact that it was sitting within a foot of its burrow and +disappeared with lightning-like rapidity at sight of Finn, yet he was cheered +by this homely sight, and pursued his way with renewed hope in the matter of +supper. A moment later and he stopped dead in his tracks as though shot, and +then crawled softly aside to take cover behind a thicket of scrub.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In topping an abrupt little ridge, he had come suddenly +into full view of a bark gunyah or shanty, in the triangular opening of which, +beside a bright fire, sat a man and a big black hound. A billy-can swung over +the fire on a tripod of stakes, and the man was engaged with his supper. Finn +did not know, of course, that the man was a boundary-rider, and his dog a not +very well-bred kangaroo-hound. The wind was north-west, or the kangaroo-hound +would surely have scented Finn's approach and given tongue.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a long time Finn lay under the cover of his thicket, +peering through the darkness at the boundary-rider and his dog. And while Finn +gazed his thoughts were very busy, both with matters of his own knowledge and +experience, and with vague instinctive knowledge, dream knowledge and dream +experiences, which came to him from his forbears of old, even as a setter's or +a pointer's hunting knowledge comes to him in the vanguard of experience. The +thing that most impressed Finn in the picture he saw was the figure of the +black hound, stretched at ease beside the fire, steadily eyeing its master. +Every once in a while the man would break a chunk from his damper, or cut a +morsel from his meat and toss it to the kangaroo-hound, who opened and closed +its jaws like a steel trap, and gulped the gift with portentous solemnity, and +absolutely without visible sign of any emotion whatever. The hound showed only +watchfulness. Finn heard its jaws snap, and could almost hear the gulp which +disposed of each morsel. The sight and the sound gave an edge to the +Wolfhound's already keen appetite, and, almost unconsciously, he drew nearer +and yet nearer to the gunyah, crouching low to the ground as he moved, his +hind-quarters gathered under him ready for springing, like a huge cat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There was no suggestion of circuses, or cages, or cruelty +about the picture Finn saw; but his recent experiences had been far too severe +to admit of anything like the old simple trustfulness in his attitude. That +could never be again. Even hunger would never make this Wolfhound trustful +again. But for all that, there was something in the picture of the camp-fire +and the pair who sat beside it which drew Finn strongly; tugging somehow at his +heart-strings; pulling at him strongly, softly; drawing him, as by silken cords +of instinct and immemorial association. So far as his own life in the world +went, this was the first camp-fire Finn had ever seen. One could not say +exactly how or why it should have been so, but it is a fact that, while +crouching Finn gazed upon and crept closer to that camp-fire, his mind was full +of affectionate thoughts and memories of the Master, and of the old days of +their happy companionship. Up till this evening he had not thought of the +Master for many days.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="man walking along a road" +src="images/fig25.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="564" height="341" /> </p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER17" id="CHAPTER17">CHAPTER XVIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">TOO LATE</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was doubtless the camp-fire picture which filled the +lone Wolfhound's mind with thoughts of the Master; but, while there is no +suggestion of telepathy about it, it was none the less an odd coincidence that, +at the very hour of Finn's approach to a camp-fire in the bush, a dozen miles +and more to the south-east of Tinnaburra, the Master should have been +approaching the big house by the harbour outside the capital city, three +hundred miles away, with a mind full of Finn. Yet so it was. And at that moment +the Master's reminiscent thoughts of the Wolfhound were to the full as +affectionate as were Finn's thoughts of him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Mistress of the Kennels had more than justified the +doctor's prophecies. Less than a month of life in the mountains had given her +back her old energy and strength. The third week there had given her also the +acquaintance, soon to ripen into friendship, of a certain squatter's wife, who +was spending a few weeks in the hills with her husband and three children. +Before the acquaintance was a week old the Mistress of the Kennels had been +pressingly invited to make her home with the squatter and his wife at their +station, for a time at all events, in order that she might supervise the +education of the three youngsters, and, also, give the squatter's wife the +benefit of some of her experience in the rearing of dogs. The Master could have +found a minor opening on the same station, but decided that he could not afford +to take up a life which offered no particular prospect of advancement, and was +confirmed in his decision by an offer that was made to him at this time to +join, in a working capacity, a small prospecting party which was setting out +for a tract of back-block country said to be extremely rich in gold, copper, +and silver. And so, for a time, the Master and the Mistress had parted +company.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now, while there are many prospectors in Australia who, +during a lifetime of adventurous toil, have never made much more than a +labourer's wage, there are others who have made and lost many fortunes, to +whose credit may be placed a score or more of rich discoveries, and much wealth +enjoyed by other people. The leader of the Master's party was of this latter +class, and less than three weeks after the outsetting of this particular +expedition, the party had pegged out a considerable number of rich claims. Some +of these claims had been of a kind which admitted of good deal of highly +profitable alluvial working but the majority called for the use of machinery +and the outlay of capital. Accordingly, the party gathered to themselves such +surface gold as was obtainable--the Master's share came to £260--and then, +laden with samples of ore, returned townward, with a view to selling their +claims to mining capitalists, before starting out upon a second and more +protracted journey. The fascination of the prospector's calling had gripped the +Master strongly, and he gladly agreed to remain a member of the party. But, in +the meantime, having reached the city, he had determined to pay a visit to Mr. +Sandbrook's house, first, that he might have the satisfaction of seeing Finn +again and, secondly, in order that he might try the effect of a substantial +money offer in the matter of regaining possession of his Wolfhound. And so now +while Finn was thinking of him, in the heart of the wildest part of the +Tinnaburra country, three hundred miles away, the Master strode up the hill +overlooking the city and the harbour, strongly hopeful that he might soon have +the great hound he had bred trotting by his side.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Mr. and Mrs. Sandbrook were both away from home, but one +of the daughters of the house explained to the Master how, after "sulking +desperately for two whole days," the Wolfhound had basely deserted his +luxurious new home, and never been heard of since. She showed the Master an +advertisement offering a reward of five-and-twenty pounds for Finn's recovery, +and was at some pains to make clear the indubitable fact that her father had +paid very dearly indeed for the doubtful privilege of possessing for two days a +Wolfhound who had "treated everybody as if they were dirt under his feet." The +Master expressed sympathy in sentences which were meant to be loyal excuses for +Finn; and then he turned and walked back to the city, heavy at heart for the +loss of the great Wolfhound whom he had loved, and feeling vaguely that the +money he had made was not such a very precious thing after all. He placed the +greater part of it at the disposal of the Mistress of the Kennels, and went +back to his fellow-prospectors.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound playbowing to kangaroo hound" src="images/fig26.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="600" height="299" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER18" id="CHAPTER18">CHAPTER XIX</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE DOMESTIC LURE</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As Finn drew closer to the camp-fire, the savoury smell of +the stewed mutton the man by the gunyah was eating came sailing down the breeze +into his nostrils, emphasizing his hunger to him, and reminding him strongly of +the days in which carefully cooked foods had been his portion every day. But +the Wolfhound's desire for food was nothing like so keen a thing as his dread +of renewed captivity, and his approach to the camp-fire was an illustration of +the extreme of animal caution. His powerful limbs were all the time gathered +well under him, prepared for instant flight.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Suddenly and simultaneously two things happened. A log on +the fire broke in half, allowing a long tongue of flame to leap up and light +the ground for fifty yards around, and the kangaroo-hound turned its +greyhound-like muzzle sharply to one side and saw Finn. In the next instant +three things happened together: the man's eyes followed those of his dog and +saw Finn; the dog leaped to its feet and barked loudly; and Finn jumped +sideways and backwards, a distance of three yards. Then the man said, "By +ghost!" and the kangaroo-hound bounded forward towards Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now it was not in Finn's nature to run from a dog, and so, +as the boundary-rider did not move, he held his ground. But his recent +experiences had all made for hostility and the fighting attitude toward other +animals; and so, instead of standing upright and awaiting the salutations of +the lesser creature in a courteously non-committal manner, as he would have +done in the old days, Finn held his hind-quarters bunched well under him ready +for springing, his fore-legs stretched well before him, his jaws slightly +parted, and the lips lifted considerably from his fangs, while eyes and +nostrils, and slightly raised hackles, though making no killing threat, said +very plainly, "Beware! I am not to be trifled with!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But apparently the black kangaroo-hound was not very +greatly impressed. It is practically certain that this dog knew at a glance +that Finn was not really of the wild kindred; also, she was a brave creature, a +fearless hunter, and a hound who stood twenty-eight inches at the shoulder; +eight inches lower than the giant Wolfhound it is true, but, even so, taller, +bigger, and heavier than a typical greyhound of her sex. It may be, too, that +the kangaroo-hound was already aware of Finn's sex before he knew hers. Be that +as it may, she showed not the slightest fear of the Wolfhound, but flew right +up to him, barking loudly, and with every sign of readiness for fight. Finn +growled warningly, and, as the stranger snapped at him, he leaped aside and, +turning then, prepared to administer punishment. It was then, as his jaws +parted in anger, that consciousness of the black hound's sex came to him, in +the subtle way that his kind do acquire such facts, and his jaws promptly +closed upon space. When the kangaroo-hound snapped a second time, Finn turned +his shoulder to her meekly and gave a little friendly whinny of a whine. This +was repeated two or three times, Finn evading the black hound's snapping jaws +(one could see that her bites no longer meant serious business; they were more +ceremonial than punishing), but showing not the slightest intention to make +reprisals. True, he growled low down his throat every time the black hound's +jaws came together, but the growl was almost meek, certainly deprecatory, +rather than in any sense threatening. Finn was obeying the law of his kind +where the weaker sex is concerned.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After a minute, the kangaroo-hound began to sniff +curiously at Finn instead of snapping at him, and at this, as though ordered to +stand to attention, the Wolfhound drew himself up proudly, and remained +perfectly still and very erect, his long tail curving grandly behind him, legs +well apart, and his magnificent head carried high, save when, as opportunity +offered, he took a passing sniff at any portion of the kangaroo-hound's anatomy +that happened to come near his muzzle. He was a fine picture of alertness and +masculine canine pride at this time; but, though obviously prepared for any +emergency, the wiry hair on his shoulders lay flat now, and his mouth was quite +closed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">All this while--these elaborate formalities had occupied +no more than three minutes altogether--the boundary-rider, who was a +knowledgeable person with animals, had been standing quite still beside his +fire, watching Finn and his own dog with intent curiosity. He had never seen a +dog at all like Finn, but he felt certain Finn was a dog, and not a creature of +the wild, if only by reason of his own black hound's attitude. Also, he was not +looking at the Wolfhound through iron bars. He pictured himself hunting +kangaroo with Finn and Jess (the black hound), and the prospect pleased him +mightily. So now he picked up a piece of mutton from the dish beside the fire, +and took a couple of steps in Finn's direction, holding the meat out before +him, and saying in a friendly way--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come on in, then, good dog! Here, boy! Here then!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn eyed the man hesitatingly for a moment. The meat was +tempting. But Finn's memories and fear were strong, and he moved slowly +backward as the man advanced. For a little distance they progressed in this +wise: the man slowly advancing and calling, Finn slowly retiring backward, and +the kangaroo-hound playing and sniffing about him in a manner which said +plainly that he was hereby invited to make free of her fireside, and become +acquainted with her man.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man was the first to tire of this, as was natural, +and, when he came to a standstill, he tossed the meat from him to Finn, with a +"Here then, boy; eat it there, if you like." But Jess had no notion of carrying +hospitality as far as all this. She sprang upon the bit of meat, and growled +savagely as her nose grazed Finn's. She had forestalled the Wolfhound, and was +likely to continue to do so, since the law of their kind prevented him from +exerting his superior strength against her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then the man walked slowly back to the shanty, calling +both dogs over his shoulder as he went. Jess obediently ran to him, and then +danced back, encouragingly, to Finn. Finn advanced with her till the man +reached the fire and resumed his seat on the ground. Then Finn stopped dead, +his hind-quarters well drawn up and ready for a spring; and no blandishment +that Jess could exercise proved sufficient to draw him closer to the fire. +Seeing this, the man called Jess sharply, after a while, and ordered her to lie +down beside him, which she did. Then he cut off a good-sized chunk of meat and +tossed it to Finn, saying, "Here, good dog; come in and feed then!" He +carefully threw the meat to a point about three yards nearer the fire than +where Finn stood, but still a good six or seven paces from it. Finn watched the +meat fall and sniffed its fragrance from the dry grass. The man, after all, was +sitting down, and humans always occupied quite a long time in rising to their +feet. Very slowly, very warily, and with eyes fixed steadily on the man, Finn +covered the three yards between himself and the meat, and, as he seized it in +his jaws, moved backward again at least one yard.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The warm mutton was exceedingly grateful to Finn, and he +showed little hesitation about advancing the necessary four or five feet to +secure a second and larger piece thrown down for him by the man. But again he +withdrew about a yard, before swallowing it. Then the man held another piece of +meat out to him at arm's length, and invited him to come and take it for +himself. Finn advanced one yard, and then definitely stopped, at, say, eight +paces from the man's hand, and waited, as one who would say: "Thus far, and no +farther; not an inch farther!" Still the man held the meat, and would not throw +it. Finn waited, head held a little on one side, black eyes fixed intently on +the man's face. Then, slowly, he lowered his great length to the ground, +without for an instant removing his gaze from the boundary-rider's face, and +lay with fore-legs outstretched, watching and waiting, and resting at the same +time. Evidently the man regarded this as some sort of a step forward, for he +yielded now, and flung the piece of meat so that it fell beside Finn's paws. +The great Wolfhound half rose in gulping down the meat, but resumed his lying +position a moment later, still watching and waiting. The man smiled.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, sonny," he said, with a chuckle; "you play a mighty +safe game, don't you? You're not takin' any chances on the cards. I believe you +reckon I've got the joker up my sleeve, hey? But you're wrong, 'cos me sleeves +is rolled up. But you've got a tidy twist on ye for mutton, all the same, an' I +reckon it's lucky for you I killed that staked ewe. Now, how d'ye like plain +damper? Just see how Wallaby Bill's tombstones strike ye!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As he spoke, the man called Wallaby Bill flung Finn a +solid chunk of very indigestible damper, which the Wolfhound gratefully +disposed of with two bites and three gulps, before plainly asking for more. +This was Finn's first taste of food other than raw meat for some months, and he +enjoyed it.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, say, Wolf, I suppose your belly has a bottom to it, +somewhere, what? Here; don't mind me; take the lot!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">With this, having first broken up a good large section of +damper in it, he pushed the dish along the dry grass as far as he could in +Finn's direction, with all that was left of the meat cooked that evening, a +fairly ample meal for a hound, apart from what had come before. The +boundary-rider lay on the ground to push the dish as far toward Finn as he +could, and then recovered his sitting position, and pretended to become +absorbed in the filling of a pipe, while continuing to watch Finn out of the +corner of his eyes. The dish was now perhaps three yards from where Bill sat, +and a yard and a half from Finn. The man appeared to be wrapped up in his own +concerns, and Finn's hunger was far from being satisfied. Very cautiously, +then, he advanced till he could reach the lip of the dish with his teeth; then, +still moving with the most watchful care, he gripped the tin dish and softly +drew it back about a couple of feet. Then he began to eat from it, the upper +halves of his eyes still fixed upon the half-recumbent figure of the man, who +was now contentedly smoking and pulling Jess's ears.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn polished the tin dish clean and bright, and then +retired into the shadows.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"There's gratitude for you!" growled Bill. But he did not +move, being the knowledgeable person with animals that he was. Finn had only +gone as far as the water-hole he had seen, some thirty or forty yards from the +shanty. There the Wolfhound drank his fill, and drew back, licking his jaws +with zest, and feeling happier and better than he had felt since the day of his +parting with the Master, months before.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Slowly, and with only a little less caution than before, +Finn now approached the camp a second time, and heard Bill say to the +kangaroo-hound: "All right, Jess; go to him, then!" In another moment, Jess +came prancing out towards him, and Finn spread out his fore-legs and lowered +his great frame to the earth, while his hind-quarters remained erect and ready +for a pivoting movement. This was the precise attitude that old Tara, the most +gracious lady of her race, had adopted toward Finn and his brothers and +sisters, years ago in the orchard beside the Sussex Downs, when Finn was still +an unweaned pup, and Tara came to play with him, without a notion that she was +his mother. (Finn's loving little foster-mother, it will be remembered, had +been safely shut up, out of hearing and scent of the pups.) Jess now imitated +Finn's attitude, and when his nose had almost touched hers she bounded from him +sideways and backwards, sometimes wheeling completely round, and barking with +pretended ferocity, till she stooped again and repeated the process.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Wallaby Bill was pleasantly interested in watching this +amiable performance, but it would have impressed him vastly more if he could +have pictured to himself the sort of spectacle Finn had presented a couple of +days before, when, with foaming jaws, gleaming fangs, raised hackles, and +straining limbs, the great Wolfhound had pitted himself, with roaring fury, +against the leather-coated man who wielded the hot iron. To an observer who had +known of this, there would have been something at once rather pathetic and a +good deal grotesque about Finn's present kittenish play with Jess. To lend +verisimilitude to the game Finn had to growl low down in his throat at +intervals, while Jess snarled and barked; but when Finn laid one paw on the +kangaroo-hound's curved back, as he frequently did at different phases of the +game, his touch, for all his huge bulk and weight, was one that would not have +incommoded a new-born pup. The Wolfhound was deft and agile enough, despite his +want of practice in such occupations, but yet, by reason of his great size, and +the hard-bitten, fighting look which the last few months had given him, and the +extreme wariness of his continuous observation of the reclining Bill; because +of these things, there was more than a hint of grotesqueness about his gambols, +such as one could not find in the antics of his playmate. Her sex, her +smoothness, her smaller size and greater slimness of build, combined with her +evidently complete domestication, made Jess's foolery sit naturally upon her; +and, indeed, her movements were without exception graceful in the extreme.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Wallaby Bill's pipe had burned itself out before the +hounds tired of their play and stretched themselves upon the ground, Jess lying +a good yard and a half nearer to the fire than Finn ventured. But Finn moved +only very slightly now, when Bill rose slowly to his feet and stretched his +arms, while taking careful observations of the new-comer. In the bright +firelight, he was just able to make out the bigger among Finn's scars, where +the Professor's iron had burned through the Wolfhound's wiry coat. Finn half +rose, with ears cocked, and muscles ready for the spring, when Bill yawned and +said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, Wolf, you are the biggest thing in your line ever I +did see. But it seems to me you've been havin' a pretty rough house with +somebody. What township have you been paintin' red, Wolf, hey? Did ye clear out +the town? How many stiffs was there in the dead-house when you struck the +wallaby again, Wolf? I bet you jest made things hum, old son--my oath--hey!" He +took one slow step forward; and Finn immediately took three backward, in one +quick jump. "All right, sonny; who wants to hurt ye? Keep your hair on now, do. +I only want to get the dish, an' wash up after your royal highness. Save me +soul alive! Can't I move, then? You're too suspicious, Wolf, my son. I believe +you're a bit of a Jew." And then, in a lower tone, "My oath, but some one's +handled you pretty damn meanly before to-day, I reckon. All right, Wolf, you +walk backwards, like a Salvation Army captain, while I get the dish, an' then +we'll both be safe, an' the dish'll get washed."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Bill's notion of washing up was distinctly primitive. He +took a long drink of tea from the billy, and then used what was left to rinse +out the dish that Finn had polished. Then he wiped it carefully on his towel, +and hung it up inside the gunyah. Finn had returned to his old place by this +time, but hesitated to lie down while Bill moved about.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Now, just you take a rest, Wolf," said the +boundary-rider, satirically. "I'm goin' to turn in now, an' I don't attack +thunderin' great grey wolf-dogs while I'm undressin'; not on your life I don't; +so jest you take a rest, son. Look at fat Jess! You couldn't shift her from +that fire with a stock-whip! An' jest you remember, my boy, that where I sleeps +I breakfast--sure thing--an' where I breakfasts there's apt to be oddments +goin' for great big grey wolf-dogs as well as black kangaroo bitches; so don't +you forget it, Wolf. I'm hopin' to see you in the mornin', mind; and don't eat +Jess by mistake in your sleep. I know she only weighs about seventy pounds, but +if you're careful, an' don't yawn too sudden-like any time, you'll be able to +avoid swallowing her. So long, son!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And with that the man retired to his bunk, which consisted +of two flour-sacks stretched on saplings, supported a few inches above the +ground by forked sticks; a very comfortable bed indeed. As for Finn, the +feeling inspired in him by Bill's talk, to say nothing of Bill's supper, and +Bill's fire, and the black hound, this was something really not far removed +from affection; but it was nothing at all like complete trust. It was the +friendliest sort of gratitude and, while the man's kindly talk rang in his +ears, something very like affection. But it was not trust, and Finn did not lie +down again until his ears had satisfied him that the man was lying down within +the bark shanty. Yet it was not many months since Finn had faced the whole +world of men-folk with the most complete and unquestioning confidence and +trust. So much the Professor had accomplished in his attempt at "taming" the +"Giant Wolf," you see. But, well fed, and cheered by companionship, Finn rested +more happily that night than he had rested since his parting with the Master. +It was very delightful to slide gradually off into sleep, with the sound of +Jess's regular breathing in his ears, and the warm glow of the smouldering log +fire in his half-closed eyes.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="dogs following man on horseback" src="images/fig27.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="587" height="271" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER19" id="CHAPTER19">CHAPTER XX</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE SUNDAY HUNT</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's new friends were distinctly an odd couple. The type +to which Wallaby Bill belonged is not a very rare one in Australia. He was one +of those men of whom storekeepers and publicans, and country-folk generally, +say that they are nobody's enemies but their own. Bill had been a small farmer, +a "cockatoo," at one time, with land of his own; but when he received a cheque +for stock or for a crop, it was his wont to leave the farm for days together +while he "blew in his cheque" in the township. After that, he would have to buy +flour on credit, eat kangaroo flesh and rabbit--even the despised and accursed +rabbit--and his stock would have to live upon what they could pick up for +themselves in the bush. So an end had come to Bill's farming, naturally.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">His present life could only be described as nomadic; and +it seemed to be the only life he cared for. He was an excellent boundary-rider, +shrewd, capable, and far-seeing. As such he would work for weeks, and even, +occasionally, for months at a stretch, utterly alone, save for his dog, and +apparently quite content. Then, without apparent reason, and certainly without +any kind of warning, he would make tracks for the nearest township, and be seen +no more outside its "hotel" till every penny he could lay hands upon was +transferred to the publican's till. Then, if his employer cared to allow him to +resume work, he would go back to his boundary-riding as contented and efficient +as ever. If the employer had so much as a word of criticism for his conduct, +Bill would be off into the bush like a wild creature, and that particular boss +would see him no more. He never argued. He simply fled. His life was as purely +nomadic as that of any Bedouin, and he had not spoken to a woman for years. +Outside public-houses, he never thought of drinking anything but water and tea, +generally tea, of which beverage he consumed several quarts every day of his +life. He was a keen hunter, and at his worst had never been known to sell his +horse or his dog, both good of their kind; though there had been occasions upon +which he had sold everything else he possessed, and then knocked a man down for +refusing to purchase the ragged coat he was wearing.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> This man had reared Jess by hand, with the aid of a +cracked tea-pot; and the kangaroo-hound bitch knew him better than any one else +did. For her, he was the only human being who counted, seriously; and it was +said that she had come near to killing a certain publican who had attempted to +"go through" Bill's pockets when he was drunk. She accompanied Bill everywhere, +and, whatever his occupation or condition, was never far from his side. She was +a big strong hound, and her flanks bore many honourable scars attesting to her +experience of the marsupial at bay.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Bill had probably never been guilty of wilful meanness or +cruelty in his life; though, upon occasion, he could display a certain rough +brutality. His normal attitude of mind was one of careless, kindly good-humour. +From Finn's point of view, he was an extremely good sort of fellow, of a type +new and strange to the Wolfhound; one of whom nothing could be predicted with +any certainty. Six months before, Bill's obvious good nature would have been +ample passport to Finn's confidence and friendship. But all that had been +changed, and everything and everybody strange was now suspect to Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Wolfhound was the first to wake in the very early +morning of the day following that of his arrival at the boundary-rider's +gunyah. His movement waked Jess, and together they stretched and walked round +the camp. Then Finn trotted off towards the denser bush which lay some hundreds +of yards eastward of the camp. Jess ran with him for perhaps a score of yards, +and then, determined not to lose sight of her man's abode, she turned and +trotted back to camp. This surprised Finn, but did not affect his plans. He +noted a warm little ridge some distance ahead, which looked as though it +contained rabbit earths. This spot he approached by means of a flanking +movement which enabled him to reach it from the rear, moving with the care and +delicacy of a great cat. As he peered over the edge of the little ridge, he saw +three rabbits performing their morning toilet, perhaps a score of paces beyond +the bank. He eyed the bunnies with interest for about a minute, and then, +having decided that the middle one carried the most flesh, he pursed himself +together and leaped. As he landed, ten or a dozen paces from the rabbits, they +separated, two flying diagonally for the bank, and the middle one leaping off +ahead, meaning to describe a considerable curve before reaching its earth. But +Finn was something of an expert in the pursuit of rabbits and, besides being +very fleet, had learned to wheel swiftly, and to cut off corners. Two seconds +later that rabbit was dead and, holding it firmly between his great jaws, Finn +had started off at a leisurely trot for the camp.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As Finn arrived beside the gunyah, Bill appeared at its +entrance, yawning and stretching his muscular arms.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Hullo there, Wolf," he said lazily; "early bird catches +the worm, hey? Good on ye, my son."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn had stopped dead at sight of the man, and now Jess +bounded towards him, full of interest. Finn dropped the rabbit before her, +quite prepared to share his breakfast with the kangaroo-hound. That had been +his intention, in fact, in bringing his kill back to camp. But to his surprise +Jess snatched up the rabbit and wheeled away from him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Come in here, Jess! Come in!" growled the man sharply. +"Come in here, an' drop it."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Whereupon, Jess trotted docilely up to the humpy, and laid +her stolen prize at Bill's feet. Bill whipped out his sheath-knife and, with +one or two deft cuts and tugs, skinned the rabbit. The pelt he placed on a log +beside the gunyah, and the carcase he cut in half across the backbone. Then he +tossed the head half to Jess, and the other, and slightly larger portion, to +Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Fair doos," he said explanatorily. "Wolf's the biggest; +and it was his kill, anyway; so he gets the quarters. "</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">So the hounds fed, while Bill washed and prepared his own +breakfast. Jess ate beside the bark hut, but Finn withdrew to a more respectful +distance, and lay down with his portion of the rabbit some twenty yards from +the camp.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After breakfast, the man took a bridle in his hand and set +out to find his horse, who carried a bell but was never hobbled. Jess walked +sedately one yard behind her man's heels; Finn strolled after them at a +distance of fifteen or twenty yards. Occasionally Jess would turn and trot back +to the Wolfhound for a friendly sniff; but, while receiving her advances +amiably, Finn never responded to her invitations to join her in close +attendance upon the man. Once Bill was mounted, Jess seemed satisfied to leave +twenty or thirty yards, or even more, between herself and her man; and, this +being so, the two hounds ran together and shared all their little discoveries +and interests. Bill rode a good many miles that day, always beside a wire +fence; and occasionally he would stop, dismount, and busy himself in some small +repair, where a fence-post had sagged down, or the wire become twisted or +slack.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At such times, while Bill was busy, Finn and Jess would +cover quite a good deal of ground, always within a half-mile radius of the man; +and in these small excursions Finn began to learn a good deal in the way of +bush-craft from the wily Jess. Once she snapped at his shoulder suddenly, and +thrust him aside from a log he was just about to clamber upon. "'Ware! 'Ware!" +said her short bark, with unmistakable vehemence. As Finn drew back, +wonderingly, a short black snake rose between him and the log, hissed angrily +at the hounds once, and then darted away round the log's butt end. Jess made +some gruff remarks in her throat which could not well be translated into our +tongue; but they sufficed to teach Finn a good deal. He had now seen a +death-adder, the snake whose bite kills inside of fifteen minutes; and, so much +more apt are the dog kind in some matters than ourselves, that Finn would never +again require reminding or instructing about this particular form of danger. +Jess had bitten his shoulder pretty hardly, by the way. Finn may or may not +have given this particularly deadly reptile a name in his own mind; or Jess may +have supplied him with one for it. The point is, he knew it now for a deadly +creature; he knew something of the sort of resting-places it chooses for +itself; and he would never, never forget the knowledge thus acquired, nor the +significance it had for him and his like.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the other hand, when a sudden pungent scent and a +rustle among the twigs set Finn leaping forward after the strangest-looking +beast his eyes had ever seen, Jess joined with him, in a good-humoured, rather +indifferent manner, and between them they just missed a big "goanner," as Bill +called the iguana, or Gould Monitor. This particular 'guana had a tail rather +more than twice its own length, and the last foot of this paid forfeit in +Finn's jaws for the animal's lack of agility. Though, when one says lack of +agility, it is fair to add that only a very swiftly moving creature could have +escaped the two hounds at all; and, once it reached a tree-trunk, this reptile +showed simply wonderful cleverness in climbing, running up fifty feet of +iron-bark trunk as quickly as it could cover the level ground, and keeping +always on the far side of the tree from the dogs, its long, ugly, wedge-shaped +head constantly turning from side to side, in keen, listening observation. From +Jess's contemptuous, half-hearted bark, Finn gathered that this singularly ugly +creature was not one of the deadly people, but also, on the other hand, that it +was not game worthy of a hound's serious attention.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After four days of this sort of life, during practically +every hour of which Finn was learning bush-craft from Jess, and learning at a +great rate for the reason that his intelligence was of a higher order than that +of the kangaroo-hound, while his hunting instincts came to him from an older +and more direct line of inheritance, the Wolfhound began to feel almost as +thoroughly at home in the bush as he had felt on his own hunting-ground in +Sussex. But, rather curiously perhaps, he advanced hardly at all in the +intimacy of his relations with Bill. In a sense, outwardly at all events, Bill +was more closely allied to Sam and the Professor, and to other people of the +Southern Cross Circus, than to the Master, or to humans Finn had known at all +intimately before. The Wolfhound was conscious that the boundary-rider was +friendly; but, on the other hand, he had points in common with the circus +people, whose doings had burned right into Finn's very soul; and, in any case, +Finn saw no particular reason for taking further risks where this man was +concerned. It was extremely pleasant to lie near the camp-fire with Jess of a +night, and to run with Jess in the bush by day; but nothing would induce Finn +to approach the gunyah more nearly, or to allow Bill's hand to come within a +yard of him. The possibility, however remote, of confinement, of torture behind +iron bars, was something he could not bring himself to trifle with.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As for Bill, he seemed content. Finn brought rabbits to +the camp every day, with occasional bandicoots, and in the evening, sometimes, +a kangaroo-rat. And, more than once, Bill took these kills from him, through +Jess, and boiled them before giving them to the hounds to eat. In this he was +doubtless moved by friendly thought for the dogs' welfare, since these little +creatures, and more especially the rabbits, are often inhabited by parasites of +a kind most harmful to dogs. Bill never thought of making any use of the +over-plentiful supply of rabbits for the replenishment of his own larder. He +regarded rabbits as English people regard rats, and would never have eaten them +while any other kind of meat was available. And, as Finn found later, the same +pronounced distaste for rabbit's flesh holds good, not alone among the men-folk +of the country, but with practically all its wild folk, also; even the highly +carnivorous and fierce native cat paying no heed to bunnies as game.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The fifth day of Finn's acquaintance with Bill and Jess +was a Sunday, and the boundary-rider was a strict observer of the Sabbath. His +observation of it might not have particularly commended itself to orthodox +Sabbatarians, but, such as it was, Bill never departed from it. Directly after +breakfast he washed the shirt and vest he had been wearing during the previous +week, and hung them out to dry. Then he brought in his horse and trifled with +it a while, examining its feet, and rubbing its ears, and giving it a few +handfuls of bread. Then he took a very early lunch and went off hunting. He had +no gun, but he had a formidable sheath-knife, his horse, and Jess. And now, in +a way, he had Finn as well. He had been wondering all the week about Finn's +quality as a hunter, and looking forward to the opportunity of testing the +Wolfhound. As for Jess, she knew perfectly well when a Sunday had arrived. For +her, Sunday was quite the festival day of the week; and, indeed, by reason of +her anticipatory bustle, Finn himself was early given to understand that this +was a special day of some kind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the previous day, Bill had paid particular attention to +some tracks he had seen on the far side of a gully some three or four miles +from the gunyah; and Jess had shown herself amazingly anxious to make further +investigations at the time, until brought sternly to heel by Bill, with the +suggestion that--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You've got mixed up in your almanack, old lady. This is +Saturday."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now, with a tomahawk stuck in the saddle-cleat he had made +to hold it, and a stock-whip dangling from one hand, the bushman ambled off on +his roan-coloured mare in the direction of this same gully. Jess, full of +suppressed excitement, circled about the horse's head for some few minutes, +till bidden to "Sober up, there, Jess!" when she fell back and trotted beside +Finn, a dozen yards from the horse. Arrived at the gully, Bill reined in to a +very slow walk, and peered about him carefully upon the ground. He never walked +a yard on his own feet if a horse was available. This was so much a matter of +principle with Bill that he had been known to walk and run three miles in +pursuit of a horse with which to ride across a paddock no more than a quarter +of a mile from his original starting-place. It was Jess who found what her man +was questing: the quite fresh tracks of a kangaroo; and Finn was keenly +interested in the discovery. He noted carefully every scratch in the tracks as +Jess nosed them, and noted also, as the result of long strong breaths drawn +through his nostrils, the exact scent which hung about them. This scent alone +proved the tracks quite fresh. Finn was puzzled by the long, scraping marks, +which looked far more like the work of some garden tool than of the feet of any +animal he knew of. For the time he had forgotten the fifteen-foot leap of the +rock wallaby that he had witnessed on the day after his escape from the circus. +The hind-foot pressure required to start a heavy animal upon such a leap as +that is very considerable, and well calculated to leave evidence of itself in +soft ground.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In starting away from the gully, Bill rode at a walk, and +with extreme care, Jess going in front, and Finn, not as yet so clever in +tracking, following up the rear, and taking very careful observations, not +alone of the trail, but also of fallen timber and likely places for snakes. +They progressed in this way, in a curving line, for between two and three +miles, when Jess came to a momentary halt, and gave one loud bark. Next instant +they were all travelling at the gallop for a thick clump of scrub which stood +alone in a comparatively clear patch. On the edge of this scrub Finn had a +momentary glimpse of their quarry, a big red old-man kangaroo, sitting on his +haunches, and delicately eating leaves.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The kangaroo covered over twenty feet of ground in his +first leap, and that with a suddenness which must have strained the tendons of +his wonderful hind-quarters pretty severely. But, by the time the hunters had +reached the scrub, the quarry was between two and three hundred yards distant, +travelling at a great rate in fairly open country. Bill had urged his horse to +the top of its gallop, and Finn was close behind them. He could have passed +them, but was not as yet sufficiently familiar with the man to do so. He felt +safer with Bill in full view; and, in any case, the roan mare was a very fast +traveller and kept as close to Jess's flying feet as was safe. The old-man +seemed confident of his power to outrun his pursuers, for he made no attempt at +dodging, taking a straight-ahead course over ground which left him clearly +visible almost all the time. That his confidence in his superior speed was +misplaced became quite evident at the end of the first mile, for by that time +there was not much more than a hundred yards between Jess and himself, in spite +of the enormous bounds he took, which made his progress resemble flying. He +could take a fallen log in his jump easily enough, but whenever the course rose +at all sharply the old-man lost ground; his jumps appearing to fall very short +then.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of the third mile Jess, who was galloping in +greyhound style, was within twenty feet of the kangaroo; Bill and the roan mare +were twelve or fifteen feet behind her, and Finn, running a little wide of the +trail, was abreast of the mare's flanks with a fierce, killing light in his +eyes. In that order they entered a steep gully which, if the old-man had been +on thoroughly familiar ground, he would have avoided. But, as to that, if he +had been on familiar ground, he would not have been alone, but the leader of a +mob, for which position his commanding size fitted him. Be this as it may, the +red old-man plunged straight down the steep gully, and then, fearing to attempt +the comparatively slow process of mounting the other side, turned at a tangent +and bounded along the bottom of the gully. With a gasping bark, as of triumph, +Jess wheeled after him, and the roan mare, unable to turn quite so swiftly, +left Finn to shoot ahead for the first time, perhaps fifteen paces behind +Jess.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, unfortunately for the kangaroo, this was a blind +gully, and Jess knew it. Two minutes later the old-man found himself facing a +quite precipitous rocky ascent at the gully's end, and so, there being no +alternative that he could see, he turned at bay to face his pursuers. Jess was +tremendously excited by the three-mile chase, and it may be that the sound of +Finn's powerful strides behind her gave the black hound more than ordinary +recklessness. At all events, with practically no perceptible slackening of +speed, she flew straight for the old-man's throat, and received the cruel +stroke of his hind-leg fairly upon her chest, being flung backwards fully five +yards, with blood spouting from her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now, although Finn had never seen a kangaroo before, and +never hunted bigger game than the fox he killed in Sussex, yet he had a full +view of poor Jess's terrible reception, and with him, as with all his kind, +action follows thought with electrical swiftness. Finn saw in that instant +exactly the old-man's method of defence: the cow-like kick, with a leg strong +enough to propel its weighty owner five-and-twenty feet in a bound, and armed +at its extremity with claws like chisels. Seeing this, and acting upon the hint +it conveyed, were a single process with Finn. He swerved sharply from his +course, and then leaped with all his strength for the old-man's throat from the +slightly higher level of the gully's bank.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now, the old-man weighed two hundred and forty pounds, and +measured nine feet from the tip of his snout to the tip of his long tail. But, +as against that, he was sitting still, while Finn came at him with the +tremendous momentum of a powerful spring from higher ground than that occupied +by the kangaroo. And Finn weighed one hundred and forty pounds odd--not of fat +and loose skin, but of muscle and bone, without a pound of superfluous flesh. +He lived almost entirely on meat. The impact of Finn's landing on the old-man +was terrific; but, be it noted, the kangaroo was not bowled over, though he did +sway for a moment on his haunches. But it was a terribly punishing hold upon +his neck that Finn's jaws had taken, and Finn's great claws were planted firmly +in the old-man's side and back. The kangaroo made a desperate effort to free +one hind-leg sufficiently from Finn's clinging weight to be able to take a +raking thrust at the Wolfhound, by shaking him sideways; and if he had +succeeded in this, the result for Finn would have been very severe. Meantime, +however, the whole strength of Finn's muscular neck and jaws was concentrated +upon dragging the kangaroo's head back, upon breaking his neck, in fact. An +old-man kangaroo, such as this one, is generally able to give a pretty good +account of himself in the face of four or five hounds; but the hounds he meets +are of Jess's type and weight, and not of Finn's sort.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">However, it was never known exactly whether or not Finn +would have succeeded in his task of breaking this old-man's neck; for, with a +suddenness which surprised the Wolfhound into suffering momentary contact with +Bill's arm, the boundary-rider slipped into the fight, having first picked up +the old-man's tail so that he could not kick (a kangaroo knows that if he +attempts a kick while his very serviceable tail is being held up he always +topples over on his side, and is thus made helpless), and then leaned across +Finn from behind, and slit the marsupial's throat with his sheath-knife. Finn +growled fiercely as he felt the weight of the man's arm pressed across his +shoulders, and sprang clear at the same moment that the kangaroo toppled over +dead, Bill's practised hand having severed its jugular vein. And so the fight +ended, without a scratch for Finn; which, seeing that this was his first +kangaroo, and an old-man, and that many an old-man has stretched as many as +four and five hounds bleeding on the ground before him in less than as many +minutes, must be regarded as a piece of exceptionally good fortune for the +Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">With Jess, now, matters were far otherwise; the black +hound could do no more hunting for some time to come. Finn was already +sympathetically licking Jess when Bill turned away from the dead kangaroo; but, +as the man came forward, Finn retreated, his lips lifted slightly, and his +hackles rising. He was not quite sure of Bill's intentions, and had been +greatly disturbed by the pressure of the boundary-rider's arm across his +shoulders. It had brought with it an instant flashlight picture of an +iron-barred cage, and other matters connected therewith. He did not realize +that Bill, and not he himself, had killed the old-man. However, Bill was not +paying any particular heed to Finn just now, though he had greatly admired the +Wolfhound's handling of the kangaroo, as showing more strength than any other +hound's attack that he had ever seen.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> With a single blow the kangaroo had practically laid open +the whole of one side of Jess's body. The gash his terrible foot had made +extended from the front of the breast down to the inside of the flank; and it +was far from being simply a skin wound. Down the chest it had reached the bone; +in the belly it had carved a furrow which suggested the wound of an axe. Bill +sighed as he told himself that poor Jess's chances were problematical. An +Englishman in Bill's position would almost certainly have put a bullet through +the black hound's heart or head, if he had had a gun. But Bill had done a good +deal of kangaroo hunting in his time, and had seen many and many a hound ripped +open, and even then preserved to hunt again.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A surgeon would have been vastly interested by Bill's +operations now. First, he walked along the gully to where he had seen a little +water and, bringing this back in his felt hat, proceeded carefully to cleanse +parts of the torn flesh as well as he could. Then he unbuckled a big belt that +he wore, and opening a pouch on it drew out two or three needles and some +strong white thread. Having threaded one of the needles he began now, in as +matter-of-course a manner as though he were mending a shirt, to stitch up the +whole great wound so as to draw its sides together. During the whole lengthy +operation the black hound only moved her head twice, in a faint, undecided +manner, and almost as though from an intelligent desire to watch Bill's +progress; certainly with no hint of any wish to interfere with it. It was far +from being an easy or simple operation, and doubtless Bill's performance of it +differed a good deal in detail from what a surgeon would have called the best +method; but the thing was done, and done thoroughly.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> Then Bill filled a pipe and smoked it for a time, while +watching the filmy eyes of his hound. Presently he rose and brought more water +in his hat. This he held under Jess's muzzle in such a position as to enable +her to loll her tongue in it, and lap a little. The gratitude which shone in +her eyes was very touching and unmistakable. Bill waited for another quarter of +an hour, and then he stooped over the black hound and raised her bodily in his +arms with great care, and much as a German nurse carries a baby. In this +position, and stopping occasionally for short rests, Bill carried Jess the +whole way back to the camp, a distance of about three and a half miles. (The +course taken by the kangaroo had been a curve which ended rather nearer to the +gunyah than it began.) Finn followed, twenty paces behind the man, with head +and tail carried low. He was conscious that Jess was sorely smitten.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Arrived at the camp, Bill made a bed of leaves for Jess +beside the gunyah, and placed her down upon it very gently, with an old blanket +of his own folded round her body in such a way that she could not reach the +wound with her mouth. Then he mounted the horse which he had driven before him, +and galloped back to the blind gully armed with a small coil of line.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Bill returned with the old-man lashed on his horse's +back, he found Finn affectionately licking the black hound's muzzle. Jess had +not moved an inch.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="three curious dingoes" src="images/fig28.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="450" height="313" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER20" id="CHAPTER20">CHAPTER XXI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THREE DINGOES WENT A-WALKING</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Wallaby Bill showed himself a kind and shrewd nurse where +Jess, his one intimate friend, was concerned. He had no milk to give the sorely +wounded hound, but the thin broth he made for her that Sunday night formed +almost as suitable a food for her; and before leaving her for the night the man +was very careful to see that her lacerated body was well covered. For her part, +Jess was too weak and ill to be likely to interfere with the wound; even the +slight lifting of her head to lap a little broth seemed to tax her strength to +the utmost. All night Finn lay within a couple of yards of the kangaroo-hound; +and in the morning, soon after dawn, he brought her a fresh-killed rabbit and +laid it at her feet. Finn meant well, but Jess did not even lick the kill, and +as soon as Bill appeared he looked in a friendly way at Finn, and then removed +the rabbit. But he afterwards skinned and boiled it for Finn's own delectation, +and at the time he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You're a mighty good sort, Wolf, and you can say I said +so."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After making the black hound as comfortable as he could, +Bill rode off for his day's work. He had rigged a good shelter over Jess with +the help of a couple of sheets of stringy-bark and a few stakes. He gave her a +breakfast of broth, and left a dish of water within an inch of her nose, where +she could reach it without moving her body. Lastly, as a precaution against the +possibility of movement on Jess's part, he stitched the old blanket behind her +in such a way as to prevent its leaving her wound exposed. He looked over his +shoulder several times after riding away, thinking that Finn would be likely to +follow him. But the Wolfhound remained standing, some twenty paces from Jess's +shelter, and, when the man was almost out of sight, stepped forward and lay +down within a yard or two of the kangaroo-hound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Queer card, that Wolf!" muttered Bill, as he rode away. +"But he's pretty white, too; whiter'n some men, I reckon, for all he's so +mighty suspicious."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In some climates any dog would have succumbed to the +injuries Jess had sustained; and even in the beautiful air of the Tinnaburra, a +town-bred dog would probably have gone under. But Jess was of a tough, +bush-bred stock; she had lived in the open all her life, and the air she +breathed now, in her shelter beside the gunyah, was aromatic with the scent of +that useful antiseptic which in every part of the world has done good service +in the prevention of fever--eucalyptus. Blue gum, red gum, grey gum, +stringy-bark, iron-bark, and black-butt; the trees which surrounded Jess for +fifty miles on every side were practically all of the eucalyptus family. +Insects bothered her a good deal it is true, but Finn did much in the way of +warding off their attacks, and the wound itself was well protected.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was an odd and very interesting and pleasant life that +Finn led now, his time divided pretty evenly between bearing the wounded +kangaroo-hound company and foraging on his own account in the bush within a +radius of two or three miles of the gunyah. He found that countryside +wonderfully full of different forms of wild life, and wonderfully interesting +to a born hunter and carnivorous creature like himself. He did not know then +that the country he traversed, all within four miles of the camp, was but the +fringe of a vastly more interesting tract of bush; and in the meantime the +range he did learn to know thoroughly proved sufficiently absorbing and +various.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Five miles from Bill's gunyah, in a direct southerly line, +stood the big, rambling station homestead, where Bill's bachelor employer had +lived for many years. He did not live there now, because six months before this +time he had died, and his station had reverted to distant relatives in other +countries. This was the man who was to have met the Master and the Mistress of +the Kennels on their arrival in Australia. His executors had seen no reason to +dispense with Bill's services as yet; and, truth to tell, they had never seen +the man, nor heard of his doings. It was only during the last few months that a +manager had been placed in charge of the station, and during his time Wallaby +Bill had stuck closely to his work.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Jacob Wilton Hall, the man who had made Warrimoo station, +had all his life long been something of an eccentric; and yet, withal, a man +who generally accomplished what he had set out to do, and one who had converted +a modest competence into a handsome fortune. He had been an indiscriminate +admirer of animals, and an interested student of the manners and customs of all +the creatures of the wild. When the rabbit pest first began to be severely felt +in the neighbourhood of his home-station, he had tried a variety of methods of +coping with it, and in the execution of some of these methods he had met with a +good deal of opposition and ridicule from his neighbours. He had, for instance, +imported fifty ferrets and weasels of both sexes and turned them loose in +pairs, in rabbit-earths situated in different outlying portions of his land. +These fierce little creatures were a scourge to the countryside by reason of +their attacks upon poultry; but it was freely stated that they adopted the +curious attitude of nearly all the native-born animals in ignoring the rabbits +they had been expected to prey upon.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Jacob Hall had then imported two pairs of wild cats, and +turned these loose in the back-blocks of his land, besides encouraging a number +of cats of the domesticated variety to take to the bush life and become wild, +as they have been doing all over Australia for many years. With great +difficulty and considerable expenditure of money, the eccentric squatter had +succeeded in securing a pair of Tasmanian Wolves and a pair of Tasmanian +Devils, and, having successfully evaded the customs and quarantine authorities, +he turned these exceptionally fierce and bloodthirsty creatures loose in the +wildest part of his land. Indeed, he took up an extra few thousand acres of +quite unprofitable "Church and School land," hilly, rocky, and heavily timbered +on the flats, largely, it was said, for the purpose of turning his Tasmanian +importations into it. The Wolves and the Tasmanian Devils killed a number of +his sheep; and it was stated among the neighbours that if Jacob Hall had lived +he would eventually have imported Bengal tigers and African lions before trying +the commonplace virtues of rabbit-proof fencing. It was supposed that the +persistent efforts of hunters and boundary-riders had resulted in these wild +creatures being driven well into the back country; and it is certain that, +despite an occasional strange story from bushmen regarding the animals whose +tracks they had come upon in the back-blocks, nothing was ever actually seen of +Jacob Hall's more fantastic importations. It was said, however, that there were +already notable modifications in certain of the wild kindred of that +countryside. There was talk of wild cats of hitherto unheard-of size and +fierceness, and of dingoes having suggestions about them of the untameably +fierce marsupial wolf of Tasmania. But such talk did not amount to much in this +district, for the rocky ranges of the Tinnaburra country, its densely wooded +gullies, and wild scrub-dotted flats, was almost entirely in the hands of a few +big squatters, who had long since pre-empted the back-blocks in the hinterland +of their stations for very many miles up country.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Naturally, Finn and Jess knew nothing of these things. To +the one the native denizens of such small portions of the bush of that +neighbourhood as he had ranged were quite sufficiently numerous and interesting +to keep his mind occupied; while Jess, for her part, was fully engaged in the +task of regaining her hold upon mere life. They lived for themselves, these +two; but Jess was deeply interested in the return of her man to the camp each +night, and Finn was equally keen and interested in his daily foragings and +explorations in the bush of that particular quarter. They neither of them knew +that they themselves were objects of the greatest interest to a very large +circle of the wild folk. But they were.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Within twenty-four hours of the fight with the old-man +kangaroo in the blind gully, the news had gone abroad among all the wild folk +in that strip of bush which surrounded the camp that a redoubtable hunter had +been laid low, and was lying near to death and quite helpless beside the +gunyah. Jess, having always been well fed by her man, had never been a great +hunter of small game; but she had accounted for a goodly number of wallabies, +and had played her part in the pulling down of a respectable number of +kangaroos. And, though she had seldom troubled to run down the smaller fry, she +was as greatly feared by them as though she lived only for their destruction; +and innumerable small marsupials, from the tiny, delicate little +kangaroo-mouse, up to the fleet and muscular wallaby-hare, with bandicoots, +kangaroo-rats (bushy-tailed and desperately furtive), 'possums, native cats, +and even a couple of amiable and sleepy-headed native bears, and a surly, +solitary wombat, all took an opportunity of peering out from the nearest point +of dense covert for the sake of having a glimpse of the helpless +kangaroo-hound. To the wild folk, an animal that cannot rise and fend for +itself is regarded as an animal practically dead, and but one remove from +carrion; which, of course, Jess would have been, lacking the friendly +attentions of her man, and, it may be, lacking the protection of the great +Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Be that as it may, it is a fact that news reached the +rocky hills behind Warrimoo of Jess's condition, and during the second night of +her helplessness three dingoes left their hunting range to come and look into +this matter for themselves. A dying hound might prove well worth investigating, +they thought. The movements of these dingoes, once they reached within a couple +of miles of Bill's gunyah, would have interested any student of the wild. The +caution with which they advanced was extraordinary. Not a dry leaf nor a dead +twig on the trail but they scanned it shrewdly with an eye for possible traps +or pitfalls. They moved as noiselessly as shadows, and poured in and out among +the scrub like liquid vegetation of some sort; a part of their environment, but +volatile. When the three dingoes from the hills reached the edge of the clear +patch in which the gunyah stood, they saw the almost black, smouldering remains +of a camp-fire, and, stretched within a couple of yards of the ashes, Finn. His +shaggy coat was not that of a kangaroo-hound, and his place beside the man-made +fire seemed to forbid the possibility of his being a monster dingo. Vaguely, +the dingoes told themselves that Finn must be some kind of giant among wolves +who was connected in some mysterious way with men-folk. They had learned +something during the past few years with regard to the possibilities of Nature +in the matter of strange beasts; and they remembered that the new-comers in +their country had arrived with a strange and persistent taint of man about +them; were even brought there by man, some said.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the meantime, it was quite evident to the dingoes' +sensitive nostrils that man inhabited the gunyah at that moment; and that, +therefore, quite apart from the presence of the huge strange beast near the +fire, it would never do to investigate the shelter at the gunyah's side just +then. The dingoes ate where they made their kills that night, within a couple +of miles of the camp, thereby spreading terror wide and deep throughout that +range; for the little folk feared these fiercely cunning killers far more than +they had learned to fear big ghostly Finn, who roamed their country more in +student fashion than as a serious hunter of meat, so far.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When the dawn came, the three dingoes were crouched in a +favourable watching-place opposite the gunyah, and saw Finn rise, stretch his +great length, and stroll off leisurely in the direction of the bush on the +shanty's far side. They looked meaningly one at the other, with lips drawn +back, as they noted Finn's massive bulk, great height, long jaws, and springy +tread. They decided that the Wolfhound might, after all, be of the wild +kindred, since he evidently had no mind to face the owner of the gunyah by +daylight. Then, with hackles raised, and bodies shrinking backward among the +leaves, they saw Bill come out, and yawn, and stretch his arms, and go to look +at Jess, under her shelter. Now as it happened, Finn stumbled upon a fresh +wallaby trail that morning, a trail not many minutes old; and he followed it +with growing excitement for a number of miles. To his nose it was more or less +the same scent as that of the old-man kangaroo; and there was hot desire in his +heart to pit his strength against such an one, without the sport-spoiling +assistance of Bill's knife. Finn's hunting of the wallaby took him a good deal +farther from the humpy than he had been before, since his first arrival there; +and so it fell out that Bill left upon his day's round without having seen the +Wolfhound that morning.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I guess he's after an extra special breakfast of his +own," muttered Bill, before he left; "but I'll leave him this half a rabbit, in +case." And he left the hinder part of a boiled rabbit on the big log beside the +fire, and rode away. The patient dingoes watched the whole performance closely, +licking their chops while Bill ate his breakfast, and again when he placed the +cooked half-rabbit on the log. The whole proceeding was also watched by several +crows. It was largely as a protection against these, rather than against the +elements, that Bill had given Jess her substantial bark shelter, under which +the crows would be afraid to pass. Otherwise, as Bill well knew, Jess would +have been like to lose her eyes before she had lain there very long.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After Bill's departure, the crows were the first to +descend upon the camp; and they soon had the meat left for Finn torn to shreds +and swallowed. Then they swaggered impudently about the fire, picking up +crumbs, a process they were in the habit of attending to daily during Finn's +absence. The presence of these wicked black marauders gave courage to the +waiting dingoes, and they determined to proceed at once with the business in +hand: the examination of the dying kangaroo-hound of which they had heard. As +for the huge spectral wolf, it was evident that he had no real connection with +the camp. Indeed, the bigger of the three dingoes told himself, with a +regretful sigh, that this great grey wolf had in all probability dispatched the +kangaroo-hound at an early stage of the night, and had been sleeping off the +first effects of his orgy, when they first saw him lying near the camp-fire. At +all events, the wolf had disappeared.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The three dingoes advanced, still exhibiting caution in +every step, but marching abreast, because neither would give any advantage to +the others in a case of this sort. When they got to within five-and-twenty +paces of the shelter, poor Jess winded them, and it was borne in upon her that +the hour of her last fight had arrived. She knew herself unable to run a yard, +probably unable to stand; and the dingo scent, as she understood it, had no +hint of mercy in it. With an effort which racked her whole frame with burning +pain, the helpless bitch turned upon her chest and raised her head so that she +might see her doom approaching. She gave a little gulp when her eyes fell upon +the stalwart forms of no fewer than three full-grown dingoes, stocky of build, +massive in legs and shoulders, plentifully coated, and fanged for the killing +of meat. Their eyes had the killing light in them too, Jess thought; and a +snarl curled her writhen lips as she pictured her end, stretched helpless there +under the bark shelter. Well she knew that even three such well-grown dingoes +as these would never have dared to attack her if she had been in normal +condition.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Very slowly the three dingoes approached a little nearer +in fan-shaped formation, and, with a brave effort, Jess succeeded in bringing +forth a bark which ended in something between growl and howl, by reason of the +cutting pain it caused her. The three dingoes leaped backward, each three +paces, like clockwork machinery. Jess glared out at them from under her thatch +of bark, her fangs uncovered, her nose wrinkled, and her short close hair on +end. The dingoes watched her thoughtfully, pondering upon her probable reserves +of strength. Then, too, there was her shelter; that was endowed with some of +the mysterious atmosphere which surrounds man. But the biggest of the dingoes +had once stolen half a sheep from a shepherd's humpy, and no disaster had +overtaken him. He advanced three feet before his companions, and that spurred +them to movement. Again Jess essayed a bark; and this time the predominant note +in her cry was so clearly one of anguish that the three dingoes took it almost +as an encouragement, for Nature had not endowed them with a sense of what we +call pity for weakness or distress. They thought Jess's cry was an appeal for +mercy, and mercy was foreign to their blood. As a fact, poor Jess would rather +have died a dozen deaths than call once upon a dingo for mercy. It was the pain +in her lacerated body, resulting from the attempt to bark, that had introduced +that wailing note into her cry. And now, as the dingoes drew nearer, inch by +inch, the black kangaroo-hound braced herself to die biting, and to sell her +flesh as dearly as might be.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As the snout of the foremost dingo, the largest of the +three, showed under the eave of Jess's shelter, she managed to hunch her +wounded body a little farther back against the side of the gunyah, meaning +thereby to draw the dingo a little farther in, and give herself a better chance +of catching some part of him between her jaws. With a desperate effort she drew +back her fore-legs a little, raising herself almost into a sitting position +against the side of the gunyah. The faint groans that the pain of moving forced +from her were of real service to her in a way, for they made the foremost dingo +think she was in her death agony, and gave a sort of recklessness to his plunge +forward under the thatch. He meant to end the business at once and slake his +blood thirst at the hound's throat. Well he knew that hounds do not groan +before a dingo's onslaught unless their plight is very desperate.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the instant of the big dingo's plunge for Jess's +throat, several things happened. First, Jess's powerful jaws came together +about the thick part of the dingo's right fore-leg, and took firm hold there, +while the snarling and now terrified dingo snapped at the back of her neck, the +rough edge of the bark thatch on the middle of his back producing in him a +horrible sense of being trapped. That was one thing that happened in that +instant. Another thing was that the two lesser dingoes between them produced a +yelp of pure terror, and, wheeling like lightning, streaked across the clear +patch to the scrub, bellies to earth, and tails flying in a straight line from +their spines. And the third thing that happened in that instant was the arrival +at the end of the gunyah of Finn. The arrival of the Wolfhound was really a +great event. There was something elemental about it, and something, too, +suggestive of magic. The Wolfhound had caught his first glimpse of the two +lesser dingoes as he reached the far side of the clear patch, and, for an +instant he had stood still. He was dragging a young wallaby over one shoulder. +Then it came over him that these were enemies attacking his crippled friend +Jess. He made no sound, but, dropping his burden, flew across the clearing with +deadly swiftness. As he reached the end of the gunyah, a kind of roar burst +from his swelling chest and, in that instant, the two dingoes flung themselves +forward in flight, Finn after them. Five huge strides he took in their rear; +and then the power of thought, or telepathy, or something of the sort, stopped +him dead in the middle of his stride, and he almost turned a somersault in +wheeling round to Jess's assistance.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As Finn plunged forward again toward Jess, the big dingo +succeeded by means of a desperate wrench in freeing his leg from the +kangaroo-hound's jaws, and with a swift turning movement leaped clear of the +shelter. Then the big dingo of the back ranges found himself facing Finn, and +realized that he must fight for his life.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The dingo has been called a skunk, and a cur, and a +coward, and by most other names that are bad and contemptuous. But the dingo at +bay is as brave as a weasel; and no lion in all Africa is braver than a weasel +at bay. Finn had brought himself to a standstill with an effort, a towering +figure of blazing wrath. He had made one good kill that morning, his blood was +hot; the picture of these dogs of the wild kindred attacking his helpless +friend had roused to fighting fury every last little drop of blood in his whole +great body. Rage almost blinded him. He flung himself upon the big dingo as +though he were a projectile of some sort. And then he learned that the +creatures born in the wild are swifter than the swiftest of other creatures. He +had learned it before, as a matter of fact; he had seen a striking illustration +of it only a few days before, when the kangaroo stretched Jess helpless on the +ground at a single stroke. Finn only grazed the dingo's haunch, while the dingo +slashed a three-inch wound in his right shoulder as he passed. Even while Finn +was in the act of turning, the wild dog's fangs clashed again about his flank, +ripping his skin as though it were stretched silk.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It may be imagined that Finn's wrath was not lessened, but +his blind rage was, and he pulled himself together with a jerk, a cold +determination to kill cooling his brain like water. This time he allowed the +dingo to rush him, which the beast did with admirable dexterity, aiming low for +the legs. Finn plunged for the back of the dingo's neck, and missed by the +breadth of two hairs. Then he pivoted on his hind-legs and feinted low for the +dingo's legs. The dingo flashed by him, aiming a cutting snap at his lower +thigh--for the wild dog was a master of fighting, and worked deliberately to +cripple his big opponent and not to kill him outright--and that gave Finn the +chance for which he had played in his feint. Next moment his great fangs were +buried in the thickly furred coat of the dingo's neck, and his whole weight was +bearing the wild dog to earth.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">His legs lost to him, by reason of Finn's crushing weight, +the frenzy of despair filled the dingo, and he fought like ten dogs, snarling, +snapping, writhing, and scratching, all at the same time. Despite Finn's +vice-like hold, the dingo did considerable execution with his razor-edged fangs +in the lower part of the Wolfhound's fore-legs. But his race was run. Finn +gradually shifted his hold, till his front teeth gripped the soft part of the +dingo's throat, and then he bit with all the mighty strength of his great jaws, +closer, closer, and closer, till the red blood poured out on the ground and the +struggles of the wild dog grew fainter and fainter. Finally, Finn gave a great +shake of his head, lifting the dingo clear of the ground, and flinging him back +upon it, limp and still.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For two whole minutes Finn glared down at the body of the +dingo, while licking the blood from his own lips, and working the torn skin of +his body backward and forward as though it tickled him. Then he turned to look +to Jess. And then an extraordinary thing happened; the sort of thing which does +not happen save in the life of a dingo; the thing, in short, that couldn't +happen, but that just is, sometimes. That dingo's glazing eyes opened wide, and +looked at Finn's back. Then the slain dingo (Finn had almost torn out its +throat) dragged itself to its feet and staggered off like a drunken man toward +the bush. A feeble snarl escaped from Jess, whose head faced this way. Finn, +who had been licking her, wheeled like a cat, and in that amazing moment saw +the dingo he supposed he had killed staggering towards the scrub thirty paces +distant. Five seconds later the still living dingo was on its back, and its +throat was being scattered over the surrounding ground. In his fury Finn did +actually tear out the beast's jugular vein, practically severing the head from +the trunk, smashing the vertebrae, and tearing open the chest of the dead +creature as well.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Wallaby Bill came to look at that corpse some hours +later he said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, by ghost! If I didn't tell that Wolf this very +morning that he was a mighty good sort. Wolf, you can say I said that John L. +Sullivan and Peter Jackson, and the Wild Man o' Borneo were suckin' infants in +arms to you. My colonial oath, but that blessed dingo has been killed good an' +plenty, and a steam-hammer couldn't kill him no more!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There was a wallaby lying beside the fire, Finn having +been too busy licking his own wounds and comforting Jess to think of feeding, +though common prudence had reminded him to bring in his kill from the edge of +the clear patch. Bill gave a deal of time and attention to Jess that night, but +Finn was fed royally on roughly cooked wallaby steaks and damper. But even upon +this special occasion the Wolfhound, still mindful of his awful circus +experience, refused to come within touch of the man.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="koala on a branch" src="images/fig29.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="300" height="390" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER21" id="CHAPTER21">CHAPTER XXII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">A BREAK-UP IN ARCADIA</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Jess's struggles on the day of the dingo fight naturally +retarded the healing of her wound; but, before the week was out, Bill was able +to remove his rude stitches, and the great gash showed every sign of healing +cleanly. Yet, in spite of the kangaroo-hound's wonderful hardihood and her +advantages in the matter of pure, healing air, almost another week had passed +before she was able to move about round the camp, and a full ten days more were +gone before she cared to resume her old activities.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During all this while Finn played the part of very loyal +and watchful protector. He had much desired to follow up the trail of the two +dingoes that escaped him, but he would not leave Jess long enough at a time to +make this possible. The wild folk of the bush situated within a mile of the +camp, however, became as much accustomed to his presence as though he were in +truth one of themselves, so thoroughly and constantly did he patrol their range +during his guardianship of the wounded hound. In this period he learned to know +every twig in that strip of country, and practically every creature that lived +or hunted there. The snake folk, brown, tiger, carpet, diamond, black, and +death adder--he came to know them all, from a very respectful distance; and he +studied their habits and methods of progression, and of hunting, with the +deepest interest.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For instance, on one occasion, towards evening, Finn saw a +carpet-snake pin a big kangaroo-rat, close to a fallen log. With a swiftness +which Finn's sharp eyes were unable to follow exactly, the snake twisted two +coils of his shining body round the marsupial and crushed the little beast to +death. Then, slowly, and as though the process gave him great satisfaction, the +snake worked his coils downward, from the head to the tail of the kangaroo-rat, +crunching its body flat and breaking all its joints. Then, very slowly, the +snake took its victim's head between its jaws and, advancing first one jaw and +then the other, an eighth of an inch at a time, very gradually swallowed the +whole animal, the operation occupying altogether a full ten minutes. When the +snake had quite finished, Finn leaped upon it from his hiding-place, killing +the creature with one snap of his jaws immediately behind the head. Finn's +front teeth actually met in the tail of the kangaroo-rat, which had only +reached thus far in its progress. Indeed, the tip of the tail was still in the +snake's mouth at the time, and Finn was perfectly aware that in this condition +the big reptile was not very dangerous. Bill was just dismounting beside the +gunyah when Finn arrived, trailing just upon twelve feet of gorged snake beside +him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But this was only one small incident among the daily, +almost hourly, adventures and lessons which came to the Wolfhound during this +period of Jess's convalescence. He actually caught a half-grown koala, or +native bear, one hot afternoon, when Jess was beginning to stroll about the +clear patch; and, finding that the queer little creature offered no fight, but +only swayed its tubby body to and fro, moaning and wailing and generally +behaving like a distressed child, Finn made no attempt to kill it, but simply +took firm hold of the loose, furry skin about its thick neck, and dragged it, +complaining piteously, through the bush to the gunyah, where he deposited it +gingerly upon the ground for Jess's inspection. Bill found the two hounds +playing with the koala on his return to camp that night. It was a one-sided +kind of game, for the bear only sat up on his haunches between the hounds, +rocking to and fro, and sobbing and moaning with grotesque appealing pathos, +while Finn and Jess gambolled about him, occasionally toppling him over with a +thrust of their muzzles, and growling angrily at him, till he sat up again, +when they appeared quite satisfied. Bill sat on his horse and shook with +laughter as he watched the game. He thought of killing the bear, for there is a +small bounty given on bears' heads. But long laughter moved his good-nature to +ignore the bounty, and after a while he called Jess off, and drove the bear +away into the scrub. He did not call Finn, because that was unnecessary. Finn +withdrew immediately upon Bill's approach.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was perhaps a week after the bear-baiting episode, when +for several days Jess had been following her man by day in the same manner as +before her hurt, that both hounds began to notice that Bill was undergoing a +change of some sort. He never talked to them now. He took not the smallest +notice of Finn, and but rarely looked at Jess. When she approached him of an +evening he would gruffly bid her lie down, and once he thrust her from him with +his foot when she had nosed close up to him beside the fire. Jess had vague +recollections of similar changes in her man having occurred before this time, +and she had vague, uncomfortable stirrings which told her that further change +of some sort was imminent. This made the kangaroo-hound restless and uneasy, +and before long her uneasiness communicated itself to Finn, who immediately +began to think of the worst things he knew of--men in leathern coats, +iron-barred cages, and the like. All this made the Wolfhound more shy than ever +where Bill was concerned, and more like a creature of the real wild in all his +movements and general demeanour. He slept a little farther from the gunyah now, +and relied almost entirely upon his own hunting for food. Still, he had no wish +to leave the camp, and regarded Jess as his fast friend.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One evening the now definitely surly and irritable Bill +devoted half an hour to counting and recounting some money in the light of the +camp-fire. He had visited the station homestead that day and drawn his pay from +the manager.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Ger-r-router that, damn ye!" he growled at poor Jess when +she crept towards him with watchful, affectionate eyes. So Jess got out, to the +extent of a dozen yards, with the mark of one of Bill's heavy boots on her +glossy flank. She bore not a trace of malice, and would have cheerfully fought +to the death for her man at that moment; but she was full of vague distress and +whimpering uneasiness; of dim, unhappy presentiments. And in all this Finn +shared fully, though without the personal intensity which marked Jess's feeling +by reason of her great love of the man. But the uneasiness and the +presentiments were shared by the Wolfhound, and he dreamed vividly that night +of red-hot irons, the smell of tigers, of wire-bound whip-lashes, and the panic +sense of being caged.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the morning Bill would hardly take the trouble to +prepare a breakfast for himself, and the clothes he wore were not those that +Finn had always seen him in before. Bill presently tied up the hanging door of +the gunyah and mounted his horse. Jess and Finn followed him as their wont was, +but their hearts were sad, and Bill's glowering looks gave them no +encouragement. For almost seven miles they followed Bill, and then, after +leaping a low "dog-leg" fence, they found themselves in the one wide street of +Nargoola township. Bill cantered slowly down the empty road till he came to the +"First Nugget Hotel," and there he drew rein and finally hitched his horse's +bridle to a verandah post. Then he strode across the verandah and disappeared +within the "hotel," and Jess remembered--many things.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn remained with Jess, a few yards from the horse, +waiting; but whereas the experienced Jess lay down in the dust, Finn stood +erect and watchful beside her. He was already rather nearer to the house than +he cared about; and the air was heavy with the scent of man and his works. Finn +was acutely uncomfortable, and told Jess so as plainly as he could, with a hint +as to the advantages of returning to the bush. But Jess urged patience, and +tucked her nose under one of her hind-legs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Presently one or two men came straggling down the street +and made overtures to Finn, after standing and gazing upon him with admiring +astonishment, and slowly piecing together his connection with Bill and Jess +through the horse. Bush folk have a way of arriving at their knowledge of +people through horseflesh.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"My oath!" exclaimed one of the men. "He's got a touch of +the Tasmanian blood in him, all right. I guess old man Hall's pets have been +busy back in the hills there. Wonder how Bill got a-holt o' <em>him</em>!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then, with every sign of deferential friendliness, the +man endeavoured to approach Finn. But though Jess lay still, showing only +pointed indifference where the men were concerned, Finn leaped backward like a +stag, and kept a good score of paces between the men-folk and himself.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man who made the remark about Finn and Tasmanian blood +had never seen the zebra wolf, as it is sometimes called, owing to the stripes +which often occur in its coat, or he would not have thought of Finn in this +connection. The Tasmanian wolf is a heavy, long beast, with a truncated muzzle, +short legs, a thin, taper tail, and a very massive shoulder and neck. Wolves of +this type have been known to keep six hunting-dogs absolutely at bay, and +finally to escape from them. Their appearance is more suggestive of the hyæna +than of any such symmetrically beautiful lines as those of Finn's graceful, +racy build. But, by reason of his great height and size, Finn was strange to +the Nargoola man, and he, having heard of old Jacob Hall's strange importations +from Tasmania, at once linked the two kinds of strangeness together in his +mind, and saw only further reason for so doing in the fact that he was quite +unable to get within a dozen paces of touching the Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Out of consideration for the patient Jess, Finn endured +the discomfort of waiting beside the "First Nugget" all through that day, +though he never ventured to sit down even for a moment; there among the +man-smells and the threatening shadows of the houses, each one of which he +regarded as the possible headquarters of a circus, the possible home of a +"Professor." But when evening set in, and Jess still showed no sign of +forsaking her post, Finn could endure it no longer, and told his friend several +times over that he must go; that he would return to the camp in the bush and +wait there. The nuzzling touches of Jess's nose said plainly, "Wait a bit, yet! +What's your hurry?" But Finn was in deadly earnest now. He refused to be +restrained even by a little whimpering appeal, in which Jess made every use she +could of the craft of her sex, showing exaggerated signs of weakness and +distress. "Well, then, why not come with me?" barked Finn in reply, fidgeting +about her on his toes. Jess pleaded for delay, and licked his nose most +persuasively. But Finn's mind was made up, and he turned his shoulder coldly +upon the bitch, while still waiting for some sign of yielding on her part. But +Jess was bound to her post by ties far stronger than any consideration of her +own comfort or well-being; and, as a matter of fact, forty Wolfhounds would not +have moved her from that verandah--alive. Also, of course, she had not Finn's +violent distaste for the neighbourhood of man and his works. She had never been +in a circus. She had never been suddenly awakened from complete trust in +mankind to knowledge of the existence of mad man-beasts with hot iron bars; so +Finn would have told her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the end, Finn gave a cold bark of displeasure and +trotted off into the gathering twilight, leaping the fence and plunging into +the bush the moment he had passed the last house of the township. Half an hour +later he killed a fat bandicoot, who was engaged at that moment in killing a +tiny marsupial mouse. A quarter of an hour after that, Finn lay down beside the +ashes of the fire before the gunyah, his kill between his fore-legs. He rested +there for a few minutes, and then, tearing off its furry skin in strips, +devoured the greater part of the bandicoot before settling down for the night; +as much, that is, as he ever did settle down, these days. His eyes were not +often completely closed; less often at night, perhaps, than in the daytime. But +he dozed now, out there in the clear patch where the gunyah stood, free of all +thoughts of men and cages. And the bush air seemed sweeter than ever to him +to-night after his brief stay in the man-haunted township.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound bringing down kangaroo" src="images/fig30.png" +width="500" height="288" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER22" id="CHAPTER22">CHAPTER XXIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE OUTCAST</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For nine consecutive days and nights Finn continued to +regard the empty gunyah in the clear patch as his home, to eat there, and to +rest there, beside the ashes of the fire, or in the shadow of the shanty +itself. And still Jess and her man came not, and the Wolfhound was left in +solitary possession. Once, when the heat of the day was past, Finn trotted down +the trail to the township, and peered long and earnestly through the dog-leg +fence in the direction of the "First Nugget." But he saw no trace of Jess or +her man; and, for his part, he was glad to get back to the clear patch again, +and to take his ease beside the gunyah.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He had recently struck up a more than bowing acquaintance +with the koala that he had once dragged through a quarter of a mile of scrub to +the gunyah, and was now in the habit of meeting this quaint little bear nearly +every day. For his part, Koala never presumed to make the slightest advance in +Finn's direction, but he had come to realize that the great Wolfhound wished +him no harm, and, though his conversation seldom went beyond plaintive +complainings and lugubrious assertions of his own complete in offensiveness, +Finn liked to sit near the little beast occasionally, and watch his fubsy +antics and listen to his plaint. Koala was rather like the Mad Hatter that +Alice met in Wonderland; he was "a very poor man," by his way of it; and, +though in reality rather a contented creature, seemed generally to be upon the +extreme verge of shedding tears.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Another of the wild folk that Finn met for the first time +in his life during these nine days, and continued to meet on a friendly +footing, was a large native porcupine, or echidna. Finn was sniffing one +afternoon at what he took to be the opening to a rabbit's burrow, when, greatly +to his surprise, Echidna showed up, some three or four yards away, from one of +the exits of the same earth. The creature's shock of fretful quills was not +inviting, and Finn discovered no inclination to risk touching it with his nose; +but, having jumped forward in such a way as to shut Echidna off from his home, +they were left perforce face to face for a few moments. During those moments, +Finn decided that he had no wish to slay the ant-eating porcupine, and Echidna, +for his part, made up his exceedingly rudimentary little mind that Finn was a +fairly harmless person. So they sat up looking at one another, and Finn +marvelled that the world should contain so curious a creature as his new +acquaintance; while Echidna doubtless wondered, in his primitive, prickly +fashion, how much larger dogs were likely to grow in that part of the country. +Then the flying tail of a bandicoot caught Finn's attention, and the passing +that way of an unusually fat bull-dog ant drew Echidna from reflection to +business, and the oddly ill-matched couple parted after their first meeting. +After this, they frequently exchanged civil greeting when their paths happened +to cross in the bush.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, unlike the large majority of Australia's wild folk, +Finn was exclusively a carnivorous animal, and this fact rather placed him out +of court in the matter of striking up acquaintances in the bush, since meetings +with the Wolfhound were apt, as a general thing, to end in that very close form +of intimacy which involves the complete absorption of the lesser personality +into the greater, not merely figuratively, but physically. Finn might, and +frequently did, ask a stray bandicoot, or rabbit, or kangaroo-rat to dinner; +but by the time the meal was ended, the guest was no more; and so the +acquaintance could never be pursued further. Finn would have been delighted, +really, to make friends with creatures like the bandicoot people, and to enjoy +their society at intervals--when he was well fed. But the bandicoots and their +kind could never forget that they were, after all, food in the Wolfhound's +eyes, and it was not possible to know for certain exactly when his appetite was +likely to rise within him and claim attention--and bandicoots. Therefore, full +or empty, hunting or lounging, Finn was a scourge and an enemy in the eyes of +these small folk, and, as such, a person to be avoided at all cost, and at all +seasons.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3465" id="L3465"></a><img +alt="man on horseback waving whip at wolfhound" src="images/plate08.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="384" height="516" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Spurring his horse forward.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The hunting in the neighbourhood of the gunyah was still +amply sufficient for Finn's needs; and, as he continually expected the return +of Bill and Jess, he did not forage very far from the clear patch. He generally +dozed and rested beside the humpy during the afternoon, preparatory to hunting +in the dusk for the kill that represented his night meal. It was on the evening +of his tenth day of solitude, and rather later than his usual hour for the +evening prowl, that Finn woke with a start in his place beside the gunyah to +hear the sound of horse's feet entering the clear patch from the direction of +the station homestead. There was no sign of Jess that nose or eye or ear could +detect, but Finn told himself as he moved away from the gunyah that this was +doubtless Bill, and that Jess would be likely to follow. As his custom was, +where Bill was concerned, Finn took up his stand about five-and-twenty paces +from the humpy, prepared gravely to observe the boundary-rider's evening tasks: +the fire-lighting, and so forth. As the new-comer began to dismount, or rather, +as he began to think of dismounting, he caught a dim glimpse of Finn's figure +through the growing darkness. It was only a dim glimpse the man caught, and he +took Finn for a dingo, made wondrous large in appearance, somehow, by the +darkness. He was both astonished and exceedingly indignant that a dingo should +have the brazen impudence to stand and stare at him, within thirty yards of +camp, too. In his hand he carried a stock-whip, with its fifteen-foot fall +neatly coiled about its taper end. Swinging this by the head of its fall, he +flung it with all his might at Finn, at the same time rising erect in the +saddle and spurring his horse forward at the gallop to ride the supposed dingo +down.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"G-r-r-r, you thieving swine! I'll teach ye!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The voice was strange to Finn, and very hoarse and harsh. +The Wolfhound cantered lightly off, and the rider followed him right into the +scrub before wheeling his horse and turning back toward the camp. Before he +moved Finn gave one snarling growl; and the reason of that was that the heavy +butt-end of the stock-whip handle had caught him fairly in the ribs and almost +taken his breath away.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From the shelter of the bush, Finn peered for a long while +at the camp from which he had been driven; and as he peered his mind held a +tumult of conflicting emotions. He saw the man gather twigs and light a fire, +just as Bill had been wont to do. But he knew now that the man was not Bill. He +heard the man growling and swearing to himself, just as a creature of the wild +does sometimes over its meals. As a matter of fact, this particular man had +been removed from a post that he liked and sent to this place, because Bill had +left the district; and he was irritable and annoyed about it. Otherwise he +probably would not have been so savage in driving Finn off. But the Wolfhound +had no means of knowing these things.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">All his life long, up till the time of his separation from +the Master, Finn had been treated with uniform kindness and consideration, save +during one very brief interval in Sussex. Then, for months, he had been treated +with what seemed to him utterly purposeless and reasonless cruelty and +ferocity. From that long-drawn-out martyrdom had sprung his deep-rooted +mistrust of man. But it had been reserved for Wallaby Bill's successor to +implant in Finn's mind the true spirit of the wild creature, by the simple +process of driving him forth from the neighbourhood of civilization--such as it +was--into the bush. Finn had been cruelly beaten; he had been tortured in the +past. He had never until this evening been driven away from the haunts of +men.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The writer of these lines remembers having once been +driven himself, under a shower of sticks and stones, from a village of +mountain-bred Moors who saw through his disguise. This being driven, hunted, +shooed out into the open with blows and curses and scornful maledictions, is a +singularly cowing sensation, at once humiliating and embittering. It is unlike +any other kind of hostile treatment. It affected Finn more deeply and +powerfully than any punishment could have affected him. Though infinitely less +painful and terrible than the sort of interviews he had had with the Professor +in his circus prison, it yet bit deeper into his soul, in a way; it produced an +impression at least equally profound. He desired none of man's society, and +during all the time that he had regarded the camp in that clearing as his home, +he had never sought anything at man's hands, nor approached man more nearly +than a distance of a dozen paces or so. But now he was savagely given to +understand that even the neighbourhood of the camp was no place for him; that +it was forbidden ground for him. He was driven out into the wild with +contumely, and with the contemptuous sting of the blow of something flung at +him. It was no longer a case of man courting him, while he carefully maintained +an attitude of reserve and kept his distance. Man had set the distance, and +definitely pronounced him an alien; driven him off. Man was actively hostile to +him, would fling something at him on sight. Man declared war on him, and drove +him out into the wild. Well, and what of the wild?</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The wild yielded him unlimited food and unlimited +interest. The wild was clean and free; it hampered him in no way; it had +offered no sort of hostile demonstration against him. Nay, in a sense, the wild +had paid court to him, shown him great deference, bowed down before him, and +granted him instant lordship. (If Finn thought at all just now of the snake +people, it was of the large non-venomous kind, of which he had slain several.) +Altogether, it was with a curiously disturbed and divided mind, in which +bitterness and resentment were uppermost, that the Wolfhound gazed now at the +man sitting in the firelight by Bill's gunyah. And then, while he gazed, there +rose up in him kindly thoughts and feelings regarding Jess, when she had played +with him beside that fire; regarding Bill, when he had talked at Finn in his +own friendly admiring way, and tossed the Wolfhound food, food which Finn had +always eaten with an appearance of zest and gratitude (even when not in the +least need of food) from an instinctive sense of <em>noblesse oblige</em>, and +of the courtesy which came to him with the blood of a long line of kingly +ancestors. Vague thoughts, too, of the Master drifted through Finn's mind as he +watched the stranger at his supper; and, somehow, the circle of firelit grass +attracted. Forgiveness came natural to the Wolfhound and, for the moment, he +forgot the humiliation and the bitterness of being driven out as a creature of +the wild, having no right to trespass upon the human environment.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Slowly, not with any particular caution, but with stately, +gracious step, Finn moved forward toward the firelight, intending to take up +his old resting-place, perhaps a score of paces from the fire. No sooner had +Finn entered the outermost ring of dim firelight than the man looked up and +saw, not the whole of him, but the light flickering on his legs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, I'll be teetotally damned if that ain't the limit!" +gasped the man, as he sprang to his feet. He snatched a three-foot length of +burning sapling from the fire and, rushing forward, flung it so truly after the +retreating Wolfhound that it fell athwart his neck, singeing his coat and +enveloping him from nose to tail in a cloud of glowing sparks. A stone followed +the burning wood, and the man himself, shouting and cursing, followed the +stone. But he had no need to run. The flying sparks, the smell of burned hair, +the horrible suggestion of the red-hot iron bar--these were amply sufficient +for Finn, without the added humiliation of the stone, and the curses, and the +man's loud, blundering footfalls. The Wolfhound broke into a gallop, shocked, +amazed, alarmed, and beyond words embittered. He snarled as he ran, and he ran +till the camp was a mile behind him, beyond scent and hearing.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There was no mistaking this for anything but what it was. +This was being driven out of the human world into the world of the wild with a +vengeance. The burning sapling made a most profound impression upon Finn, and +roused bitter hostility and resentment in him. The stock-whip and the stone +were as nothing beside this thing--this fire that had been flung at him. From +time immemorial men have frightened and chased wolves from their chosen +neighbourhood with burning faggots. The thing is being done to-day in the +world's far places; it was being done thousands of years before our era began. +Finn had never before experienced it, and yet, in some vague way, it seemed he +had known of such a thing. His ancestors for fifteen hundred years had been the +admired companions and champions of the leaders among men. But a thousand years +before that--who knows? Our domestic pet dogs of to-day adhere still to a few +of the practices (having no bearing upon their present lives) of their forbears +of many, many centuries back. Certain it is that nothing else in his life had +been quite so full of hostile significance for Finn as this fact of his having +been driven out from the camp in the clear patch with a faggot of burning wood. +This was man's message to him; thus, then, he was sent to his place, and his +place was the wild. Well!</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The wild folk of that particular section of the Tinnaburra +country, though they live to be older than the most aged cockatoo in all +Australia, will never, never forget the strange happenings of that night, which +they will always remember as the night of the madness of the Giant Wolf--only +they thought of him as the Giant Dingo. For four mortal hours the Irish +Wolfhound, who had been driven out from the haunts of men, raged furiously up +and down a five-mile belt of Tinnaburra country, slaying and maiming wantonly, +and implanting desperate fear in the hearts of every living thing in that +countryside.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Once, in the farthest of his gallops, he reached the +fringe of the wild, rocky hill country which lies behind this belt; and there, +as luck would have it, he met in full flight one of the two dingoes that had +escaped him on the day of the attack upon wounded Jess. It was an evil chance +for that dingo. A fanged whirlwind smote him, and rended him limb from limb +before he realized that the devastating thing had come, scattering his vital +parts among the scrub and tearing wildly at his mangled remains. A mother +kangaroo was surprised by the ghostly grey fury, at some distance from the rest +of her small mob, and, though she fought with the fury of ten males of her +species (bitterly conscious of the young thing glued to the teat in her pouch), +she was left a torn and trampled mass of scarcely recognizable fur and flesh, +crushed among scrub-roots. Lesser creatures succumbed under the blinding stabs +of Finn's feet; and once he leaped, like a cat, clear into the lower branches +of a bastard oak tree, and pinned a 'possum into instant death before swinging +back to earth on the limb's far side. He killed that night from fury, and not +to eat; and when he laid him down to rest at length, on the rocky edge of a +gully fully four miles from the camp, there was not a living thing in that +district but felt the terror of his presence, and cowered from sight or sound +of his flying feet and rending, blood-stained fangs. It was as the night of an +earthquake or a bush fire to the wild folk of that range; and the cause and +meaning of it all was that Finn, the Irish Wolfhound, had been hunted out of +the men-folk's world into the world of the wild people.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="koala looking down from branch" src="images/fig31.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="457" height="374" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER23" id="CHAPTER23">CHAPTER XXIV</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">A LONE BACHELOR</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If Finn had deliberately thought out a bad way of +beginning his life as one of the wild folk, who have no concern at all with +humans, he could have devised nothing much worse, or more disadvantageous to +himself, than the indulgence of his wild burst of Berserker-like fury, after +being driven out of the clear patch. And of this he was made aware when he set +forth the next morning in quest of a breakfast. Every one of his hunting trails +in the neighbourhood of the encampment he ranged with growing thoroughness and +care, without finding so much as a mouse with which to satisfy his appetite. +Even Koala and Echidna were nowhere to be found. It was as though a blight had +descended upon the countryside, and the only living thing Finn saw that +morning, besides the crows, was a laughing jackass on the stump of a blasted +stringy-bark tree, who jeered at him hoarsely as he passed. Disconsolate and +rather sore, as the result of his frenzied exertions of the night, Finn curled +himself up in the sandy bed of a little gully and slept again, without food. +The many small scavengers of the bush had already made away with the remains of +the different creatures he had slain during his madness.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn did not know it, but hundreds of small bright eyes +had watched him as he ranged the trails that morning; and the most of these +eyes had in them the light of resentment, as well as fear. Finn had been guilty +of real crime according to the standards of the wild; and, had he been a lesser +creature, swift punishment would have descended upon him. As it was, he was +left to work out his own punishment by finding that his hunting was ruined. +These wild folk, who were judging Finn now, tacitly admitted the right of all +flesh-eating creatures to kill for food. But wilful slaughter, particularly +when accompanied by all the evidences of reckless fury, was a crime not readily +to be forgiven, for it struck at the very roots of the wild folk's social +system. It was not merely a cruel affliction for those needlessly slain, and +their relatives (some of whom depended for life upon their exertions); but it +was an affliction for all the rest, in that it spoiled hunting for the +carnivorous, rendered feeding extremely difficult for the non-carnivorous, and +generally upset the ordered balance of things which made life worth living for +the wild people of that range. It was as disturbing to them, and more lastingly +so, by reason of the comparative slenderness of their resources, as the passage +through a town of an armed giant, who was also a thief and a murderer, would be +to humans. Finn had been feared and respected in that corner of the Tinnaburra; +while, by some of the wild folk who, from one cause or another, were able to +afford the indulgence in such an emotion, he had been admired. He was now +feared and hated.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now the hatred of some thousands of living creatures, even +though they may all of them be lesser creatures than oneself, is a fearsome +thing. Just as the wild people's methods of direct communication are more +limited than ours, so their indirect methods are more perfect, more impressive, +and swifter than ours. A drawing-room full of men and women have before now +shown themselves tolerably capable in the matter of conveying a sense of their +dislike for some one person. But humans waste a lot of their telepathic power +in speech, and their most offensive method of conveying unspoken hatred to its +object and making him feel an outcast, is as nothing by comparison with the +wild folk's achievements in this direction. If you have ever studied the life +of a kennel of hounds, for example, when the pack has made up its corporate +mind that one of its members is for some reason unworthy of its traditions, you +will remember what a masterly exposition you saw of the art of freezing out. +The offending animal, unless removed in time, will positively wilt away and die +under the withering blast of unspoken hatred and scorn with which it is +encompassed. And hounds, from their long intercourse with talkative humans, +have lost half their skill in this respect. The wild kindred have a way of +making hatred tangible, perceptible in the air, and in inanimate nature. They +can almost bewitch the flesh from off the hated creature's bones without ever +looking at him, if a sufficient number of them are in agreement in their +hating.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn rose from his day sleep it was to realization of +the uncomfortable fact that he was stark empty of food. (His first ejection +from the camp on the previous evening had occurred before the evening kill, +and, after the second ejection, Finn had been too furious to think of eating.) +The next thing he realized--and this was before he had walked many hundred +yards through the falling light of late afternoon--was the solid atmosphere of +hatred which surrounded him in his own range of bush. He did not get the full +sting of it at first--that bit into him gradually during the night but he was +aware of its existence almost at once. And he found it singularly daunting. +True, he was the undisputed lord of that range. No creature lived there that +could think of meeting him in single combat. But the concentrated and silent +hatred of the entire populace was none the less a thing to chill the heart even +of a giant Irish Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The silence of the ghostly bush, in that brief half-light +which preceded darkness, spoke loudly and eloquently of this hatred and +resentment. The empty run-ways of the little grass-eating animals were full of +it. The still trees thrust it upon Finn as he threaded in and out among their +hoary trunks. The sightless scrub glared hatred at him till the skin twitched +over his shoulders, and he took to flinging swift glances to left and right as +he walked--glances but little in keeping with his character as hunter, and more +suggestive of the conduct of the lesser hunted peoples. When a long streamer of +hanging bark rustled suddenly behind Finn, he wheeled upon it with a snarl; and +the humiliation of his discovery of what had startled him partook of the nature +of fear, when his gaze met the coldly glittering eyes of a bush-cat (whose body +he could not discern in that dim light) that glared down at him from twenty +feet above his head.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was with a sense of genuine humility, and something +like gratitude, that Finn met Koala a few minutes later, passing hurriedly--for +him--between the trunks of the two trees in which he made his home at that +time. Koala stopped at once when Finn faced him--not from any desire for +conversation, but from fear to move--and waved his queer little hands in an +apparent ecstasy of grief and perturbation, while protesting, as usual, what a +lamentably poor and wholly inoffensive person he was, and what a tragic and +dastardly act it would be if any one should hurt him. Finn whispered through +his nose a most friendly assurance that he had too much respect and affection +for Koala to think of harming him, and the little bear sat up on his haunches +to acknowledge this condescension, tearfully, while reiterating the +time-honoured assertion that there was no more inoffensive or helpless creature +living than himself. With a view to establishing more confidence Finn lay down +on his chest, with fore-legs outstretched, and began to pump Koala regarding +the chilling attitude of all the people of that range towards himself. In his +own dolorous fashion Koala succeeded in conveying to Finn what the Wolfhound +already knew quite well in his heart of hearts, that the attitude he complained +of was simply the penalty of his running amuck on the previous night. Finn +gathered that the native-born wild people would never forgive him or relax +their attitude of silently watchful hatred; but that there were some rabbits +who were feeding in the open a little farther on, in the neighbourhood of the +clear patch.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn thanked Koala for his information, with a little +forward movement of the muzzle, and walked off in a rather cheerless mood, +while the bear wrung his little hands and moaned, preparatory to ascending the +trunk of the giant red-gum upon whose younger leaves he meant to sup before +retiring for the night in one of its hollow limbs. It was not for any pleasure +in hunting, but because he was very empty, that Finn proceeded in the direction +indicated by the bear. He had already developed the Australian taste in the +matter of rabbits, and regarded their flesh with the sort of cold disfavour +which humans reserve for cold mutton on its second appearance at table. Still, +he was hungry now, and when he had stalked and killed the fattest of the bunch +of rabbits he found furtively grazing a quarter of a mile from the clear patch, +he carried it well away into the bush and devoured it steadily, from the +hind-quarters to the head, after the fashion of his kind, who always begin at +the tail-end of their meals. It was noticeable, by the way, that Finn +approached the neighbourhood of the clear patch with reluctance, and got right +away from it as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During a good part of that night Finn strolled about the +familiar tract of bush, which he had ranged now for many weeks, observing and +taking note of all the many signs which, though plain reading enough for him, +would have been quite illegible to the average man. And he decided that what he +saw was not good, that it boded ill for his future comfort and well-being. The +simple fact was that he had outraged all the proprieties of the wild in that +quarter, and was being severely ostracised in consequence. The lesser creatures +were still sharper of scent and hearing than he was, and their senses all made +more acute by their fear and indignation, they succeeded in keeping absolutely +out of the Wolfhound's sight. It was shortly after midnight when a crow and a +flying-fox saw Finn curl down to sleep in his sandy gully, and, by making use +of the curious system of animal telepathy, of which even such ingenious humans +as Mr. Marconi know nothing, they soon had the news spread all over the range. +The lesser marsupials and other groundlings were glad to have this +intelligence, and the approach of dawn found them all busily feeding, watchful +only with regard to the ordinary enemies among their own kind, the small +carnivorous animals and the snake people. Indeed, they fed so busily that a +pair of wedge-tailed eagles who descended among them with the first dim +approach of the new day, obtained fat breakfasts almost without looking for +them, a fact which, unreasonably enough, earned new hatred for Finn among the +circle upon which the eagles swooped.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"If that great brute had not obliged us to feed so +hurriedly, <em>this</em> wouldn't have happened!" a mother bandicoot thought, +as she gazed out tremulously from her den under a rotten log upon the specks of +hair and blood which marked the spot where, a few moments before, that fine +strapping young fellow, her only son, had been busily chewing grubs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For another three days Finn continued in his old +hunting-ground, and during the whole of that time he had to content himself +with a diet consisting exclusively of rabbit meat. Indeed, during the last +couple of days he found that even the despised rabbit required a good deal of +careful stalking, so deeply had the fear and hatred of the Wolfhound penetrated +into the minds and hearts of that particular wild community. If it had not been +for the rabbits' incorrigible habit of forgetting caution during the hours of +twilight and daybreak, Finn might have gone hungry altogether. Apart from their +hatred and resentment, the wild people of that range felt that the giant's +madness might return to him at any moment, and that for this reason alone it +would be unsafe to permit of any relaxation in their attitude towards him.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">On the fourth evening, with a rather sad heart, Finn +turned his back on the familiar trails, and hunted west and by south from the +little gully in which he slept, heading toward the back ranges and the stony +foot of Mount Desolation, that is. For a mile or more, even in this direction, +he found that his evil fame preceded him, and no good hunting came his way. But +presently a flanking movement to the eastward was rewarded by a glimpse of a +fat wallaby-hare, which Finn stalked with the most exquisite patience, till he +was able to spring upon it with a snap of his great jaws that gave +instantaneous and everlasting sleep. Finn carried this fat kill back to his +den, and feasted right royally that night for the first time since he was +expelled from the purlieus of the gunyah and the easy-going old life. These few +days had changed the Wolfhound a good deal. He walked the trails now with far +less of gracious pride and dignity, and more of eager, watchful stealth than he +had been wont to use. He walked more silently, he stalked more carefully, and +sprang more swiftly, and bit more fiercely. He was no longer the amateur of the +wild life, but an actual part of it, and subject to all its laws and +customs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Thus it was that, in the afternoon of the day following +that of his first hunt outside his own range, he leaped in a single instant +from full sleep to fullest wakefulness in response to the sound of a tiny twig +rolling down the side of his little gully. There, facing him from the western +lip of the gully, with a rather eager, curious, inviting sort of look upon her +intelligent face, stood a fine, upstanding, red-brown female dingo, or +warrigal. The stranger stood fully twenty-three inches high at the shoulder, +and was unusually long in the body for such a height--thirteen inches less than +Finn's shoulder height it is true, but yet about the same measurement as a big +foxhound and of greater proportionate length. Her ruddy brown tail was bushy +and handsome, and at this moment she was carrying it high and flirtatiously +curled. Also, she wagged it encouragingly when Finn's eyes met her own, which +were of a pale greenish hue. Her hind feet were planted well apart; she stood +almost as a show cob stands, her tail twitching slightly, and her nostrils +contracting and expanding in eloquent inquiry. She had heard of Finn some time +since, this belle of the back ranges, but it was only on that day, when Nature +recommended her to find a mate, that she had thought of coming in quest of the +great Wolfhound. Now she eyed him, from her vantage-point, fearlessly, and with +invitation in every line of her lissom form.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn sniffed hard, and began a conciliatory whine which +terminated in a friendly bark, as he scrambled up the gully side, his own +thirty-inch tail waving high above the level of his haunches. Warrigal +fled--for ten paces, wheeling round then, in kittenish fashion, and stooping +till her muzzle touched the ground between her fore feet. But no sooner had +Finn's nose touched hers than the wild coquette was off again, and this time a +little farther into the bush. To and fro and back and forth the shining +bushy-coated dingo played the great Wolfhound with even more of coquettishness +than is ever displayed in human circles; and twilight had darkened into night +when, at length, she yielded herself utterly to his masterful charms, and +nominally surrendered to the suit she had actually won. As is always the case +with the wild folk, the courtship was fiery and brief, but one would not say +that it was the less passionately earnest for that; and, at the time, Warrigal +seemed to Finn the most gloriously handsome and eminently desirable of all her +sex.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When their relations had grown temperately fond and +familiar they took to the western trail together, and presently Warrigal +"pointed" a big bandicoot for Finn, and Finn, delighted to exhibit his prowess, +stalked and slew the creature with a good deal of style. Then the two fed +together, Finn politely yielding the hind-quarters to his inamorata. And then +they lay and licked and nosed, and chatted amicably for an hour. After this, +Warrigal rose and stretched her handsome figure to its full length--there was +not a white hair about her, nor any other trace of cross-breeding--her nose +pointing west and by south a little, for the back ranges, whence she came. When +she trotted sedately off in that direction Finn followed her as a matter of +course, though he had never been this way before. There were no longer any ties +which bound him to his old hunting-ground. It was not in nature to spare a +thought for lugubrious Koala or prickly Echidna, when Warrigal waved her bushy +tail and trotted on before. Finn had never before been appealed to by the scent +of any of the wild people, but there was a subtle atmosphere about Warrigal's +thick red-brown coat which drew him to her strongly.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"><img alt="dingo and wolfhound meeting" +src="images/fig32.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="600" height="311" /> </p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER24" id="CHAPTER24">CHAPTER XXV</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">MATED</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn knew the life of his own range pretty well, and was +more familiar with the life of the wild generally than any other hound of his +race has been for very many generations. Yet, when he contentedly took up the +back-blocks trail with Warrigal, after their supper together upon the bandicoot +he had slain, Finn was absolutely and entirely ignorant of the life of the +world in which the handsome dingo had spent her days and attained her high +position as the acknowledged belle and beauty of her range. One hour +afterwards, however, he knew quite a good deal about it.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Possibly from a sense of gallantry, or it may have been +because the trail was a new one to him, Finn trotted slightly behind his mate, +his muzzle about level with her flank. His great bulk was less noticeable now +in relation to the size of his companion, partly by reason of the coquettish +pride which puffed out Warrigal's fine coat and the lofty way in which she +pranced along, and partly because Finn had now adopted his usual trailing +deportment and exaggerated it a little, owing to his being on a strange trail. +He went warily, with hind-quarters carried well under him ready for springing, +and that suggestion of tenseness about his whole body which made it actually, +as well as apparently, lower to the ground than when he stood erect. As for +Warrigal, she trod a home trail, and one in which she was accustomed to meet +with deferential treatment from all and sundry. The law of her race prevented a +male dingo from attacking her, and no female in that countryside would have +cared to face Warrigal in single combat.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The country grew wilder and more rugged as the newly-mated +pair advanced, and as they drew near the foot-hills surrounding Mount +Desolation, the bush thinned out, and the ground became stony, with here and +there big lichen-covered boulders standing alone, like huge bowls upon a +giants' green. Then came a patch of thin, starveling-looking trees, mere bones +of trees, half of whose skin was missing. Suddenly Warrigal gave a hard, long +sniff, and then a growl of warning to Finn. She would have barked if she had +known how, but her race do not bark, though they can growl and snarl with the +best, and, besides, have a peculiar cry of their own which is not easy to +describe other than as something midway between a howl and a roar. Finn +recognized the growl as warning clearly enough, and all his muscles were +gathered together for action on the instant; but he had no idea what sort of +danger to expect, or whether it was danger or merely the need of hunting care +that his mate had in mind. He knew all about it some two seconds later, +however.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The starveling trees, with the mean, wiry scrub that grew +between them, had served as cover for two lusty males of Warrigal's +tribe--cousins of hers they were, as a matter of fact, though she had never +known the kinship--both of whom had waked that day to the fact that Warrigal +was eminently desirable as a mate. Now, in one instant, they both flew at Finn, +one from either side of the trail on which he trotted with Warrigal. Warrigal +herself slid forward, a swiftly-moving shadow, her brush to the earth, her +hind-quarters seeming to melt into nothingness, as the jaws of her cousins +flashed behind her on either side of Finn's throat. Then, when there were a +dozen paces between herself and her new mate, she wheeled and stopped, sitting +erect on her haunches, a well-behaved and deeply interested spectator.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn suffered for his ignorance of what to expect, as in +the wild all folk must suffer for ignorance. It is only in our part of the +world that a series of protecting barriers has been erected between the +individual and the natural penalties attaching to ignorance and wrong-doing. +Some of these barriers are doubtless sources of justifiable pride, but in the +wild the confirmed loafer, for example, the vicious and idle parasite, is an +unknown institution. The same practically holds good even of humans, when they +live close to Nature in a stern climate, as, for instance, on the Canadian +prairie; but never in great cities, or other places from which Nature is +largely shut out.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The penalty Finn paid was this, that he was cut to the +bone upon his right and his left shoulders by the flashing teeth of his mate's +stalwart young cousins. They had both aimed for the more deadly mark, the +throat, but were not accustomed to foes of Finn's great height, and had not +gauged his stature correctly as he trotted down the trail. Their own +shoulder-bones were a good foot nearer the earth than Finn's, and his neck +towered above the point their jaws reached when they sprang. Wolf-like, they +leaped aside after the first blow, making no attempt to hold on to their prey. +And now, before the keenly watchful eyes of Warrigal, there began the finest +fight of her experience. Regarding her mate's good looks she had more than +satisfied herself; here was her opportunity to judge of his prowess, in a world +wherein all questions are submitted to the arbitrament of tooth and claw in +physical combat. And keenly the handsome dingo judged; watchfully she weighed +the varying chances of the fray; not a single movement in all the dazzling +swiftness of that fight but received her studious and calculating attention, +her expert appraisement of its precise value. As the fight progressed from its +marvellously sudden beginning, her unspoken comments ran somewhat after this +fashion--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"He is not so quick as our kind--as yet. He is +marvellously strong. He is not smart enough in the retreat after biting. His +jaws are like the men-folk's steel traps, when they do get home. He misses the +leg-hold every time, and that is surely foolish, for he could cripple them +there in an instant. My teeth and claws! but what a neck he must have! It is +reckless the way he leaves his great legs unguarded. Save me from traps and +gins! Saw dingo ever such a mighty leap!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the first moments of that fight the two dingoes were +half drunk from pride. It seemed certain to them that they would easily +overcome the giant stranger. Indeed, Black-tip, the bigger of the two, who had +a black bush at the end of his fine tail, actually seized the opportunity of +taking a lightning cut at one of the fore-legs of his cousin in the confusion +of a rush in upon the Wolfhound, feeling that it was as well to get what start +he could in dealing with the remaining claimant for Warrigal's hand. He counted +the Wolfhound dead, and wanted to reduce his cousin's chances in the subsequent +fight that he knew would be waged to secure possession of Warrigal. It was +sharp practice, according to our standards in such matters, but perfectly +justifiable according to the laws of the wild, where the one thing demanded is +ultimate success--survival. But, though morally justified, Black-tip was +actually at fault, and guilty of a grave error of judgment.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3471" id="L3471"></a><img alt="wolfhound fighting dingoes" +src="images/plate09.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="588" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">He was backing gradually towards a boulder beside the +trail.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn took much longer than one of Black-tip's kindred +would have taken to realize the exact nature of his situation and to act +accordingly; but, as against that, he was a terrible foe when once he did +settle down to work, and, further, his mighty muscles and magnificent stature, +though they could not justify either recklessness or slackness--which nothing +ever can justify in the wild--did certainly enable him to take certain +liberties in a fight which would have meant death for a lesser creature. But +Finn had been learning a good deal lately, and now, once he had got into his +stride, so to say, he fought a good deal more in wolf fashion than he would +have done a few months earlier; and, in addition, he had his own old fashion +and powers the dingoes knew not of in reserve.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">At first, he snapped savagely upon one side only, leaving +his unprotected side open to the swift lacerations of Black-tip's sharp fangs. +But even then he was backing gradually towards a boulder beside the trail, and +the moment he felt the friendly touch of the lichen-covered stone behind him +his onslaught became double-edged and terrible as forked lightning.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">He was kept too busy as yet to think of death-blows; both +dingoes saw to that for him, their jaws being never far from one side or the +other of his neck or his fore-legs. But though, as yet, he gave them nothing of +his great weight, he was slashing them cruelly about the necks and shoulders, +and once--when Warrigal swore by her teeth and claws it was--he managed to +pluck Black-tip's cousin bodily from the earth and fling him by the neck clean +over a low bush. A piece of the dingo's neck, by the way, remained in Finn's +jaws, and spoiled half the effect of his next slash at Black-tip's shoulder. +But from that moment Black-tip lost for good and all his illusion in the matter +of the stranger being as good as dead.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When the sorely wounded dingo, who had been flung aside as +if he were a rat, returned to the fray his eyes were like red coals, and his +heart was as full of deadly venom as a death-adder's fangs. His neck was +tolerably red, too; it was from there that his eyes drew their bloody glare. He +crawled round the far side of the boulder, close to the ground, like a weasel, +and, despairing of the throat-hold, fastened his fangs into one of Finn's +thighs, with a view to ham-stringing, while the Wolfhound was occupied in +feinting for a plunge at Black-tip's bristling neck. It was the death-hold that +Finn aimed at, but the sudden grip of fire in his thigh was a matter claiming +instant attention; and it was then that the Wolfhound achieved the amazing leap +that made Warrigal swear by traps and gins. He leaped straight up into the air, +with the sorely wounded cousin hanging to his thigh, and Black-tip snapping at +his near fore-leg, and in mid-air he twisted his whole great body so that he +descended to earth again in a coil, with his mighty jaws closed in the throat +of Black-tip's cousin. His fangs met, he gave one terrible shake of his massive +neck and head, and when the dingo fell from his jaws this time, two clear yards +away, its throat was open to the night air, and it had entered upon the sleep +from which there is no awakening.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was bleeding now from a dozen notable wounds, but it +was not in nature that Black-tip single-handed should overcome him, and +Black-tip knew it. The big dingo ceased now to think of killing, and +concentrated his flagging energies solely upon two points--getting away alive +and putting up a fight which should not disgrace him in Warrigal's watchful +eyes. He achieved his end, partly by virtue of his own pluck and dexterity, and +partly because his smell reminded Finn of Warrigal, and so softened the killing +lust in the Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn could handle the one dingo with great ease, even +wounded as he was, and, because of that smell, he had no particular desire to +kill. Indeed, he rolled Black-tip over once, and could have torn the throat +from him, but caught him by the loose skin and coat instead and flung him aside +with a ferocious, growling snarl, in the tail-end of which there was a note +which said plainly, "Begone, while you may!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And Black-tip, with life before him and desire in his +heart where Warrigal was concerned, was exceedingly glad of the chance to bound +off into the scrub with a long, fierce snarl, which he hoped would place him +well in Warrigal's esteem, though he was perfectly aware that it could not +deceive Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then, when it was quite clear that Black-tip had really +gone, having taken all the fight he could stand, Warrigal stepped forward +mincingly and fell to licking Finn's wounds, with strongly approving tenderness +and assiduity. Her mate had fought valiantly and doughtily for Warrigal, and +she was proud of him; proud, too, of her own perspicacity and allurements in +having drawn him to herself. A savage creature was Warrigal and a brave and +quite relentless enemy, the marks of whose fangs more than one fighting member +of her race and more than one powerful kangaroo would carry always. But she was +very feminine with it all, and the remarks she murmured to her great grey lord, +while her solicitous tongue smoothed down the edges of his wounds were sweetly +flattering and vastly stimulating to Finn's passion and his pride.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then, when between the two busy tongues every wound +had received its share of healing attention and antiseptic dressing, Warrigal +moved slowly off down the trail, throwing a winsome look of unqualified +invitation over her right shoulder to Finn, so that the Wolfhound stepped +grandly after her, with assumed unconsciousness of his many wounds, as who +should say--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"It is nothing, my dear child; nothing at all, this +trivial incident by the way. If there are any more champions of your tribe +about, let them come on while I am in the vein for such sport."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But, as a matter of fact, though it was true he would +cheerfully have fought all night at his mate's bidding, Finn was none the less +glad now to have peace and rest, for the dingo champions' methods of attack +were marvellously swift and telling, and the wounds they had inflicted, while +not very serious, were certainly numerous and sore.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Immediately below the crest of a sharply rising spur of +the great mountain they came upon the entrance to Warrigal's own den, which was +masked and roofed-in by the spreading roots of a fallen tree. The mouth of the +den was narrow and very low for one of Finn's stature, but he bent his aching +body gladly and followed his mate in, to find that the den itself was +comparatively roomy and capable of accommodating half a dozen dingoes. As a +matter of fact, it had been the den of Warrigal's mother, but it was more than +a year now since that mother had fallen to a boundary-rider's gun. The father +had gone off to another range with a second wife, and Warrigal's brothers and +sisters had each been vanquished in turn and given to understand that this den +was now the sole and exclusive property of their big sister.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn sniffed curiously all round the walls of the den and, +finding them permeated with the scent of Warrigal and with that scent only, he +lay down there restfully, stretching himself to the full extent of his great +length, and sighing out his pleasure in being at ease. Warrigal sat gravely +erect beside him, admiring the vast spread of his limbs. From tip of nose to +tip of tail he covered practically the whole width of the den, which was a +shade over seven and one half feet. The dingo looked over her mate's wounds +once more, giving an occasional lick here and there, and then, with a little +grunt of gratified pride and content, she curled herself round, after circling +three or four times, and went to sleep under the lee of Finn's mighty +hind-quarters, her muzzle tucked under the spreading hair of her tail, and one +eye, half opened, resting upon her lord.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Two hours later, Warrigal rose softly and went out to +inspect the night. She found the world bathed in a shining glory of silken +moonlight; bright as day, but infinitely more alluring and mysteriously +beautiful. After gazing out at this wonderful panorama for a few minutes and +drawing in information through her nostrils of the doings of the wild, Warrigal +sat down on her haunches and raised her not very melodious voice in the curious +dingo cry, which is a sort of growling howl. Next instant Finn was beside her, +with lolling tongue and sensitively questioning nostrils. She gave him one +sidelong look which seemed to say, "You here? Why, what an odd coincidence that +you also should have waked and come out here! I wonder why you came!" Not but +what, of course, she knew perfectly well what had brought the Wolfhound to her +side. She had called of good set purpose, but, in her feminine way, she +preferred to let it appear that Finn joined her of his own volition. It may be +assumed that the remark she made to him at this point was a comment upon the +fineness of the night and the undoubted beauty of that glamorous silvern sheen +through which the pair of them gazed out at Tinnaburra.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the next minute the two began to play together like +young cats, there on the sandy ledge of moon-kissed stone that stretched for +yards on either side of the den's mouth. Perhaps it was then, rather than in +the afternoon hours which came earlier, that Finn courted Warrigal. The +stinging of his wounds, caused by the rapid, sinuous movements with which he +danced about his mate, seemed only to add zest to his love-making. They were, +after all, no more than love-tokens, these fang-marks and scratches, and Finn +rejoiced in them as such. He had fought for Warrigal, and was ready and willing +to fight for her again. And this his mate was most sweet to him; so deft, so +agile, and so swift; so strong and supple, and withal so instant in response to +his gallantries. The night air was sweet, too, to headiness, and the moonlight +seemed to run like quicksilver in Finn's veins. Certainly, he told himself, +this new life in the wild, this life of matehood, was a good thing.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="dingoes stalking kangaroo" src="images/fig33.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="398" height="389" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER25" id="CHAPTER25">CHAPTER XXVI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE PACK AND ITS MASTERS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn took up his abode in the den of his mate, +Warrigal, he entered what was to him an entirely new world, and this new world +was in fact one of the most interesting corners of the wild in all Australia. +For example--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Finn and Warrigal tired of their play on the flat +ledge outside their den, the moon had set, and in the eastern sky there was +visible the first grey hint of coming dawn. In that strange, ghostly light, +which gave a certain cloak of mystery even to such common objects as +tree-stumps and boulders of rock, Finn saw two unfamiliar figures emerge from +the scrub below the spur next that of Warrigal's den, and begin slowly to climb +toward Mount Desolation itself. There was a deep, steep-sided gully between +Finn and these strange figures, but even at that distance the Wolfhound was +conscious of a strong sense of hostility toward the creatures he watched. Their +scent had not reached him, because the spur they climbed was to leeward, yet +his hackles rose as he gazed at the ghostly figures, whose shapes loomed huge +and threatening against the violet-grey sky-line. The Wolfhound and his mate +were just about to enter their den, and Finn touched Warrigal with his muzzle, +"pointing" meaningly at the strangers. Warrigal looked, and though her shoulder +hairs did not rise at all, her lips curled backward a little from white fangs +as she indicated that these figures were perfectly well known to her.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The foremost of them was of great length and bulk, low to +the ground, and a savage in every line of his massive frame. His tail, carried +without any curve in it, was smooth and tapering, like a rat's tail; his chest +was of immense depth, and his truncated muzzle was carried high, jaws slightly +parted, long, yellow tusks exposed. In general outline he was not unlike a +hyæna, but with more of strength and fleetness in his general make-up, more, +perhaps, of the suggestion of a great wolf, with an unusually savage-looking +head, and an abnormally massive shoulder. From spine to flank, on either side, +the strange creature was striped like a zebra, the ground colour of his coat +being a light yellowish grey and the stripes black.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">This was old Tasman, the Zebra Wolf, who had been turned +loose in that countryside six years before with a mate of his species, who had +died during the first year of their life in the Tinnaburra. Behind Tasman, +burdened with the weight of a fat wallaby which he dragged over one shoulder, +marched Lupus, his son, now almost four years old and the acknowledged master +of Mount Desolation. Lupus had none of his sire's stripes, and his tail, though +not so bushy as a dingo's, was well covered with hair. He was longer in the +muzzle and more shapely in the loin than his father. Lupus, in fact, was a +half-bred dingo, differing from other dingoes of the Mount Desolation pack only +inasmuch as that he was greater than the rest, more massive in trunk and +shoulder, more terrible in tooth and claw. His feet were weapons almost as +deadly as a bear's feet, by which I mean the feet of the northern and western +bear, and not those of inoffensive Koala. His loins and thighs were those of a +fleet runner, and his fore-part, in every hair of it, was that of a killer. +Tasman was feared on that range rather as a tradition than as a killer; Lupus +was feared and obeyed as an actual, living ruler.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was many months since Warrigal had seen the old wolf +Tasman, but Lupus was abroad every night of his life. Also, his eyes, unlike +those of his terrible old sire, could face the daylight. All the wild folk knew +that Tasman was like an owl by day; light actually hurt him. Lupus was not fond +of the light, but he could endure well enough, and kill by it if need be, as +was well known. He still shared with his savage old sire the den in which he +had been born, deep in the heart of Mount Desolation, and it was stated among +the wild folk that he had killed his own mother towards the end of his first +year of life, and that he and Tasman had devoured her body during a season of +drought and poor hunting. Be that as it may, her blood had given Lupus his +rating in the Mount Desolation country as a dingo, and his own prowess and +ferocity had given him his unquestioned rank as leader and master of the pack. +He had never openly preyed upon the pack, but he had killed a round half-dozen +of its members who dared to thwart him at different times, and the manner of +their killing had been such as to form material for ghastly anecdotes with +which the mothers of that range frightened their offspring into good and +careful behaviour. It was supposed that Tasman did not hunt now, and that Lupus +hunted for him, but venturesome creatures of the wild, who had dared to climb +the upper slopes of Mount Desolation, claimed to have seen Tasman foraging +there after insects and grubs; and as for Lupus, his hunting was sufficiently +well known to all on the lower ground. And, in the meantime, though Tasman was +credited with very great age, there was no creature in that countryside who +would have dared to face the old wolf alone.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was not very much of all this that Warrigal managed to +convey to her mate, as they stared out through the grey mist at these strange +creatures, but Finn was profoundly and resentfully impressed by what he did +gather from her. The shuddering way in which she wriggled her shoulders and +shook her bushy coat before turning into the den for rest after their long play +in the moonlight, told Finn a good deal, and it was information which he never +forgot. It did not seem fitting to the great Wolfhound that his brave, lissom +mate should be moved to precisely that shuddering kind of shoulder movement by +the sight of any living thing, and, now, before following her into the den, he +stepped well forward to the edge of the flat rock and barked fierce defiance in +the direction of old Tasman and his redoubtable son. Lupus dropped his burden +in sheer amazement, and father and son both faced round in Finn's direction, +and glared at him across the intervening ravine. It was a fine picture they saw +through the ghostly, misty grey half-light, which already was getting too +strong for Tasman's eyes, over which the nictitating membrane was being drawn +nervously to and fro as a mark of irritation.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3475" id="L3475"></a><img alt="wolfhound standing on rocky ledge" +src="images/plate10.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="545" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Finn was standing royally erect.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was standing, royally erect, at the extreme edge of +his flat table of rock, from which the side of the gully sloped precipitately. +His tail curved grandly out behind him, carried high, like his massive head. +That head was more than fourteen inches long, and when, as now, its jaws were +parted to the expression of anger and defiance, and all its wealth of brows and +beard were bristling, like the hair of the grandly curving neck behind it, and +of the massive shoulders, thirty-six inches above the ground, which supported +that neck, the sight of it was awe-inspiring, and a far more formidable picture +than any dingo in the world could possibly present. Tasman and Lupus glared at +this picture for fully two minutes, while themselves emitting a continuous +snarling growl of singular, concentrated intensity and ferocity. This savage +snarl was not the least among their weapons of offence and defence. Its +ferocity was very cowing in effect, and had before now gone more than half-way +towards deciding a combat. It introduced something not unlike paralysis into +the muscles and limbs of the lesser creatures of the bush when they heard it; +in hunting, it might almost be said to have played the part of a first blow, +and a deadly one at that. On this occasion, it merely served to add wrath, and +fierceness, and volume to the roar of Finn's deep bay.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As the light in the east strengthened, old Tasman's eyes +blinked furiously, and his snarl died down to a savagely irritable grunt, as he +turned again to the mountain. Lupus bent his head, still snarling, to pick up +his heavy kill, and together the two trailed off up the mountain side to their +den, full of angry bitterness. They had not eaten since the small hours of the +previous day, and both were anxious to reach the twilit shelter of their stony +mountain den, where they would feed before sleeping, among the whitened +mouldering bones that told of six long years of hunting and lordship, bones +which probably included those of Lupus's own dam. No creature of that range +other than themselves had ever seen the inside of this den and lived. No man +had ever set his foot there, for the climbing of Mount Desolation was a +thankless task for all save such as Tasman and Lupus, who liked its naked +ruggedness and its commanding inaccessibility, high above the loftiest of the +caves inhabited by other wild folk of the countryside.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Barking fiercely at intervals, Finn watched the savage +lords of Mount Desolation ascending, till their forms were lost among the +crevices and boulders of the hillside, and then, with a final, far-reaching +roar, he turned and entered the den, where Warrigal sat waiting for him, and +softly growling a response to his war-cries. This defiance of the admitted +lords of the range was not altogether without its ground of alarm for Warrigal; +its utter recklessness made the skin over her shoulders twitch, but it was +something to have a mate who could dare so much, even in ignorance. Long after +Finn had closed his eyes in sleep, Warrigal lay watching him, with a queer +light of pride and admiring devotion in her wild yellow eyes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The afternoon was well advanced when Finn and Warrigal +finally sallied forth from their den in quest of food, though in between short +sleeps they had lounged about in the vicinity of the den several times during +the morning, and Finn had accustomed himself to the bearings of his new home, +and taken in the general lie of the land thereabouts. Now, before they crossed +the patch of starveling bush which skirted the foot of their particular ridge, +they were approached by Black-tip and two friends of his, who were also +preparing for the evening hunt. Warrigal growled warningly as the three dingoes +approached, but it seemed that Black-tip had spread abroad news of the coming +of the Wolfhound in such a manner as to disarm hostility. It was with the most +exaggerated respectfulness that the dingoes circled, sniffing, about Finn's +legs, their bushy tails carried deferentially near the ground. Seeing the +friendliness of their intentions, Finn wagged his tail at them, whereat they +all leaped from him in sudden alarm as though he had snapped. Finn's jaws +parted in amusement, and his great tail continued to wag, while he gave +friendly greeting through his nostrils, and made it quite clear that he +entertained no hostile feeling towards his mate's kindred.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">After this the dingoes took heart of grace, and there was +a general all-round sniffing which occupied fully ten minutes. Finn stood quite +still, his magnificent body erect and stretched to its full length. +Occasionally he lowered his head condescendingly to take a sniff at one or +other of the dingoes, who were employed in gravely circling about him, as +though to familiarize themselves with every aspect of his anatomy, with eyes +and noses all busy. During this time Warrigal sat a little to one side, her +face wearing an elaborately assumed expression of aloofness, of lofty +unconsciousness, and of some disdain. Finally, the whole five of them trotted +off into the bush, and then it was noticeable that Warrigal clung closely to +Finn's near side. If any small accident of the trail caused a change in the +position of the dingoes, Finn instantly dropped back a pace or two, and a quick +look from him was sufficient to send the straying dingo back to his place on +the Wolfhound's off side. There was no talk about it; but from the beginning it +was clearly understood, first, that Finn was absolutely master there, and, +secondly, that place on his near side was strictly reserved for his mate, and +for his mate only; that no creature might approach her except through him. The +manner in which Finn's will in this matter was recognized and respected was +very striking indeed; it meant much, for, from the point of view of the three +dingoes, Warrigal appeared at that time in the light of an exceedingly +desirable mate, and one for whose favour the three of them would assuredly have +fought to the last gasp that night but for the dominating presence of the great +Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn appeared to lead the hunting party, but its real +leader that evening was Warrigal, who had taken note on the previous day of the +exact whereabouts of a big mother kangaroo. She now desired two things: a good +supper and an opportunity of displaying before the three dingoes the fighting +prowess of her lord. Black-tip had had his lesson, as various open wounds on +his body then testified, but it was as well that his friends should see +something of Finn's might for themselves, apart from the information they had +clearly received. That was how Warrigal thought of it, and she knew a good deal +about mother kangaroos as well as dingoes. She knew, for instance, that they +were more feared by dingoes than the "old men" of their species, and that, even +with the assistance of his two friends and herself, Black-tip would not have +thought of attacking such prey while there were lesser creatures in plenty to +be hunted.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In due course Warrigal winded the mother kangaroo, and +conveyed instant warning to Finn and the others by a sudden checking of her +pace. Silent as wraiths between the shadowy tree-trunks then, Finn and the four +dingoes stalked their prey, describing a considerable circle in order to +approach from good cover. To Warrigal's keen disappointment, they found as they +topped a little scrub-covered ridge that the mother kangaroo was feeding with a +mob of seven, under the guidance of a big, red old-man. Then she conceived the +bold plan of "cutting out" the mother kangaroo from the mob, and trusting to +Finn to pull her down. This plan she conveyed to her fellow-hunters by means of +that telepathic method of communication which is as yet little comprehended by +men-folk. One quick look and thrust of her muzzle asked Finn to play his +independent part, and another, flung with apparent carelessness across her +right shoulder, bade the three dingoes follow her in the work of cutting +out.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was a careful, silent stalk until the hunters were +within ten yards of the quarry, and then with a terrifying yowl of triumph, a +living rope of dingoes--four of them, nose to tail--was flung between the big +mother kangaroo and the rest of the mob. The red old-man gave one panic-smitten +look round his flock, and then they were off like the wind, in big twenty-foot +bounds. But the mother could not bring herself to leap in their direction by +reason of the yowling streak of snapping dingoes which had flung itself between +them. She sprang off at a tangent and, as she made her seventh or eighth bound, +terror filled her heart almost to bursting, as a roaring grey cloud swept upon +her from her right quarter, and she felt the burning thrust of Finn's fangs in +her neck. She sat up valiantly to fight for her life and the young life in her +pouch, and her left hind-leg, with its chisel claws, sawed the air like a +pump-handle. The dingoes knew that it would be death, for one or two of them, +at all events, to face those out-thrust chisels. They surrounded the big beast +in a snarling, yowling circle, and gnashed their white fangs together with a +view to establishing the paralysis of terror. But they did not advance as yet. +Finn slipped once, when he tried to take fresh hold, and in that instant the +kangaroo slashed him deeply in the groin. But the wound was her own death +warrant, for it filled the Wolfhound with fighting rage, and in another instant +there was a broken neck between his mighty jaws and warm blood was running over +the red-brown fur of the kangaroo, as her body fell sideways, with Finn upon +it.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The three other dingoes approached the kill with Warrigal, +but she snarled at them, and a swift turn of Finn's head told them to beware. +In the end Warrigal settled down to make a meal at one side of the kangaroo's +hind-quarters, Finn took the other side, and the three dingoes were given their +will of the fore part. There was more than enough for all, and though, when +they left the kill to the lesser carnivora of that quarter, Finn carried a good +meal with him between his jaws, it was not that he needed it for himself, but +that he wished to place it in the den at Warrigal's disposal; a little +attention which earned for him various marks of his mate's cordial approval. +She was extremely pleased to have this evidence of Finn's forethoughtfulness as +a bread-winner. Instinct told her the value and importance of this quality in a +mate. And while she carefully dressed the wound in her lord's groin that night, +Black-tip and his friends, with much chop-licking, spread abroad the story of +their glorious hunting and of Finn's might as a killer. They vowed that a more +terrible fighter and a greater master than Lupus, or than his even more +terrible sire, whom few of them had seen, had come to Mount Desolation, and old +dingoes shook their grey heads, feeling that they lived in strange and +troublous times. But as for Lupus, he was ranging the trails at that moment on +an empty stomach in savage quest of no other than this same stranger who had +dared to defy him, and challenge his hitherto unquestioned mastery over the +dingoes and lesser wild folk of that range.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p><img alt="dingo and wolfhound entering cave" src="images/fig34.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="510" height="370" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER26" id="CHAPTER26">CHAPTER XXVII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">SINGLE COMBAT</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Even while he hunted, the irritating thought of the +creature who had barked defiantly at him remained with Lupus, and was not +softened by the fact that he missed two kills and failed to find other game. As +a fact, he was in no real need of killing, for he had fed during the afternoon +on the remains of the wallaby he had dragged up the hill early that morning. +This was probably why he missed two kills; when empty it was rare indeed for +him to miss.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And, now, with irritation added to the anger of his +recollection of the Wolfhound, he happened by pure chance upon the warm trail +of Warrigal and the others who had accompanied Finn that night. This led him to +the remains of the mother kangaroo, where he disturbed some lesser creatures +who were supping at their ease. Lupus had no mind to leave bones with good +fresh meat on them, and when he turned away again on Finn's trail, the +unfamiliar scent of which raised the stiff bristles on his back till he looked +like a hyæna, there was nothing much left for the ants or the flesh-eating rats +and mice of the bush.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's home trail was still fresh, and Lupus followed it +easily, growling to himself as he noted its friendly proximity to the trails he +knew well, of Black-tip and Warrigal and the rest. Lupus told himself these +dingoes needed a lesson, and should have it. He licked his chops, then, over a +recollection of sundry whiffs and glimpses which had interested him of late in +Warrigal, and as his nose dropped low over her trail on the near side of +Finn's, it was borne in upon Lupus that it would be well for him to have a +mate, and that Warrigal would be a pleasing occupant of that post. The stranger +must be removed, once and for all. Lupus growled low in his throat. Black-tip +and his friends must be cautioned severely. And then Warrigal should receive +high honours; high honours and great favour. So Lupus pieced the matter out in +his mind while loping heavily along Finn's trail; while among the starveling +trees near the mountain's foot, Black-tip and his friends discussed the +new-comer's prowess; while in the den on the first spur Finn lay dozing under +the admiring eyes of his mate, who did not greatly care for sleep at night. +Regarded as a fighting animal, the thing which really formed the keynote of +Lupus's character was the fact that he had never met a creature he could not +overcome. He had never tasted defeat, unless, conceivably, in his young days, +from old Tasman. It did not occur to him that any creature could face him in +serious combat and survive.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Before Lupus touched the first loose stone of the trail +leading up the hill to Warrigal's den, the people of the scrub below were all +aware of his passage, and Black-tip, with seven other dingoes who did not +happen to be away hunting, were following up the same trail, in fan-shaped +formation, and at a respectful distance behind the master of the range. +Half-way up the rugged side of the spur, his unbeaten insolence betrayed Lupus +into what the wild folk considered an unsportsmanlike and stupid mistake. He +paused for a moment, and bellowed forth a threatening and peremptory +announcement of his coming in the form of a hoarse, grating howl of challenge +which could have been heard a mile away. Then he proceeded on his upward way +slowly, because he was fully fed, carelessly, because he had never known +defeat, but with determination, because he was bent upon ridding the range of +one who had flung defiance at him across the gully, and because, the more he +thought of it, and recalled various small matters of recent experience and +connected with the trail he then followed, the more ardent became his desire to +possess Warrigal for a mate.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Warrigal's friendly warning to Finn was not needed. In the +same instant that Lupus's hoarse cry fell upon his ears he was awake and alert, +and perfectly conscious as to the source of the cry. He knew that it came from +the great wolf-dingo, whose passage he had challenged in the dawning of that +day. He recognized the voice, and read clearly enough the meaning of the cry. +He knew that this was a more considerable enemy than any he had faced as yet, +and there was time in the moment of his waking for regret to flash through his +mind that the challenge should have come now, while his whole body was scarred +with unhealed wounds, and his left thigh was stiff from the punishing slash of +the kangaroo's mailed foot. In the next moment he was outside the mouth of the +den, his deep, fierce bark rending the silence of the night. The eight dingoes +who followed in Lupus's trail heard the bark, and glanced one at another in +meaning comment thereon. Never was a leader of men or beasts more cordially +hated than Lupus. There was not a dingo who could call his leadership into +question; even the young and daring members of the pack who pretended to scoff +at the traditional awe in which Tasman was held, admitted the tyrannical +mastership of Lupus as something ever-present and unavoidable; but that by no +manner of means lessened their cordial hatred of the fierce half-breed, with +his massive neck and shoulders that fangs seemed powerless to hurt, his jaws +which were as swift as they were mighty to rend, and his claws which were as +terrible as those of an old-man kangaroo, and more deadly in action because he +had four sets of them. Black-tip experienced a generous sensation of sympathy +and pity for Finn, and so did the two friends of his who had fed that night +upon good fresh kangaroo flesh. But they, like all the others, were keen to see +the coming fight, and--to act accordingly. The question of what was to become +of Warrigal had occurred with interest to each one of them, for she was +eminently desirable just then to all her kind.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Fierce, savage, and justly feared though he was +physically, Lupus was mentally a sluggish beast, and not over and above +intelligent. In this he favoured his sire, who was slow-moving, sluggish, and, +withal, as fierce as any weasel, and immensely powerful. When Lupus caught his +first glimpse of the creature he had come to slay, he had a momentary thrill of +uneasiness, but it was no more than momentary. Finn's towering form stood out +clearly in the moonlight, as he stood, with tail curved upward and hackles +erect, on the stone ledge outside the den. Lupus was scaling an extremely steep +section of the trail at the moment, and, seen against the sky-line, Finn seemed +monstrous. But, in justice, one should say that Lupus knew nothing of fear. It +was only that for a moment, as he dragged his full-fed weight upward over the +stones, the thought passed through his dull mind that this was surely a strange +sort of dingo and extraordinarily tall. Finn was, as a matter of fact, ten +inches taller than any other dingo on that range except Lupus, and four inches +taller than he. Lupus was half as heavy again as any other dingo on the range, +but, though he knew it not, Finn was twenty pounds heavier than he. But Lupus +always had killed every animal that he had met in combat, and it did not for an +instant occur to him that he might fail to kill this new-comer. And then there +was Warrigal--he got her scent now as she emerged, crouching, from the den--he +wanted Warrigal for his mate and he would have her.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3479" id="L3479"></a><img alt="wolfhound standing above Lupus" +src="images/plate11.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="386" height="545" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Finn's towering form stood out clearly in the +moonlight.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn was standing in the middle of the flat ledge outside +the den, and he neither advanced or retreated a single step as Lupus drew +nearer. He simply bayed, at intervals, like a minute-gun, and scratched a +little at the sandy rock beneath him with his right fore-foot. Once, Warrigal, +snarling savagely, ranged up alongside him, but he sent her back to the mouth +of the den with a peremptory growl which admitted of no argument. "This is my +affair," his growl said. "Stay you back there in the doorway." And Warrigal, +like the good spouse she was, retreated to the mouth of the den. Just then +Lupus landed on the rock-ledge with a hectoring snarl which betrayed +extravagance in a commodity he could ill afford to waste--breath. He plunged +forward upon Finn with the clumsiness of a buffalo, and, for his instruction, +received a slashing bite across one shoulder and a chest thrust which sent him +rolling backwards off the ledge to the trail below, on his back.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">A dingo in Finn's place would have leaped upon him then, +and, it may be, the fight would have ended suddenly; for even so redoubtable a +foe as Lupus is of no very great account if he can be seized when on his back, +with all four feet in the air. Black-tip and his companions in the rear drew in +their breath sharply. They had never before seen Lupus on his back, and if he +had stayed there another second he would have had their fangs to reckon with. +But his reception by the stranger taught Lupus something, and the enemy that +faced Finn for the second assault was a far more deadly one than the Lupus of a +few moments earlier. Finn had scorned to pursue his fallen foe, but it would +have been better for him if he had had less pride. The fan-shaped line of +watching dingoes closed in a little as Lupus remounted the rocky ledge, with a +blood-curdling snarl and an awe-inspiring exposure of his gleaming fangs. In +another instant the two were at grips, and Finn realized that he was engaged in +a fight for life, and a far more serious combat than any he had known before. +The mere weight of impact with the wolf-dingo was sufficient to tell Finn this, +and for the infinitesimal fraction of an instant he felt a sense of fatality +and doom when his opponent's tremendously powerful jaws closed over the upper +part of his right fore-leg.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In the next instant Finn had torn one of Lupus's ears in +half, and the terrible grip on his leg was relaxed. The Wolfhound sprang +completely over the wolf-dingo, and took a slashing bite at the creature's +haunches as he descended. Then they rose one at the other, like bears standing +erect, and meeting jaw to jaw in mid-air, with a flashing and clashing of fangs +which sent a thrill of excitement along the line of watchful dingoes, who +realized now that they were looking on at the greatest spectacle of their +lives. Lupus missed his grip that time, but so did Finn, being unable to +withstand the violent sidelong wrench which snatched the enemy's neck from his +jaws. And, as they came to earth again, Lupus secured firm hold upon Finn's leg +in the same grip that he had obtained before. The grip was so vice-like and +punishing as to flash panic into Finn's very soul, such as an animal knows when +trapped by a man's device in unyielding steel. It was only by a violent twist +of his neck that he could bring his jaws into action upon Lupus at all. But +panic drove, and the long, immensely powerful neck was curved sufficiently. His +jaws took the wolf-dingo at the back of the head, and one of his lower canines +actually penetrated Lupus's lower jaw, causing him the most excruciating pain, +so that he emitted a sound more like a hoarse scream than a growl, and snatched +his head back swiftly from so terrible a punishment. That was the last time in +this fight that Finn's legs were in serious danger. He had learned his lesson, +and from that point onward, no matter what punishment his shoulders might +receive, his hanging jaws, from which the blood dripped now, effectually +guarded his legs.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From this point, too, Lupus seemed to have centred all his +desires upon the Wolfhound's throat; an underhold was what he sought, and in +the pursuit of that he seemed prepared for, and capable of standing, any amount +of punishment. The line of watching dingoes was still and silent as a line of +statuary; it seemed they hardly drew breath, so intent was their preoccupation. +Warrigal, too, stuck closely to her position, but she was not silent; a low, +continuous snarl issued from her parted jaws, and the updrawn line of her lips +showed white and glistening in the moonlight. She had been ordered to the rear +by her mate, but the waiting dingoes on the trail below realized that if Finn +were to be laid low, there would still be fighting to be done on that ledge of +rock, and fighting of a deadly sort, at that, from which there would be no +escaping.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In one sense the Wolfhound's great height was against him +now, since it placed Lupus in a more favourable position for securing the +underhold upon which he was intent. But, as against that, it gave Finn readier +access to the hold which in all his fights hitherto he had made fatal: the hold +which a terrier takes upon a rat. But Lupus was no rat, and Finn had already +found more than once that even his mighty jaws were not powerful enough to give +killing pressure through all the mass of harsh bristles and thick rolling skin +and flesh which protected Lupus's spinal cord at the neck. Three times during +the later stages of the fight Lupus managed to ward off attack with a lightning +stroke of one fore-foot, the claws of which scored deep into Finn's muzzle and +neck, in one case opening a lesser vein, and sending the red blood rushing over +his iron-grey coat. It seemed the long claws of the wolf-dingo were almost more +deadly than his snapping jaws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The flow of his own blood seemed to madden Finn, and he +made a plunge for his enemy's neck. Lupus sat erect, and, like a boxer, or a +big bear, warded off the plunge with a violent, sweeping blow of his right paw. +There was a quick flash of bloody, foam-flecked fangs, and the deadly paw was +crushed between Finn's jaws. The pain of the crushing drew a screeching howl +from Lupus, and in that same instant a powerful upward twist of Finn's neck +threw him fairly on his back, snarling despairingly. One could not measure the +fraction of time which elapsed between Finn's release of the crushed foot and +his seizure of the throat--the deadly underhold. The wolf-dingo's bristles were +thin there, and the skin comparatively soft. The fight was for life, and it was +the whole of the Wolfhound's great strength that he put into his grip. Lupus's +entire frame, every inch of it, writhed and twisted convulsively, like the body +of a huge cat in torment. Finn's fangs sank half an inch deeper. The +wolf-dingo's claws tore impotently at space, and his body squirmed almost into +a ball. Finn's fangs sank half an inch deeper, and hot blood gushed between +them. Lupus's great body hunched itself into an almost erect position from the +shoulder-blades; he was standing on his shoulders. Then, as in a convulsion, +one of his hind-legs was lowered in order that it might saw upward, scoring +three deep furrows down the side of the Wolfhound's neck. Finn's fangs met in +the red centre of his enemy's throat. There was a faint grunt, a final spasm of +muscular activity, and then Finn drew back, and shook his dripping muzzle in +the air. The fierce lord of Mount Desolation had entered upon the long sleep; +his lordship was ended.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn sank back upon his haunches, gasping, with a length +of scarlet, foam-streaked tongue dangling from one side of his jaws. The +watching line of dingoes advanced two paces. Warrigal, stepping forward to her +mate's side, snarled warningly. But Finn pushed her gently with his lacerated +muzzle, and, turning then to the watchful dingoes below, he emitted a little +whinnying sound which said plainly: "You are welcome here!" Acting upon this, +Black-tip moved slowly, deferentially forward, and climbed the flat ledge of +rock, his bushy tail respectfully curled between his legs. Long and thoroughly +he sniffed at the dead body of the terrible Lupus, and then he looked round at +his still waiting companions, and whined as he walked back toward them. In twos +and threes the dingoes followed Black-tip's lead, and climbed the flat rock to +sniff their dead tyrant, and satisfy themselves that he had indeed entered upon +the long sleep. And the gesture in Finn's direction, with which they turned +away from the rock, was as near to being a salutation, an obeisance, as +anything that mortal dingo has ever achieved. And when the last of the band, +reinforced now by half a dozen others who had been hastily summoned from their +hunting near by, had paid his visit of inspection, Finn did a curious thing, +which probably no dingo would ever have done. He moved slowly forward on his +aching limbs, gripped the dead body firmly by the neck, and heaved it down from +the flat rock to the trail below. Then he barked aloud, a message which said +plainly--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Here is your old lord and tyrant! Take him away, and +leave me now!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Black-tip and half a dozen of his comrades seized upon the +carcase of the tyrant and dragged it away down the trail. I cannot say what was +done with the remains of Lupus, the terrible son of Tasman; but Finn and +Warrigal saw them no more, and for three days after that night of the slaying +of Lupus, the bush-folk saw nothing of the Wolfhound. They saw Warrigal hunt +alone each evening and, doubtless with thoughts of Finn in their minds, they +respected her trail, and sought no speech of her, tempting though the sight of +the Mount Desolation belle was to the young bucks of the pack. These young +bloods, by the way, began to mutter now of the desirability of banding together +to beard old Tasman in his den, and rid themselves of the shadow and tradition +of tyranny, as well as its actuality. But the counsel of the elders strongly +favoured delay. "Let us wait and see what the Great One will do when he is +healed of his wounds," was what they thought, and, after their own fashion, +said to the ambitious youngsters.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="dingo with pups" src="images/fig35.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="450" height="291" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER27" id="CHAPTER27">CHAPTER XXVIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">DOMESTIC LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">If a man succeeded in getting himself as much chopped +about as Finn had been since the evening of his departure from the +boundary-rider's gunyah and the severance of his connection with the world of +men-folk, he would require weeks of careful nursing and doctoring before he +could be said to have recovered. Fortunately for the people of the wild, who +have neither nurses nor doctors, and whose ways of life do not permit of +prolonged periods of rest, recovery from wounds is not so serious a business +with them as it is with us.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When the Wolfhound and his admiring mate between them had +thoroughly licked and cleansed his numerous wounds, he stretched himself +deliberately across the rear corner of the den, and there lay, sleeping +soundly, until the next morning was well advanced. His body was lacerated by +the wounds of three considerable fights: the fight with Black-tip and his +friend; the sufficiently violent struggle with the mother-kangaroo; and lastly, +the most serious fight of the Wolfhound's life, which had ended in the death of +Lupus. But even the ten hours which Finn gave to sleep--he opened his eyes two +or three times during that period, but did not move--brought a wonderful change +in the aspect of these numerous wounds. They had advanced some distance in the +direction of healing already. Now they were submitted to another thorough +licking. Then Finn crept out into the sunlight beside the cave's mouth, and +slept again, fitfully, till evening came. Then he sat up and licked all his +wounds over again with painstaking and scrupulous care. They were healing +nicely, and the healing process made Finn as stiff and sore as though he had +had rheumatics in every joint in his body. So he crept painfully into the den +again, and lay down to sleep once more, while Warrigal, with a friendly, wifely +look at her lord, went out hunting.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In this way three full days and nights passed, and on the +fourth night Finn killed for himself--a small kill, and not far from home, but +a kill, none the less, that required a certain agility, of which he already +found himself quite capable. In the matter of strength and vital energy the +Wolfhound had immense reserves to draw upon--greater reserves, really, than any +of the wild folk possessed; for, in his youth, he had never known scarcity of +food, or lack of warmth, or undue exposure; and, on the contrary, his system +had been deliberately built up and fortified by the best sort of diet that the +skill and science of man could devise. Finn could not have stood as much +killing as a dingo, and still have lived; for the dingo is as hard an animal to +kill as any that walks upon four legs. But, as against that, the Wolfhound +could have stood a far greater living strain than any dingo. He had more to +feed upon in himself. For actual toughness under murderous assault a dingo +could have beaten Finn; yet in a test of staying power, an ordeal of long +endurance, the Wolfhound would have won easily, by reason of his greater +reserve of strength and vitality.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From this point onward, Finn's wounds troubled him but +very little, and in the healing air of that countryside they soon ceased to be +apparent to the eye. An ordinary dingo would assuredly have been obliged to +fight many fights before obtaining ascendancy over the Mount Desolation pack; +but the mastery fell naturally to Finn without calling for any effort upon his +part. He had slain the redoubtable old leader and tyrant of the pack. He had +soundly trounced one of the strongest among the fully-grown young dingoes, +Black-tip, and killed another in single-handed fight against two. Now, he +administered condign punishment to two or three young bucks who ventured to +attempt familiarity with Warrigal, but for fighting he was not called upon. +Most of the pack had taken good measure of his prowess on the night of the +slaying of Lupus, and that was enough for them, so far as mastery went. +Further, the pack found Finn a generous leader, a kingly sort of friend; slow +to anger, and merciful even in wrath; open as the day, and never, in any +circumstances, tyrannical or aggressive. Then in the matter of his kills, Finn +was generosity itself. As a hunter of big game he was more formidable than any +three dingoes, and, withal, never rapacious. Three portions he would take from +his kill; one to satisfy his own hunger, one for Warrigal to satisfy her hunger +upon, and a third to be set aside and taken back to the den against the time +when Warrigal should care to dispose of it. For the rest, be his kill what it +might, Finn made the pack free of it.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But no sort of temptation seemed strong enough to take the +Wolfhound near to the haunts of men. It came to be understood that Finn would +not touch sheep, and, reasoning it out amongst themselves, the rest of the pack +accepted this as a prohibition meant to apply to all of them; so that Finn's +mastership was an exceedingly good thing for the squatters and their flocks all +through the Tinnaburra. But a full-grown kangaroo, no matter how heavy and +strong in the leg, never seemed too much for Finn; and so, all dingoes liking +big game better than small, it came about that every night saw the Mount +Desolation dingoes hunting in pack formation at the heels of the great +Wolfhound. They scorned the lesser creatures whose flesh had fed them hitherto, +and expected to taste wallaby or kangaroo flesh every night. Finn thoroughly +enjoyed the hunting, and did not care how many fed at his kill, so that his +mate and he had ample.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Once, the two youngest members of the pack, puppies quite +new to the trail, were attacked and driven from the remains of a big kill the +leader had made by an outlier, a strange dingo from some other range. The +youngsters, bleeding and yelping, carried their woes to the scrub below the +mountain, and within the hour Finn learned of it. Followed by Black-tip and one +or two others of the more adventurous sort, he set out upon the trail of the +outlier, now full fed, ran it down at the end of four or five miles' hard +galloping, pinned the unfortunate creature to the earth and shook it into the +long sleep, almost before they had come to a standstill together. This was true +leadership the pack felt, a thing Lupus would never have done; something to be +placed to the great Wolfhound's credit, and not forgotten. The mother of the +whelps that were attacked, a big, light-coloured dingo, with sharp, prick ears, +was particularly grateful to Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During this time a subtle change crept over Finn's +appearance. In its details the change was so slight that the casual observer +would have said it did not exist at all; yet, in truth, it was radical. It +would be impossible to put this change precisely into words. An Irish Wolfhound +is never sleek; at least, that is never a characteristic of the breed. Yet, as +compared with the wild folk, every sort of animal which lives with men has a +certain kind of sleekness or softness about it. It may be imagined that Finn +did not have much of this when he escaped from the Southern Cross Circus. And +in the period which followed that escape, although he had, in a sense, +associated with a man and a man's dog, yet there had not been much in the life +of the boundary-rider's camp to make for sleekness. Nevertheless, when Finn +first met his mate, Warrigal, there had lingered about him still a kind of +trimness, a suggestion of softness, far different, indeed, from that of the +ordinary domesticated house-dog; but yet, in its own way, a sort of sleekness. +Not a vestige of this remained now. Though he fed well and plentifully, and his +life was not a hard one, since he only did that which pleased him, yet Finn had +acquired now the hard, spare look of the creatures of the wild. In his +alertness, in the blaze of his eyes, and the gleam of his fangs when hunting, +in his extreme wariness and in the silence of his movements, and his deadly +swiftness in attack, Finn had become one of his mate's own kindred. He differed +from them in his great bulk, his essentially commanding appearance, in his +dignity, and in a certain lordly generosity which always characterized him. He +never disputed; he never indulged in threats or recrimination. He gave warning, +when warning was needed; he punished, when punishment was needed; and he +killed, if killing was desirable; making no sort of fuss about either process. +Also, upon occasion, though not often, he barked. Otherwise, he was thoroughly +of the wild kindred, and the unquestioned master of the Mount Desolation +range.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Some six or seven weeks after his arrival upon that range, +Finn began to notice that Warrigal was changing in some way, and he did not +like the change. It seemed to him that his mate no longer cared for him so much +as she had cared. She spent more time in lying about in or near the den, and +showed no eagerness to accompany him in his excursions, or to gambol with him, +or even to lie with him on the warm, flat ledge outside the den. She seemed to +prefer her own company, and Finn thought her temper was getting unaccountably +short, too. However, life was very full of independent interest for the +Wolfhound, and it was only in odd moments that he noticed these things. One +night he was thoroughly surprised when Warrigal snarled at him in a surly +manner, without any apparent cause at all, unless because he had touched her +with his nose in a friendly way, by way of inviting her to accompany him, he +being bound for the killing trail in quest of that night's supper.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn walked out of the den, carrying his nose as high as +he could, in view of the stoop necessary at the entrance, and feeling rather +put out. A dingo in his place would have snarled back at Warrigal and, it may +be, have wrangled about it for half an hour. Finn's dignity would not permit of +this, but he was hurt, and decided that his spouse needed a lesson in courtesy. +Since she responded so rudely to his invitation to join him in the hunt, she +might go supperless for him; he would eat where he killed, and bring home +nothing.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn killed a half-grown kangaroo, a lusty red-coated +youngster, that night, and he, with Black-tip and two or three others of the +pack, fed full upon this before going down to the creek together to drink. Finn +even spent an hour in trifling with a pair of sister dingoes who generally +hunted together, and ranged the trails with Black-tip, in more or less sportive +mood, till long after midnight. In the small hours the Wolfhound parted with +Black-tip and the sportive sisters among the scrub at the mountain's foot, and +wended his way alone to his den on the first spur, prepared, as many a male +human has been in like case, to seek his rest without taking any notice of his +mate, unless, perchance, he found her in a repentant mood. At the mouth of the +cave he stooped low, as he was bound to do, to gain admittance, and in that +moment he was brought to a halt by a long, angry, threatening snarl from +within. Warrigal was very plainly telling her mate to remain outside, unless he +was looking for trouble. This was unprecedented, and he was a very angry and +outraged Wolfhound, who withdrew slowly with as much dignity as might be in +walking backward with lowered head and shoulders.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You will think better of this before morning, my dear!" +was the sort of thought that Finn had in his mind, as he selected a comfortable +sleeping-place in the shadow of a bush some half-dozen paces away from the +mouth of the den. And then, being well fed and rather tired, he fell into a +sound sleep until just after daybreak, when he woke to the sound of an +unfamiliar small cry. With head slightly on one side and ears cocked sharply, +Finn listened. The small cry was repeated. It certainly was not Warrigal's +voice, though it came from the inside of the den. Also, there were a number of +other small sounds that were strange--weak, quaint, gurgling sounds. Finn +inclined his head a little farther to one side. Yes, his mate was licking +something. Could she have been out and hunted alone? Even that would hardly +account for the queer little, weak, strange voices within the den. The dingo +people are not cats, and when they kill they kill outright. It was extremely +puzzling and interesting, and Finn decided to investigate. After all, this was +his own home and, however rude she may have been, Warrigal was his own mate, +for whom he had fought and bled in the past; the mate who had lovingly dressed +his wounds and shared his kills for nine weeks now--nine long, eventful weeks, +which were more than equal to nine months in human folk's lives.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn stooped low in the entrance and Warrigal snarled. But +this time there was no note of aggression in her snarl. Indeed, to her mate, +there was a hint of appeal in the salutation, which said clearly: "Be careful! +Please be careful!" He advanced with extreme caution into the den, and saw his +spouse lying full at length on her side, her bushy tail curled round to form a +background for the smallest of four sleek puppies, of a yellowish grey colour, +whom she was nursing assiduously. Moving with the utmost delicacy and care, +Finn sniffed all round his mate, refraining from touching the puppies by way of +humouring Warrigal, in whose throat a low growl sounded whenever his nose +approached the little strangers. Then Finn stood and stared at the domestic +group with hanging head and parted jaws, his tongue lolling, and his eyes +saying plainly--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, well, well! Who'd have thought of this! They are +really very nice little creatures, in their insignificant way, though I don't +quite see why their presence should make you snarl at your own lawful mate."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Seeing that her lord manifestly entertained no shadow of a +hostile intention toward the family (the history of the male dingo is not +altogether free from blame in the matter of infanticide), Warrigal raised her +nose in friendly fashion to the Wolfhound and permitted him to lick her, which +he did in the most affectionate manner, and with no further thought of her +previous harshness. Then she gave a little whine and glanced round the walls of +the den. Finn barked quietly, bidding his mate rest assured that all would be +well, and ten minutes later he was descending upon a rabbit-earth that he knew +of, a moving shadow of death among young bunnies assembled to welcome the dewy +warmth of the new day. On the way home he dropped his rabbit to stalk a +half-grown bandicoot; and finally, after less than an hour's absence, he +returned to the den carrying a rabbit and a bandicoot, so that Warrigal might +have variety in her breakfast. Being parched with thirst, Warrigal gratefully +accepted both kills, and without actually eating either drew some sustenance +from both. Then with an anxious look at the family she nudged Finn out of the +den with her nose, and, leaving him outside on the ledge, turned and raced for +the creek, like an arrow from a bow. She was back again inside of two minutes +with bright drops clinging to her fur. Finn had sat patiently beside the mouth +of the den waiting, and for this Warrigal gave him a grateful glance of +appreciation before gliding into her puppies, who already were beginning to +whimper for warmth and nourishment.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn took very naturally to the part of father and +bread-winner. He lounged about the mouth of the den through the day, creeping +in occasionally to see how things went with his mate, and returning then to +keep guard outside. She allowed him now to touch the odd little creatures who +were his children; but they did not like the feeling of his tongue, and +wriggled away from it in their blind, helpless way. "There, there!" said Finn +low down in his throat, and withdrew, marvelling afresh at the mysteries of +life and the cleverness of femininity. As for Warrigal, she seemed absurdly +happy and proud about it all now, and assumed considerable airs of importance. +She took her food in brief snatches a dozen times during the day, and when Finn +left her in the early night for the trails, she looked at him in a meaning way +which said plainly that she attached importance to the matter of food supply, +though she could not take to the trails herself, being otherwise and fully +occupied. Finn licked her muzzle reassuringly and went out.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The pack had to forage for itself that night, for when +Finn made his kill--a fat rock wallaby--he announced in the most unmistakable +manner that there was nothing to spare for followers that night, and marched +off mountain-wards, trailing the whole heavy kill over his right shoulder. In +the course of the night it became known to all the wild people of that range +that the mate of the leader of the pack had other mouths than her own to feed, +and that for the time Finn would do all the hunting for the den on the first +spur.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="Tasman carrying off dead pup" src="images/fig36.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="555" height="287" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER28" id="CHAPTER28">CHAPTER XXIX</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">TRAGEDY IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When Warrigal's puppies were born, Finn, their father, had +been in the Tinnaburra for nearly five months, though he had only known the +Mount Desolation range for some nine or ten weeks. During the whole of that +five months of late winter and spring, not one single drop of rain had fallen +in the Tinnaburra, and with the coming of Warrigal's children there came also +the approach of summer. Finn, for his part, gave no thought to this question of +weather, because he had quite forgotten that there was such a thing as rain. It +had not rained while he was in the city with the Master, after landing in +Australia. The little that fell during the period of his imprisonment with the +Southern Cross Circus had never touched the caged Giant Wolf, and he had +entirely forgotten what falling rain felt like. He had slept on the earth ever +since his escape from the circus, and he accepted its dryness as a natural and +agreeable fact.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But both Finn and Warrigal were rather annoyed when, just +as the puppies began to open their eyes and become a little troublesome and +curious, the creek at the foot of Mount Desolation disappeared through its +shingly bed and was seen no more. This meant a tramp of three and a half miles +to the nearest drinking-place, a serious matter for a nursing mother, whose +tongue seemed always to be lolling thirstily from the side of her mouth. +Warrigal would make the journey to the drinking-place as swiftly as she could, +and drink till she could drink no more. Then during the return journey concern +for her children would set the pace for her, and she would arrive at the den +panting and gasping, and more thirsty than when she left it; for the weather +was already hot, the air singularly dry, and Warrigal herself in no condition +for fast travelling, with her heavy dugs and body, both amply fed and amply +drawn upon in her capacity of nurse-mother. Finn did his part well and +thoroughly, and there was no lack of good fresh meat in the den on the first +spur, but he could not carry water. Warrigal tried to slake her mother-thirst +by means of an extra heavy meat diet, but though she knew it not, this only +aggravated her continual desire for water, which was Nature's demand for +assistance in fitting her to discharge adequately her duty to her children. And +so, during all this time, Finn's mate found herself obliged to run over hard, +parched ground at least fourteen miles a day, and often twenty-one, when it +would have suited her, and her puppies also, a good deal better to have +confined her exercise to strolls in the neighbourhood of the den.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One result of this was that Warrigal's children began to +eat meat at an earlier stage of their existence than would have been the case +if water had been plentiful and near at hand for their mother. There never were +more carnivorous little creatures than these puppies. At first, of course, +their mother saw to it that the meat they consumed was of a ready-masticated +and even a half-digested sort; but in an astonishingly short while they began +to rend and tear raw flesh for themselves, under the mother's watchful eye; and +from that time on Finn was a very busy hunter. It was probably because of this +unceasing demand for fresh meat in the den on the first spur that the leader of +the Mount Desolation pack was the first member of it to notice that hunting was +becoming increasingly difficult in that region. Finn's quest was necessarily +for large meat; and at about this time he was discovering to his cost that he +had to go farther and farther afield to find it. It was well enough for the +bachelors and spinsters of the pack, the free-lances of that clan. The district +was still rich in its supply of the lesser marsupials, rats, mice, and the +like; not to mention all manner of grubs, and insects, and creeping things, +among which it was easy for a single dingo to satisfy his appetite. But a giant +Wolfhound, with a very hungry mate and four ravening little pups, all waiting +eagerly upon his hunting, was quite differently situated.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn's hunting took him one evening far enough south and +by east to bring him within half a mile of the boundary-rider's encampment in +which he had lived with Jess. Here he happened upon Koala, who was softly +grumbling to himself while waddling from one tree to another. Koala, of course, +began the usual plaint about his poverty and inoffensiveness. This was +mechanical with him, and he must have known very well that Finn would not hurt +him. As a matter of fact, the Wolfhound lay down beside the native bear, and +they had quite a long confab upon bush affairs, during which Finn referred in +some way to the growing scarcity of game in that district, and Koala mournfully +added that gum-leaves themselves were by no means what they had been. But, for +all his foolishness and helplessness, Koala had lived a very long time, and +actually was very well versed in bush-lore, though he liked to describe himself +as the most forlorn and helpless of beasts. He knew all about the scarceness of +big game and its causes, just as he knew all about the dryness and want of sap +in his own vegetable food; and now, by means of the methods of communication of +which we know nothing, he managed to convey some of his knowledge to Finn, so +that when they separated, Finn connected the drying up of the Mount Desolation +creek with the hardness of his recent hunting, and the heat and absence of rain +with both. The ordinary season for rain had passed now, and the full length of +Australian summer was before them; a fact of which the learned Koala said +nothing, probably because he did not know it, or, possibly, because he did not +greatly care, being a total abstainer from drink himself.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was at about this time that Warrigal herself returned +to the trails. Finn had in no sense failed her as bread-winner, but, game being +scarce, and her children still too young to do any foraging for themselves +worth talking about, Warrigal felt that she owed it to her mate to share his +burdens with him. The pups had already reached the stage of grovelling about +outside the den, and pursuing the few live things of the insect type who +affected that stony spot. One of them, indeed, had already learned a lesson +that would last him for the rest of his life, regarding the habits, customs, +and general undesirability of the bull-dog ant as play-mate or prey.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3483" id="L3483"></a><img +alt="wolfhound carrying wallaby up mountain" src="images/plate12.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="525" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">He slung the wallaby over his shoulder and set out for +the mountain.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It happened, about a week after his meeting with Koala, +that Finn had a stroke of luck in the matter of stumbling upon a badly wounded +wallaby within a couple of miles of the den. In some way this unfortunate +creature had managed to get its right hind-leg caught in a dingo-trap, to which +a heavy clog of wood was attached. In the course of time the wallaby would have +died very miserably, and already it had begun to lose flesh. But Finn brought a +mercifully sudden death to the crippled creature, and then proceeded to tear in +sunder the limb which held the trap. Having accomplished this, he slung the +wallaby over his shoulder and set out for the mountain, meaning to allow the +family to feast upon this early kill, while he took a further look round upon +the trails.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Just as Finn, heavily laden, scaled the rocky ledge +immediately below the one which flanked the entrance of the den, a shrill cry +of mortal anguish fell upon his ears, and thrilled him to the very marrow. The +cry came from the inside of the den above him, and he knew it for the cry of +one of his children in extremity. That gave Finn the most piercing thrill of +paternity he had felt up till this time. He dropped his kill, and leaped with +one mighty bound clear over two boulders and a bare stretch of track to the +ledge outside the den. And, in the moment of his leap, a figure emerged from +the mouth of the den bearing between its uncovered, yellow tusks the body of +Warrigal's last-born son, limp and bleeding. This figure which faced Finn now +in the moonlight was the most terribly ugly one that the countryside could have +produced. Gaunt beyond description, ragged, grey, bereft of hair in many +places, aged and desperate, old Tasman, the Zebra-Wolf, had his tusks sunk in +warm, juicy flesh for the first time in three months, and was prepared to pay +for the privilege with the remains of his life if need be. Skin, bone, +glittering eyes, and savage, despairing ferocity; that was all there was left +of Tasman, three months after the death of his son Lupus. He had lived so long +almost entirely upon insects, grubs, scraps of carrion dropped by birds, and +the like. Desperate hunger, and the smell of young animal life, and of the +proceeds of daily kills, had drawn him to the den on the first spur that night; +and now, now he was face to face with the master of the range, and the outraged +father of Warrigal's pups.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The gaunt old wolf dropped his prey on the instant, +realizing clearly that his life was at stake. In his day he had slain many +dingoes, but that was in the distant past, and this iron-grey monster which +roared at him now was different from the dingoes Tasman had known. With +massive, bony skull held low, and saliva dripping from his short, powerful +jaws, the old wolf sent forth his most terrible snarl of challenge and +defiance; the cry which had been used in bygone years to paralyse his victims +into a condition which made them easy prey for his tearing claws and lance-like +tusks. But the horrible sound was powerless so far as Finn was concerned, and +the Wolfhound gathered himself together now for the administration of +punishment which should be as swift as it would be terrible and final. But in +that moment he heard a scattering of loose stones behind him which delayed his +spring to allow time for a flying glance over his right shoulder; and that +glance changed his whole tactics in the matter of the attack upon Tasman. For, +even as Finn glanced, an outstretched furry mass flew across his range of +vision, and landed like a projectile upon the gaunt old wolf's neck. Warrigal +also had returned; she also had dropped her kill in the trail below the den, +and now Tasman had to deal with the dauntless fury of a bereaved mother. +Warrigal was a whirlwind of rage; a revelation to Finn of the fighting force +which had given her her unquestioned standing in the pack before ever she set +eyes on the Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Tasman had his back against the side of the den's mouth +now, and he flung Warrigal from him, with a slash of his jaws and a twist of +his still powerful neck. But, in the next moment, the under-side of that +scrawny neck was between the mightiest jaws in the Tinnaburra, and, even as the +life blood of old Tasman flowed out between Finn's white fangs, the body of him +was being literally torn in sunder by the furiously busy teeth and claws of +Warrigal. It was little she cared for the thrusts of his hind-claws in the last +muscular contortions which sent his legs tearing at her neck. She was possessed +of the mother-madness, and so she fought like a wild cat at bay. Old Tasman was +not just killed; he was dispersed, scattered, dissolved almost into the +elements from which he sprang; he was translated within a few minutes into +shapeless carrion.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then, gasping, bleeding, panting, her jaws streaming, +Warrigal wheeled about with a savage, moaning cry, and shot forward into the +den. One son she had seen dead upon the ledge without. Two daughters she found +dead within, and, while she licked at his lacerated little body, the lingering +life ebbed out finally from the other male pup, her sole remaining son. But +Warrigal licked the still little form for almost an hour, though it lived for +no more than three or four minutes after she entered the den.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then Warrigal went outside to where Finn sat, alternately +licking the one deep wound the old wolf had scored in his chest, and looking +out dismally across the Tinnaburra. Warrigal sat down on her haunches about two +yards from Finn, and, having pointed her muzzle at the moon, where it sailed +serenely above them in a flawless dark blue sky, she began to pour out upon the +night the sound of the long, hoarse dingo howl of mourning. Finn listened for +some minutes without moving. By that time the melancholy of it all had entered +fairly into his soul, and he, too, lifted up his head and delivered himself of +the Irish Wolfhound howl, which carries farther than the dingo howl, and is +more purely mournful than any other canine cry. Also, it has more volume than +any other; there is something uncanny and supernatural about its piercing +melancholy. So the sire and the dam sat and howled at the stars in their +unclouded courses. And if you were to visit that den to-day, on the first +south-eastern spur of Mount Desolation, you would probably find the skeletons +of three of Finn's and Warrigal's children; for the Wolfhound and his mate +never entered their old home again.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound and dingoes stalking kangaroos" src="images/fig37.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="450" height="289" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER29" id="CHAPTER29">CHAPTER XXX</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE EXODUS</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was rather an odd thing, this fact that neither Finn or +his mate ever again entered the lair which had been such a happy home for them +since the day of their first meeting. But so it was, and one is bound to +assume, I think, that the reason of it was grief for the loss of their +children. In the early dawning of a blistering hot day they paced slowly down +the hill and into the rocky strip of scrub which divided Mount Desolation from +the bush itself. Hereabouts it was that the rest of the pack lived; and, though +Finn and Warrigal conveyed no definite news of what had happened during the +night, the news must have spread somehow, because before the sun had properly +risen every single member of the pack had climbed the spur and investigated for +himself or herself the scattered carrion which had been Tasman. Whether they +looked into the den or not, as well, I do not know; but I should say that some +of the adventurous youngsters did, while their elders and parents probably +refrained.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">These same elders and parents were beginning to feel +considerable distress over the absence of rain, the scarcity of water, and the +poor results which attended their hunting. The wild folk of the Australian bush +are, upon the whole, less dependent upon water than the animals of most +countries, and such people as Koala, the native bear, seem to get along quite +happily without ever drinking anything at all. Even kangaroos and wallabies can +go for a long while without drinking, but there is a limit to the endurance of +most of the bush animals in the matter of thirst, while, as for the dingoes, +they want their water every day as much as they need their food. There was no +longer any disguising the fact that a very large number of the wild folk, in +whom Finn and Warrigal and the rest of the pack were interested, had recently +migrated in quest of homes that should be better supplied with water than the +Tinnaburra or the Mount Desolation range. It was not that the pack felt the +absence of these folk as companions, but as food. They were also beginning to +feel keenly the burnt-up dryness of that whole countryside and the extreme heat +of the season.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Even Finn's prowess as a hunter and a killer was of no +avail in the absence of game to hunt, and during the few days which he and +Warrigal spent among the scrub at the mountain's foot, after leaving their den, +the Wolfhound sometimes travelled from thirty to forty miles without a single +kill, being reduced then, like the rest of the pack, to eat rabbit flesh, and +mice, and grubs. Already some of the younger members of the pack had begun to +prey upon the flocks of squatters in the Tinnaburra, and this had brought +speedy retribution in the shape of one young female of their kindred shot +through the head, and two promising males trapped and slain, so that the pack +now consisted of no more than fourteen adults and six whelps, who were hardly +capable as yet of fending for themselves. Men with guns had actually been seen +within a mile of Mount Desolation itself; and, owing to the attacks upon their +bark of half-starved small fry, the trees of the bush were dying by hundreds, +and thereby opening up in the most uncomfortable manner ranges which had +previously been excellent hunting-grounds. The report about the men-folk with +guns was most disturbing to Finn, and he was conscious, in sitting down, of a +degree of boniness about his haunches such as he had never known since the +horrible period of his captivity in the circus. A Wolfhound whose fighting +weight is a hundred and fifty pounds requires a good deal more food than a +dingo, whose weight rarely exceeds half that amount. Grubs and mice were not of +much use to Finn; and when he drank, his long tongue had been wont to scoop up +more than twice the amount of water which had served to satisfy any other +member of the pack.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The growing restlessness and discontent which had been +mastering the Mount Desolation pack for weeks now received an immense addition, +so far as Finn and Warrigal were concerned, in the events which led them to +forsake their den on the first spur. It culminated, in Finn's eyes, in the +actual passage through the scrub beside the mountain's foot of a party of half +a dozen mounted men with guns and dogs. This occurred in the late afternoon of +a scorching hot day, when most of the pack were sleeping; and if the dogs of +the men-folk had not been incredibly stupid in the matter of sticking closely +to the trail, and making no attempt to range the scrub on either side of it, +the dingoes would actually have been hunted like hares, and some of them, no +doubt, would have been killed. As it was, Finn felt as strongly, and perhaps +more strongly than any of the elders of the pack, that this event had rendered +the range finally uninhabitable. His nostrils twitched and wrinkled for hours +after the men had gone; and, as soon as darkness fell, he rose in a determined +manner, thrust his muzzle meaningly against Warrigal's neck and took to the +open trail. With extraordinary unanimity the other members of the pack began to +gather behind Finn. It seemed to be clearly understood that this was no +ordinary hunting expedition, and the two mothers of the pack, with their +half-grown whelps, whined plaintively as they gathered their small families +about them for journeying. The whelps, always eager for a new move of any kind, +gambolled joyously around their parents, but the mothers snarled at them, +bidding them go soberly, lest weariness and worse should overtake them before +their time.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One very old dog, who had always looked with grudging +sullenness upon the great Wolfhound and his doings, refused point-blank to be a +party to the exodus, and croakingly warned the others against following a +new-comer and an outlier such as Finn. He gave them to understand that he had +been born in the shadow of Mount Desolation, like his sire and dam before him, +and that he would live alone rather than forsake that range at the bidding of a +great grey foreigner. The pack paid little heed to the old dingo, and he sat +erect on his haunches beside the trail, watching them file along the flank of +the mountain. When they were nearly a mile away, the old dingo began to howl +dismally; and when Finn made his first kill, seven miles to the north-west of +Mount Desolation, old Tufter--he had a sort of mop at the end of a rather +scraggy tail--was on hand, and yowling eagerly for scraps. The kill was a +half-starved brush-tailed wallaby, and nobody got much out of it but Warrigal +and Finn, both of whom growled fiercely while they ate, in a manner which said +plainly that they were not entertaining that night, at all events before the +edge had been taken off their own appetites. So old Tufter got nothing more +nutritious than a few scraps of scrubby fur.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The poor old fellow took great pains to communicate his +own discomfort and mistrust to all the other members of the pack, except Finn +and Warrigal, whom he ignored, and pointed out with vehemence that they were +heading in the wrong direction. He was right in a way, for they certainly were +leaving the better country behind them, in travelling to the north-west. South +and east of Mount Desolation lay the fatter and comparatively well-watered +lands. Even Finn knew this, of course; but that way also lay the habitations of +men, and the Wolfhound's face was set firmly away from men and all their works. +Men had tortured him in a cage, the memory of which their hot irons had burned +right into his very soul. And, after that, men, in the person of a certain +sulky boundary-rider, had driven him out from their neighbourhood with burning +faggots, with curses, and with execrations. All this had been brought vaguely +to Finn's mind by the passage through the scrub that day of horses and men, and +the north-west trail was the only possible trail for him because of that.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">From this point on, the pack moved slowly in scattered +formation, each individual member hunting as he went along, with nose to earth +and eyes a-glitter for possible prey of any kind, from a grub to an old-man +kangaroo. Towards morning, when they were a good thirty miles distant from +Mount Desolation, they topped a ridge, upon the farther slope of which a small +mob of nine kangaroos were browsing among the scrub. Finn was after them like a +shot, and Warrigal was at his heels, the rest of the pack streaming behind in a +ragged line, the tail of which was formed by old Tufter and the whelps. There +was a stiff chase of between three and four miles, and only five dingoes were +within sight when Finn pinned the rearmost kangaroo by the neck, and Warrigal +darted in cautiously upon one of its flanks. In an attack of this kind two +things about Finn made his onslaught most deadly: his great weight, and the +length and power of his massive jaws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Even Tufter got a good meal from this kill, for the +kangaroo was a big fellow of well over five feet from nose to haunch, without +mention of his huge muscular tail, the meaty root of which kept the whelps busy +for hours afterwards. The whole pack fed full, and in the neighbourhood of that +range they scattered and slept; for in the gully on the other side of it there +was a little muddy water, and round about there was pleasant cover which had +sheltered the kangaroos for a week or more. Old Tufter forbore to growl, and +the young members of the pack were enthusiastic regarding the advantages of +migration in the trail of such a hunter as Finn. They did not know that, in a +leisurely way, the mob of kangaroos they had flushed were also migrating, as +the result of drought--but in the opposite direction to that chosen by Finn, +who was heading now towards the part of the country which the kangaroos had +forsaken as being burned and eaten bare, and devoid even of such food as +bark.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When the dingoes had finished with the little chain of +small pools in the gully on the afternoon of that day, there was little left +but mud; one might have called it a creek bed, but it certainly was no longer a +creek. However, that night's travel brought fairly good hunting, and always +among game moving in the opposite direction to that taken by the pack. Finn and +Warrigal and Black-tip shared a wallaby between them, and spared some portions +of it for the whelps; though Warrigal snarled angrily when the young things +came near her; the memory of her own family being still fresh within her. And +the rest of the pack fared quite tolerably well, sharing between them a +kangaroo-rat, two bandicoots, a wallaby-hare, and quite a considerable number +of marsupial mice, besides about half of a big carpet-snake which Finn +killed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For a week now the little pack travelled on in a +north-westerly direction, and every day old Tufter growled a little more +bitterly and with a little better cause. Game was certainly becoming lamentably +scarce, and the country traversed was one which did not at all commend itself +to dingoes, being arid, shadeless, and dry as a bleached bone. It was the sort +of country which, in Australia, is frequently covered by beautiful flowers and +scrub during the winter, though perfectly bare in the summer. But the winter +which had preceded this summer had been too dry to bring any growth here, so +that it had not even the remains of a previous season's vegetation, and offered +no trace of cover. A long and most exhausting chase did enable Finn to pull +down a solitary emu, and of this the pack left nothing but beak and feathers +when they passed on, still hungry, in quest of other game.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But for all the shortness of food, which was thinning the +flesh over Finn's haunches now, it was another cause which led him to swerve +from the north-westerly course in a south-westerly direction. He paid no +particular heed to old Tufter's continuous growls about the direction taken by +the pack under his leadership; but what he was forced to notice was the fact +that for two whole days no water had been seen, and the lolling tongues of the +young whelps were in consequence so swollen that they could not close their +jaws. Throughout one weary night, the pack loped along in dogged silence in a +south-westerly direction, their eyes blazing in the keen look out for game; +dry, dust-encrusted foam caked upon their lips, and fierce anxiety in the heart +of every one of them.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Then, in the brazen dawning of a day in which the sun +seemed to thrust out great heat upon the baked earth even before it appeared +above the horizon, the pack checked suddenly as Black-tip drew Finn's attention +to a pair of Native Companions seen in the act of floating down to earth from +the lower limbs of a shrivelled red-gum tree. The bigger of these two great +cranes had a stature of something over five feet, and his fine blue-grey +plumage covered an amount of flesh which would have made a meal for quite a +number of dingoes. Yet it was not so much as food, but rather as a guide and +indication, that Black-tip regarded the cranes. He knew that they would not be +very far from water. The way in which the pack melted into cover in the dim, +misty light of the coming day was very remarkable. For several miles now they +had been travelling through a country less arid than the plains they had +traversed during the previous two days, and now, while seeming to disappear +into the earth itself--even as Echidna actually could and would, though the +earth were baked hard--the members of the pack actually found cover by slinking +low amongst a sort of wiry scrub growth with which the ground hereabouts was +dotted.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was thus that Finn saw for the first time the strange +dance of the Native Companion. To and fro, and up and down beneath their +scraggy gum-tree, the two great cranes footed it in a sort of grotesque minuet. +There was a strange sort of angularity about all their movements, but, withal, +a certain grace, bizarre and notable. And while the Native Companions solemnly +paced through what was really a dance of death for them, Finn and Black-tip and +Warrigal stalked them as imperceptibly as shadows lengthen across a lawn in +evening time. The three hunters advanced through the scrub like snakes moving +in their sleep, and never a leaf or twig made comment on their passage, as they +slithered down the morning breeze, inch by inch, apparently a part of the +shadowy earth itself. The prancing dance of the Native Companions--these birds +mate for life and are deeply and devotedly attached one to another--was drawing +to its close, when death came to them both like a bolt from the heavens; such a +death as one would have chosen for them, since it left no time for fear or +mourning, or grief at separation. Their necks were torn in sunder before they +realized that they had been attacked, and within the minute their graceful +feathered bodies shared the same fate, as the rest of the pack joined Finn and +Warrigal and Black-tip. There was less of lordly generosity about Finn's +feeding upon this occasion than he had always shown before. The great Wolfhound +realized perhaps that his frame demanded more of nutriment than was necessary +for the support of a dingo, and he ate with savage swiftness, growling angrily +when any other muzzle than Warrigal's approached his own too nearly.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Less than half an hour later the pack was scrambling and +sliding down the high banks of a river-bed, in the centre of which, surrounded +upon both sides by a quarter of a mile and more of shingle and hard-baked mud, +there was still a disconnected chain of small, yellow pools of water. The water +was of something like the consistency of pea-soup, but no spring-fed +mountain-rill ever tasted sweeter or more grateful to a thirsty traveller than +this muddy fluid to the palates of the Mount Desolation pack. Finn chose a +good-sized pool, and Warrigal tackled it with him; but when two youngsters of +the pack ventured to approach the other side of that pool, Warrigal snarled at +them so fiercely, backed by a low, gurgling growl from Finn, that the two slunk +off, and tackled a lesser pool by themselves.</p> + +<p></p> +<a name="L7923" id="L7923"></a><img +alt="wolfhound and dingoes sliding down a bank" src="images/plate13.jpg" +width="400" height="540" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +/> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Scrambling and sliding down the high banks of a +river-bed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Where the pack drank they rested. As yet their great +thirst was close to them, and the neighbourhood of water seemed too good to +leave. But, in such matters, the memory of the wild folk is apt to be short. +The banks of the river-bed ran due east and west here; and, though the pack +gave no thought to the question, it was a matter of some importance to each one +of them whether they should eventually leave those banks to the northward or to +the southward; a matter of importance by reason of the difference in the +country to the northward and to the southward. But it was chance at last that +decided the question for them. They drank many times during the day, and +towards nightfall a small mob of kangaroos was sighted to the northward, and +that led the pack to head northward, a little westerly, from the river-bank +that night.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1"> </p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound and dingo drinking from riverbed" src="images/fig38.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="500" height="288" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER30" id="CHAPTER30">CHAPTER XXXI</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE TRAIL OF MAN</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was exactly a fortnight later when the pack turned +despairingly in its tracks, animated by a forlorn desire to reach again the +high ragged banks of that shingly river-bed, in which some trace of moisture +might be left still, where the muddy pools had been.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But in that fortnight much had happened, and the character +and constitution of the pack had undergone notable changes. The six whelps had +disappeared, old Tufter and the oldest of the mothers of the pack were no more, +and neither the carrion-crows nor the ants had profited one atom by these +deaths. The pack had not wittingly hastened the end of these weaker ones, but +it had left only their bones behind upon the trail. And, now, when one or other +of the gaunt, dry-lipped survivors stumbled a dozen pairs of hungry eyes +glittered, a dozen pairs of lips were wrinkled backward from as many sets of +fangs, and consciousness of this had a sinister meaning for the stumbler; a +meaning which brought a savage snarl to his throat as he regained his footing +with quick, threatening looks from side to side and hackles bristling.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The pack was starving. Many times during the past week the +thought of turning in his tracks and making back for the river-bed had come to +Finn, but he had pressed on, fearful of the arid stretch of country which he +had already placed between himself and that spot. He had no means of knowing +that he was in a country of vast and waterless distances. But, acting without +knowledge, Finn had turned in his tracks at length, after a fortnight's +travelling in which food had been terribly scarce and water even more scarce. +Such liquid as they had found would never have been called water by men-folk. +Here and there had been a little liquid mud in old water-holes and stream-beds, +and in other places the pack had sucked up moisture through hot sand, after +burrowing with feet and nose to a depth of as much as eighteen inches from the +surface. Their food had been almost entirely of the grub and insect kind, and +Finn, for the first time in his life, had spent long hours in trying to ease +the craving within him by gnawing at dry roots. The great Wolfhound had more +stamina than any of the dingoes; he had greater resources within himself than +they had, and was endowed, by Nature and upbringing, with a superb +constitution. But, as against that, he needed far more food than was required +by the others, and at a full meal would have eaten twice as much as the biggest +of them. Also, he suffered, though his body was the stronger for it, for the +fact that he had never before known want.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In appearance, the members of the pack had suffered a +wondrous change in these two weeks. Even Warrigal's fine coat had lost every +trace of the gloss which had made it beautiful, and the iron-grey hairs of +Finn's dense, hard coat had taken on the character of dry bristles, while his +haunch-bones were two outstanding peaks, from which his back fell away at an +acute angle to the root of his tail, where once a level pad of flesh had been. +Now the tail seemed to sprout from a kind of well in his body, and a bird might +have nested in the hollow between his shoulder-blades, which once had been flat +as the top of a table. His back, too, which had been broad and flat, was like +the ridge of a gunyah now, from one end of which his neck rose gauntly, and +appeared to be of prodigious length. His ribs were plain to see on either side +his hollow barrel, and over them the loose skin rolled to and fro as he ran or +walked. The eyes of every member of the pack were deeply sunken and ablaze with +a dry light, half wistful and half fierce, and more awe-inspiring than any form +of full-fed rage could be. They ran in open order now, and when one happened to +run unusually close to another, that other would snarl or growl, and, +sometimes, even snap, with bitter, furtive, half-fearful irritability.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">To this rule there was one exception. Warrigal ran +steadily in the shadow cast by Finn's big, gaunt frame, her muzzle about level +with his elbow. Black-tip kept about the same level on Finn's other side, but a +good deal farther off, and the others straggled in fan-shaped formation to the +rear, scouting at times to one side or the other in quest of insects and +snakes, or any other living thing that fangs could crush. As to digestion, the +pack had no concern regarding any such detail as this. Their one test of +edibility was swallowing. They even helped Finn to demolish a native porcupine, +than which one would have said no creature of a less edible sort was ever +created. Altogether, there was that about the survivors of the Mount Desolation +pack which would have made any single creature sorry to cross their path, +however powerful he might be. No animal with flesh on its bones and blood in +its veins would have been too big or fierce for the pack to have attacked just +now; for hunger and thirst had made them quite desperate.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was Black-tip, and not Finn, who, on the afternoon of +the second day of the pack's despairing return journey in quest of the +river-bank they had left a fortnight before, called a sudden halt. (The dingo's +sense of smell was always keener than the Wolfhound's.) Black-tip sniffed hard +and long at the ground between his fore-feet, and then, raising his head, +glared out into the afternoon sunlight to the south-eastward of the track they +were following--their own trail. The whimper which escaped Black-tip when he +began to sniff, brought the rest of the pack about him, full of hungry +eagerness to know what thing it was that had been found. There was something +uncanny and extraordinary about the way in which they glanced one at another, +after, as it were, taking one sip of the scent which had brought Black-tip to a +standstill. Had the scent been of kangaroo or wallaby, rabbit, rat, or any +other thing that moves upon four legs, those curious glances would never have +been exchanged. The pack would have been off hot-foot upon the trail, without +pause for discussion. And there was the scent of a four-footed creature here, +too; but it was merged in, and subordinate to, the scent over which most wild +creatures cry a halt: the scent of man.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Now in ordinary circumstances the pack would not have +hesitated a moment over such a trail as this. They would have turned in their +tracks and made off in the opposite direction, or gone straight ahead on their +own trail and without reference to the man-trail, save to get away from it as +quickly as possible. But these were very far from being ordinary circumstances. +The pack was nearer to starving than it had ever been before, and at such a +time the rules which ordinarily guide life are of precisely no account at all. +The man-trail was the trail of living flesh, of warm, animal life; it was the +trail of food. Also, there was merged in it the trail of a dog; and as each +member of the pack acquired that fact, his lips wrinkled backward and a little +moisture found its way into his dry mouth.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The pack desired food and drink so urgently that +everything else in the world became insignificant by comparison with food and +drink in their minds. The hatred and fear of man, as man, was blotted out of +sight by the craving for animal food in any shape whatsoever. Here was a living +trail, in the midst of a dead, burnt-up land of starvation and emptiness. What +Finn's thoughts on the subject may have been I cannot say. But, of course, he +had connected men with food all his life long. And now he was starving. I do +not think Finn's thoughts could have been quite the same as those of the rest +of the pack; but they moved him in the same direction none the less, and, +without the smallest hesitation, the pack streamed after him when he took up a +new trail, and loped off to the south-east, turning away diagonally from the +old track.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As the new trail became fresher and warmer, the leader was +conscious of the warring within him of various conflicting feelings and +desires. In appearance Finn was now a gigantic wolf, and one mastered by the +fierce passion of hunger, at that. Apart from appearance, there actually was +more of the wolf than the dog in him now. He belonged very completely to the +wild kindred, and, over and above the wild folk's natural inborn fear and +mistrust of men-folk, there was in Finn a resentment against man; a bitter +memory of torture endured, and of the humiliation of having been driven out +into the wild. But Finn's sense of smell was nothing like so acute as that of +the dingoes. Even a setter or a pointer cannot compare with the wild folk in +this respect, and Wolfhounds have nothing like the educated sense of smell of +the setters, or the pointers, or the foxhounds. Their hunting from time +immemorial has been done by sight, and strength, and fleetness, not by +tracking. Finn was not so keenly conscious as his companions that he was on the +trail of man. He knew it; but it was not in his nostrils the assertive fact +that it was, for instance, in the nostrils of Warrigal and Black-tip. There was +in the trail for him a warm animal scent which gave promise of food; of food +near at hand, in that pitiless waste which the pack had been traversing for a +fortnight and more. But every now and again, possibly in places at which the +makers of the trail had paused, Finn would get a distinct whiff of the man +scent, and that disturbed him a good deal. He wanted no dealings of any kind +with man. But there was nothing else in him just then which was quite so strong +or peremptory as the craving for food and drink; and so, with ears pricked, and +hackles uneasily lifting, he padded along at the true wolf gait, which devours +distance without much suggestion of fleetness.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When night fell the trail was very warm and fresh, and a +quarter of an hour later a light breeze brought news to the pack of a fire not +far ahead. This, again, brought pictures to Finn's mind of the encampment from +which he had been driven with burning faggots. He smelled again the singeing of +his own coat, and that gave him recollection of his time of torture and +captivity in the circus. The pack advanced at a foot-pace now, and with the +extreme of caution. A few minutes more brought them within full view of a +camp-fire, beside which there were stretched, in attitudes eloquent of both +dejection and fatigue, two men and a dog; the latter a large, gaunt +fox-terrier. For the last ten miles of their trailing the pack had been passing +through country which supported a certain amount of timber, and of the curious +Australian scrub which seems to be capable of existence--a pale, bloodless sort +of life, but yet existence--in the most arid kind of soil, and where no +moisture can be discovered. The men had lighted their fire beneath a twisted, +tortured-looking tree, in which there certainly was no life, for every vestige +of its bark had gone from it, and its limbs were naked as the bones of any +skeleton.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The pack drew in as closely as their cover in the scrub +permitted, and crouched, watching the camp-fire. Suddenly, a movement on the +part of one of them attracted the attention of the fox-terrier, and he flew out +into the scrub, barking furiously. The pack, in crescent formation, retreated +perhaps a dozen paces, saliva trickling from their curling lips. The terrier +plunged valiantly forward, hopping the first low bushes, as a terrier will when +rabbiting or ratting. It was Black-tip who pinned him to the earth, and +Warrigal whose fangs next closed upon his body. But Finn smashed the terrier's +body in half; and, in an instant, the snarling pack surged over the remains. By +the time one of the men had risen and moved forward towards the line of scrub, +there positively was not a hair of the dog uneaten. His collar lay there on the +ground, between two bushes. For the rest, every particle of him, including +bones, had been swallowed, and was in process of digestion. From beginning to +end the whole operation occupied less than four minutes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One of the men had not troubled to rise at all. The pack +withdrew to a safe distance while the other man rummaged about among the bushes +for the better part of a quarter of an hour. The pack, meanwhile, were hidden +among the trees a quarter of a mile away. Then the man found the terrier's +collar, and walked back to his fire with it. He walked slowly and stiffly. When +he announced to his companion that there were dingoes about, and that they had +carried Jock off, the other man only grunted wearily, and turned over on his +side. So the first man threw some more wood on the fire, and lowered himself +slowly to the ground, moving painfully, and stretching himself out for +sleep.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">During the night the pack scoured every inch of the scrub +within a radius of one mile from the camp of the two men; and for their reward +they obtained precisely nothing at all, beyond a few, a very few, grubs and +insects, the eating of which served to temper as with fire the keen edge of +their hunger. The hours immediately preceding daylight found most of them +sitting on their haunches, in a scattered semicircular line, in the scrub, +glaring through the darkness at the two sleeping men, and their now expiring +fire. I should like to be able to say exactly what they looked for, what they +hoped for, in connection with the men; but that is not possible. In addition to +connecting men-folk with guns and traps, and fear of an instinctive and +indescribable kind, most of the pack also connected men with food, with sheep, +and other domesticated animals which dingoes can eat. Finn, more than any of +them, connected men-folk with food. But, as against that, Finn also connected +them with torture and suffering, with hostility and abuse. Finn sat farther +from the camp-fire than any of the others.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">To your truly carnivorous animal, like the dingo, all +things that live, and have flesh on their bones and blood in their veins, are a +form of food, food at its best, living food. Therefore, the two men must have +appealed to the pack as food. But, for their kind, man is generally speaking +forbidden food, and unobtainable; so long, at all events, as he can maintain +his queer, erect attitude. But men have lain down in the bush to die before +to-day, again and again; and of these the dingoes, as well as the crows, have +given a sure account. Further, there is no other such reckless law-breaker as +hunger. Rules and the teaching of experience--even inherited experience--are as +nothing at all to hunger. Also, these two men beside the dying fire were not +erect. But they moved uneasily in their sleep now and again. The man-life was +clearly astir in them still; and so even the nearest and most venturesome among +the dingoes sat a good hundred yards distant from the camp. And when daylight +came, and one of the men stirred on his elbow, and looked up at the sky, the +pack retreated slowly, backward through the scrub, till more than double that +distance separated them from the living food at which they had been wistfully +glaring. There was no anger, no savagery, no vestige of cruelty in their minds +and hearts. Finn, it is true, cherished some soreness and resentment where men +were concerned; but even in his case this brought only the desire to keep out +of man's way; while the rest of the pack felt only instinctive dread and fear +of man. But now the feeling which ruled the whole pack, the light which shone +in their eyes, the eagerness which brought moisture continually to their +half-uncovered fangs while they watched--this was simply physical desire for +food, simply hunger.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man who had been the first to stir, rose slowly, and +stretched his arms as though his frame ached, as indeed it did, from a variety +of causes. When the first slanting rays of the new-risen sun reached him, they +shed their light upon a man on whom physical hardship had laid its searing +fingers heavily. His face had a ten days' growth of hair upon it, and was gaunt +and haggard, like the rest of him. His clothes hung about him loosely, and were +torn and soiled and ragged. Under the bronze tan of sunburn on his face and +neck there was the sort of pallor which comes from lack of food; in his +eyes--deep sunk in dark-rimmed hollows--was a curious glitter which was not at +all unlike the glitter in the eyes of the wild folk who had been watching him +during the night. This glitter was of eagerness and want; the expression was +wistful, longing, and full of a desire which had become a pain. It was the same +expression that shone out from the eyes of the starved Mount Desolation pack. +And the causes behind it were the same.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Presently this man woke his companion, who growled at him, +as though he resented the attention.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Time we were on the move, old chap," said the first man. +"We can't afford to wait."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The other man sat up, and blinked wearily at the daylight, +showing a face to the full as haggard and gaunt as that of his friend.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"By God, I don't know!" he said bitterly. "I don't know +whether we can afford to do anything else. Afford! And us carrying a fortune! I +said out there that I'd never had good luck before, and--it was right, too. +Good luck's not for the likes o' me."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Oh, yes, it is," said the other man, with an obvious +effort at cheerfulness. "You wait till we get our legs under a dinner-table, my +boy; then you'll tell another tale about luck. And it will be a dinner-table, +too, mark you; no tin pannikins, but silver and glass and linen and flowers, +and food----Man, think of the juicy fillet, done to a turn; the crisp <em>pomme +rissolé</em>, and--yes, a little spinach, I think, done delicately in the +English way; none of your Neapolitan messes. I'm not certain about the +bread--whether little crusty white rolls or toast. What? Oh, well, it's no use +going the other way, old man; cursing and growsing won't help us any. Come on! +Let's have breakfast and get on. I think you're perfectly right about parting +this morning. We can take that to be east, where the scrub gets thick, and that +to be south. We'll toss who takes which, and one or other of us will strike +something before nightfall, you mark my words; and after that it will be easy +to pick up the other's trail. Better make the trail as plain as possible as we +go along. Come; buck up, Jeff, old man; this will be our last day hungry. I'm +going to take my breakfast now."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Imitating his companion, and with an attempt to look a +little more cheery over it, Jeff stood up now and carefully uncorked a +canvas-covered water-bottle. Each man filled his mouth full from the gurgling +contents of his water-bottle, and stood, swishing the water in his mouth +slowly, and allowing it to trickle little by little down his parched throat. In +this way several minutes were devoted to the swallowing of a single mouthful of +water, and that was breakfast.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"If we hadn't have chucked the guns away we might have got +a chance at something to-day," growled Jeff, when his breakfast was done. "I +could make a roast dingo look foolish this morning, and I'm none so sure I +couldn't eat the brute raw if I got him. You said it was dingoes got Jock last +night, didn't you?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I suppose it must have been," said the other man. "I +don't see what else it could have been. And as to the guns; well, you know, it +was that or the stuff. We couldn't carry any more."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I know. And I'm not sure it's much good carrying that any +longer. I reckon I'll dump mine somewhere to-day, before it dumps me. Sixty-six +pounds don't seem to ride very easy on an empty belly. Sixty-six +pounds--sixty-six solid pounds o' best pin-fire--and us dyin' for want of a +crust. Come on, then! One more try!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You've got your revolver still, haven't you?" asked Jeff, +as he fitted the straps of a big, heavy swag (which had served him for a +pillow) about his shoulders, while his companion did the same with his swag.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Yes," said the other man. "And I tell you what, Jeff; you +shall take it to-day. I've got a jolly good stick here, and I've no use for the +revolver, anyhow; couldn't hit a house at a dozen yards, even if I was likely +to see one. Yes, you take the shooting-iron, my dear fellow; you might manage +to pot something. I hope you will."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">They gravely tossed a twig to decide the question of who +should head south and who east; and then as gravely shook hands and parted, +Jeff heading south and the other man due east.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, if we've got a chance at all, I guess this ought to +double it, anyway," said Jeff.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Why, yes; and one of us'll strike pay dirt to-day all +right, you'll find. So good-bye till then, Jeff," said the other man.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"So long, mate; so long!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Away in the scrub to the northward of the two men a dozen +pair of eyes more hungry than their own were watching them; or, to be exact, +eleven pairs were watching them. Finn lay stretched still at full length, +beside a bush, at Warrigal's feet, while Warrigal peered eagerly through the +scrub. Black-tip, followed by three strong young dogs and a bitch, loped off at +once, without comment or communication with the rest of the pack, in the +direction of the trail of the south-bound Jeff. Warrigal's eyes, as it +happened, were fixed upon the shoulders of the other man, and it was his trail +that she made for now, after rousing Finn with a touch of her muzzle. And so +the wild-folk divided, even as the men-folk had done, five going south after +Jeff, and five others, besides Finn and Warrigal, going east after the other +man. But it was broad daylight, and none of them made any attempt to draw near +the makers of the trails they followed. They merely followed, muzzles carried +low, and nostrils and eager eyes questing as they went for any sign of life in +the scrub--anything, from an ant to an emu, that by any possibility could +represent food. Meanwhile the warm trail of the man ahead kept hope and +excitement alive in them, though that man would have said that he was about as +poor a source of hopefulness as any creature in Australia. To be sure, he had +never thought of himself in the light of food. The dingoes had.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="wolfhound and dingoes galloping through scrub" +src="images/fig39.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="400" height="285" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER31" id="CHAPTER31">CHAPTER XXXII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">IN THE LAST DITCH</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was in the midst of the pitiless heat which comes a +couple of hours after midday, and is harder to bear than the blaze of high +noon, that the man who was heading due east abandoned his swag. He had rested +for the better part of an hour directly after noon, and had two mouthfuls from +his water-bottle, one before and one after his rest. While he rested, the +half-pack, headed by Finn and Warrigal, had rested also, and more completely, +hidden away in the scrub, a quarter of a mile and more from the man whose trail +they followed. Two of them, Warrigal and another, watched with a good deal of +interest the burial of the swag beneath a drought-seared solitary iron-bark. No +sooner was the man out of sight--he walked slowly and with a somewhat +staggering gait now--than the pack unearthed his swag with quick, vicious +strokes of their feet, and laid it bare to the full blaze of the afternoon +sunlight. In a few moments they had its canvas cover torn to ribbons, and +bitter was their disappointment when they came to turn over its jagged mineral +contents between their muzzles, and discovered that even they could eat none of +this rubbish.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It is fair to suppose that within a couple of hours of +this time the man finally lost the brave remnant of hope with which he had set +out that day. The pack did not reason about this, but they felt it as plainly +as any human observer could have done, and the realization brought great +satisfaction to each one of them. It was not that they bore the faintest sort +of malice against the man, or cherished any cruel feeling for him whatever. He +was food; they were starving; and his evident loss of mastery of himself +brought food nearer to the pack.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man's course was erratic now; he tacked like a vessel +sailing in the wind's eye; and his trail was altered by the fact that his feet +were dragged over the ground instead of being planted firmly upon it with each +stride he took. The pack were not alone in their recognition of the man's sorry +plight. He was followed now by no fewer than seven carrion-crows; big, black, +evil-looking birds, who circled in the air behind and above him, swooping +sometimes to within twenty or thirty feet of his head, and cawing at him in a +half-threatening, half-pleading manner, while their bright, hard eyes watched +his eyes avidly, and their shiny beaks opened and shut continually to admit of +hoarse cries. The pack resented the presence of the crows, but were well aware +that, when the time came, these harbingers of death could be put to flight in a +moment.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When darkness fell, the man lighted no fire this evening. +But neither did he lie down. He sat with his back against a tree-trunk and his +legs outstretched; and now and again sounds came from his lips, which, while +not threatening, were certainly not cries for mercy, and therefore in the +pack's eyes not signals for an attack. The man-life was apparently strong in +him yet; for he sometimes flung his arms about, and struck at the earth with +the long, tough stick which he had carried all day. The pack, when they had +unsuccessfully scoured every inch of the ground within a mile of the man for +food, drew in closer for the night's watch than they had ventured on the +previous night, when there had been two men and a fire. But Finn showed a kind +of reserve in this. He lay behind a bush, and farther from the man than any of +the rest of the pack. He wanted food; he needed it more bitterly perhaps than +any of the others; but all his instincts went against regarding man himself as +food, though man's neighbourhood suggested the presence of food, and, instinct +aside, Finn hated the proximity of humans.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man slept only in broken snatches during this night. +While he slept, Warrigal and the others, except Finn, crept in a little closer; +but when he turned, or waved one arm, or when sounds came from his lips, as +they frequently did, then the dingoes would slink backward into the scrub, with +lips updrawn, and silent snarls wrinkling their nostrils. Towards dawn Warrigal +set up a long howl, and at that the man woke with a great start, to sleep no +more. Presently, others of the pack followed Warrigal's lead, and, staggering +to his feet, the man moved forward three steps and flung a piece of rotten wood +in the direction from which the howls came. Warrigal and her mates retreated +for the better part of a hundred yards, snarling aloud; not from fierceness, +but in a kind of wistful disappointment at finding the man still capable of so +much action, and by so much the farther from reaching them as food.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man's shout of anger and defiance reached Finn's ears, +and thrilled the Wolfhound to the marrow. The voice of man in anger; he had not +heard it since the night of his being driven out from the boundary-rider's +camp. The memories which it aroused in him were all, without exception, of +man's tyranny and cruelty, and of his own suffering at man's hands. He growled +low in his throat, but very fiercely. And yet, with it all, what thrilled him +so was not mere anger, or bitterness, or resentment. It was more than all that. +It was the warring within him of inherited respect for man's authority with +acquired wildness; with his acquired freedom of the wild folk. The conflict of +instinct and emotions in Finn was so ardent as almost to overcome consciousness +of the great hunger which was his real master at this time; the furious hunger +which had made him chew savagely at the tough fibre of a dry root held between +his two fore-paws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But the man had taken only three steps, and when he sank +down to the earth again it was not in the place he had occupied before. He lay +down where he had stood when he threw the billet of wood, and there was that in +the manner of his lying down which boded ill for his future activity. It was +observed most carefully by three of the crows, who had followed him all day; +and upon the strength of it, they settled within a dozen paces of his recumbent +figure, with an air which seemed to say plainly that they could afford a little +more patience now, since they would not have long to wait.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3491" id="L3491"></a><img alt="collapsed man watched by crows" +src="images/plate14.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="397" height="545" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">They settled within a dozen paces of his recumbent +figure.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">When full daylight came, Warrigal and her mates were +closer in than ever; hidden in the scrub within forty paces of the man. Finn +retained his old place, some five-and-thirty yards farther back, behind a bush. +The crows preened their funereal plumage and waited, full of bright-eyed +expectancy. Finn gnawed bitterly at his dry fragment of scrub root. The +splendid pitiless sun climbed slowly clear of its bed on the horizon, thrusting +up long, keen blades of heat and light to herald the coming of another blazing +day in the long drought.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Presently, a long spear of the new day's light thrust its +point between the man's curved arm and his face. He turned on his side so that +he faced the sun, and evidently its message to him was that he must be up and +doing; that he must proceed with his journey. Slowly, and with painful effort, +he rose as far as his knees; and then, with a groan, drooped down to earth +again on his side. The crows cocked their heads sideways at him. They seemed +full of brightness and life. But the sun himself was not more pitiless than the +question they seemed to be putting to the man, as they perked their heads from +side to side while considering his last move. Warrigal and her mates saw +clearly the conclusion the crows had arrived at. They, also, held that the man +was down for good at last. At length, it seemed to them, he was practically +nothing else than food; the man-mastery, whose emblem is man's erectness, or +power to stand erect, was gone for ever, they thought. The crows were safe +guides, and one of them was hopping gravely towards the back of the man. +Warrigal, followed by five of her mates, crept slowly forward through the +scrub; and saliva was hanging like icicles from their parted jaws.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn saw Warrigal's movement, and knew precisely what it +portended with as much certainty as though his mate had explained it all to +him. And now Finn was possessed by two opposing inclinations, both terribly +strong. Upon the one hand, instinctive respect for man's authority and acquired +dislike of man and all his works bade the great Wolfhound remain where he was. +Upon the other hand, two forces impelled him to rise and join his mate, and +those two forces were the greatest hunger he had ever known, and the assertive +pride of his leadership of the pack. There before his eyes his section of the +pack was advancing, preparing for a kill for food, there in that bitter desert +of starvation. And he, the unquestioned master and leader of the pack, master +of all the wild kindred that he knew; he, Finn, was----Three seconds later, and +the Wolfhound had bounded forward, his great shoulders thrusting angrily +between Warrigal and the big male dingo who had dared to usurp his, Finn's, +place there as leader in concerted action.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">For an instant the pack paused, no more than a score of +paces distant from the man's shoulders, glaring uneasily. Then the man moved, +raising his body slightly upon one elbow. The dingoes drew back a pace, even +Warrigal moving back with them, though she snarled savagely in doing so. Finn +did not move. Warrigal's snarl it was which told the man of his danger, and, +with an effort, he rose upon his knees, and grabbed at his long stick where it +lay on the ground. Again Warrigal snarled, less than a yard from Finn's ears, +and her snarl was the snarl which announces a kill. It was not for others to +kill where Finn led. And yet something--he could not tell what, since he knew +nothing of heredity--something held the great Wolfhound's muscles relaxed; he +could not take the leap which was wont to precede killing with him. Again +Warrigal snarled. The man was rising to his feet. A great fear of being shamed +was upon Finn. With that snarl in his ears advance was a necessity. He moved +forward quickly, but without a spring. And in that instant the man, having +actually got upon his feet, swung round toward the pack with his long stick +uplifted, and Finn gathered his hind-quarters under him for the leap which +should end this hunting--this long, strange hunting in a desert of +starvation.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Wolfhound actually did spring. His four feet left the +ground. But, with a shock which jarred every nerve and muscle in his great +frame, they returned to earth again, practically upon the exact spots they had +left. His sense of smell, never remarkable for its acuteness in detail, had +told Finn nothing, save that his quarry in this strange hunting was man. But +the Wolfhound's eyes could not mislead him, and in the instant of his suddenly +arrested spring--the spring which it had taken every particle of strength in +his great body to check--he had known, with a sudden revulsion of feeling which +positively stopped the beating of his heart, that this man the pack had trailed +was none other than the Man of all the world for him; the man whose person was +as sacred as his will to Finn; the Master, whose loss had been the beginning +and the cause of all the troubles the Wolfhound had ever known.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">There had been the beginning of the killing snarl in +Finn's throat when he sprang, and as he came to earth again at the man's feet, +possessed and almost paralysed by his amazing discovery, that snarl had ended +in as curious a cry as ever left the throat of four-footed folk since the world +began. It was not a bark this cry, still less a snarl or growl, and it could +not have been called a howl. It was more like human speech than that of the +wild people; and, human or animal, there was no mistaking it for anything less +than soul-speech. It welled up into the morning air from the very centre of +that in Finn which must be called his soul--the something which differentiated +him from every other living thing on earth, and made him--Finn.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And in that same instant, too, recognition came to the +Master, and he knew his huge assailant to be no creature of the wild, no giant +wolf or dingo, but the beloved Wolfhound of his own breeding and most careful, +loving rearing. It was from some central recess of his own personality that the +Master's cry of "Finn, boy!" answered the strange cry with which the Wolfhound +came to earth at his feet.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">But behind them was the pack, and in the pack's eyes what +had happened was that their leader had missed his kill; that fear had broken +his spring off short, and that now he was at the mercy of the man who, a moment +before, had been mere food. For a dingo, no other task, not even the gnawing +off of a limb caught in a trap, could require quite so much sheer courage as +the attacking of Man in the open--man erect and unafraid. But Warrigal had +never in her life lacked courage, and now, behind her courage and her devotion +to her mate, there was hunger, red-toothed and slavering in her ears; hunger +burning like a live coal in her heart; hunger stretching her jaws for killing, +with an eagerness and a ferocity which could not be denied. In the next instant +Warrigal had flown at the man's right shoulder with a fierce snarl which called +those of her kind who were not cowards to follow her or be for ever +accursed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Warrigal's white fangs slashed down the man's coat-sleeve, +and left lines of skin and blood where the cloth gave. For one moment Finn +hesitated. Warrigal was his good mate, the mother of his dead children, his +loving companion by day and night, during long months past. She concentrated in +her own person all the best of his kinship with the wild. There was mateship +and comradeship between them. As against all this, Warrigal's fangs had +fastened upon the sacred flesh of the Master, of the Man of all the world, who +stood for everything that was best in Finn's two-thousand-years-old inheritance +of intercourse with and devotion to human friends.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Next instant, and even as the biggest male dingo of the +pack flew at the man's other side, Finn pinned his mate to earth, and, with one +tremendous crunch of his huge jaws, severed her jugular vein, and set her +life's blood running over the parched earth.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">In that moment, the pack awoke to realization of the +strange thing that had befallen them. They had been seven, pitted against a +single man, and he apparently in the act of ceasing to be erect man, and +becoming mere food. Now they were five--for Warrigal's life ebbed quickly from +her--pitted against a man wakened to erectness and hostility, and their own +great leader; the great Wolf, who had slain Lupus, their old fierce master, and +even Tasman, his terrible sire. It is certain that at another time the pack +would not have hesitated for one moment about turning tail and fleeing that +place of strange, unnatural happenings. But this was no ordinary time. They +were mad with hunger. Blood was flowing out upon the earth before them. One of +them had the taste of man's blood on his foaming lips. This was not a tracking, +or a killing in prospect, but a fight in progress. The pack would never turn +tail alive from that fight.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The man had his back to the withered iron-bark now, and, +besides the long stick in his right hand, he held an open knife in his left +hand, as a long, fierce bitch found to her cost when she leaped for his throat, +fell short, and felt cold steel bite deep in her flank as she sank to earth. +And now the great Wolfhound warmed to his work, with a fire of zeal which mere +hunger itself could not have lit within him. He was fighting now as never +before since his fangs met in his first kill in far-away Sussex. He was +fighting for the life of the Master, love of whom, long quiescent in him, +welled up in him now; a warm tide of new blood which gave strength to his gaunt +limbs and weight to his emaciated frame, such as they had never known when he +fought, full fed, with Lupus, or with Tasman, on the rocky side of Mount +Desolation. A tiger could hardly have evaded him. His onslaught was at once +terrible, and swift as forked lightning. It seemed he slashed and tore in five +separate directions at one and the same time. But that was only because his +jaws flashed from one dingo's body to another with such rapidity that the +passage between could not be followed by the eye. This meant that his fangs +could not be driven deep enough for instant killing. There was not time. But +they went deep, none the less; and blood streamed now from the necks and +shoulders of the dingoes that succeeded one another in springing at the man and +the Wolfhound.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Two of the dingoes owed their deaths to the long +knife-blade of the man; but even as the second of them received the steel to +the hilt below his chest-bones, the man sank, utterly exhausted and bleeding +freely, on his knees, and from there to the ground itself. This drew the +attention of the three surviving dingoes from the leader, who in some +mysterious manner had become an enemy, to the fallen man who was now, clearly, +a kill. Mere hunger, desperate hunger, was uppermost in the minds of the three. +They quested flesh and blood from the kill that lay helpless before them.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">It was then that Finn outdid himself; it was then that he +called into sudden and violent action every particle of reserve strength that +was left in him. It was then that his magnificent upbringing stood by him, and +the gift of a thousand years of unstained lineage lent him more than a +Wolfhound's strength and quickness; so that, almost within the passage of as +many seconds, he slew three full-grown dingoes, precisely as a game terrier +will slay three rats, with one crushing snap and one tremendous shake to each. +Starved though they were, these dingoes weighed over forty pounds apiece; yet +when they met with their death between Finn's mighty jaws, their bodies were +flung from him, in the killing shake, to a distance of as much as five +yards.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And then there fell a sudden and complete stillness in +that desert spot, which had seen the end of six lives in as many minutes; +besides the final falling of the Master, which implied, Finn knew not what.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Finn fell to licking the Master's white, blood-flecked +face where it lay on the ground. And at that, the waiting crows settled down +upon the bodies of the outlying dingoes; so that their dead, sightless eyes +were made doubly sightless in a moment. After long licking, or licking which +seemed to him long, Finn pointed his nose to the brazen sky, and lifted up his +voice in the true Wolfhound howl, which is perhaps the most penetratingly +saddening cry in Nature.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p></p> + +<p></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal "> <img alt="wolfhound sitting by collapsed man" +src="images/fig40.png" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="600" height="301" /></p> + +<h2 class="c4"><a name="CHAPTER32" id="CHAPTER32">CHAPTER XXXIII</a></h2> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">BACK FROM THE WILD</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Four men were riding together through the low, burnt-up +scrub, and in front of them, holding their horses at a smart amble to be even +with his jog trot, a naked aboriginal was leading the way on his own bare +feet.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3495" id="L3495"></a><img alt="four riders following running man" +src="images/plate15.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="566" height="413" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">Four men were riding together through the low burnt-up +scrub.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Blurry big warrigal 'e bin run here!" said the +black-fellow suddenly, as he stooped to examine a footprint in the trail they +were following. He counted the different footprints, and announced to the +horsemen that seven dingoes had followed the trail they were following at that +moment. "Five and two," the black-fellow called it, ticking the number off on +the fingers of one hand. He explained that these dingoes, led by the "blurry +big warrigal" aforesaid, must have been terribly badly in want of food; and +that he did not think much of the chances of the man they had followed.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">One of the riders--it was Jeff--nodded his head dolefully +over this.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"I reckon all the plaguy warrigals in this country must +'a' gone crazy," he said. "You know I told you there was half a dozen on my +track. But we're goin' right; you can be dead sure o' that, for that was his +swag we found all right, and you could see the dingoes had been at that. My +oath! To think o' them brutes scratching up a fortune that way, an' leaving it +there!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"You wouldn't expect 'em to take it into town an' bank it, +would you?" said one of the other men, with a grin. "Hurry on, Jacky!"--This to +the black-fellow--"What time he make dem tracks, eh? He's fresh, you think?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The black-fellow snorted contemptuously, as he explained +over one shoulder that the tracks were of the previous day's making. "Still," +said the rider; "he may not have got far. He can't have got very far."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And again Jeff nodded, with sombre meaning. He was always +a pessimistically inclined man; and, in his rough way, he had conceived a good +deal of affection and respect for his prospecting mate.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Another three miles were covered, and then, suddenly, the +black-fellow halted, with one hand raised over his head, which was turned +sideways, in a listening attitude. He explained, a moment later, that he could +hear howling, such as a "blurry big warrigal" might produce. The party pushed +on, and two or three minutes later they were all able to make out the sound the +black-fellow had heard. But the black-fellow shook his head now, and informed +them that no warrigal ever made a howl like that; that that must be "white +feller dog."</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, that's queer," said Jeff; "for Jock was killed the +night before we parted. But, say, whatever it is, that's a most ungodly sort o' +howl, sure enough!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Five or six minutes later the black-fellow gave a whoop of +astonishment as he topped a little ridge and came into view of the Master, +lying prone upon the ground, with Finn sitting erect beside his head. One of +the riders pulled out a revolver when he caught sight of Finn's shaggy head.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well, may I be teetotally jiggered!" he growled. "What +sort of a beast do ye call that?"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The riders galloped down the slope and flung themselves +hurriedly from their horses. The leading man waved his whip at Finn to drive +him off. And then it was seen that Finn's assiduous licking had been sufficient +to restore the man to consciousness. The Master raised his head feebly, and +said--</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"For God's sake don't hurt the dog! He saved my life. +Killed six dingoes in front of me. God's sake don't touch the----"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">And with that he lapsed again into unconsciousness, while +Jeff propped up his head and another man produced a spirit-flask, and the +black-fellow gazed admiringly round upon the dead dingoes, and the huge +Wolfhound who sat there, with hackles raised and lips a little curled by reason +of the proximity of the men-folk. But Finn was perfectly conscious that the +Master was being helped, and he showed no inclination to interfere. He was +watchful, however, and would not retreat for more than a few paces.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The party had brandy, and water, and food in plenty with +them; and it was not long before the Master was sitting up and munching soaked +bread, and sipping brandy and water, while one of the men cleansed and bandaged +his arms where the dingoes had torn them. Another of the men tossed a big crust +of bread to Finn, and, seeing the way the Wolfhound bolted this, realized that +the hound was as near to starving as the man. After that, Finn had food and +drink in modest quantities; and, presently, the Master called to him, and +placed one arm weakly over his bony shoulders, while telling the men, in as few +words as might be, something of the manner in which Finn had fought for him, +and the origin of their relationship.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">Exactly a week later, Finn lay on the balcony of a country +town hotel, with his nose just resting lightly on the Master's knee. The Master +was still weak. He lay on a cane lounge, with one hand on Firm's shoulder. +Beside him, in a basket chair, was the Mistress of the Kennels, and now and +again her hand was passed caressingly over Finn's head. There was still a good +deal of gauntness about the great Wolfhound; but he was strong as a lion now, +and his dark eyes gleamed as brightly as ever through their overhanging eaves +of iron-grey hair.</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><a name="L3499" id="L3499"></a><img +alt="wolfhound licking hand of reclining man" src="images/plate16.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="389" height="529" /></p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">The Wolfhound raised his bearded muzzle, and softly +licked the Master's thin brown hand.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"Well," said the Master, looking across at his companion, +over Finn's head. "I'm not very certain about most things. It takes some time +to get used to being rich, doesn't it? I suppose we may be called rich. They +say the claim is good enough for half a dozen fortunes yet; and sixty odd +pounds of gem opal is no trifle, of itself." (As a matter of fact, the Master's +swag brought him an average price of just over £20 to the ounce, or £21,250 for +the lot, apart from his share in a very rich claim.)</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"One thing I am dead sure about, however, and that is +that, come rain or shine, there isn't money enough in all Australia to tempt us +into parting with Finn boy again. Finn, boy!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">The Wolfhound raised his bearded muzzle, and softly licked +the Master's thin brown hand. It was his weakness, no doubt, that produced a +kind of wetness about the man's eyes.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">"It's 'Sussex by the sea' for us, Finn, boy, in another +month or so; and, God willing, that's where you shall end your days!"</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal">As he responded, after his own fashion, to the Master's +assurance, there was small trace in the great Wolfhound's eyes of his +relationship with the wild kindred of the bush.</p> + +<p class="MsoNormal"> </p> + +<p class="MsoNormal c1">THE END</p> + +<p></p> + +<p><img alt="back endpaper" src="images/endpaper2.jpg" +style="display: block; text-align: center; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" +width="450" height="307" /></p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J. 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