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+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.
+
+
+
+
+
+FINN THE WOLFHOUND
+
+[Illustration]
+
+By A. J. DAWSON
+
+AUTHOR OF "'THE MESSAGE," "THE GENTEEL A.B.," ETC.
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY R. H. BUXTON
+
+[Frontispiece: The man had his back to the withered iron-bark
+now.]
+
+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.
+
+
+TO "THE MISTRESS OF THE KENNELS" AND TO THE MEMORY OF
+TYNAGH MOTHER OF WOLFHOUND HEROES ITS WRITER DEDICATES
+THIS HISTORY
+
+Witchampton, 1908
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I. The Mother of Heroes
+
+CHAPTER II. In the Beginning
+
+CHAPTER III. The Foster-mother
+
+CHAPTER IV. First Steps
+
+CHAPTER V. Youth beside the Downs
+
+CHAPTER VI. The Ordeal of the Ring
+
+CHAPTER VII. Revelations
+
+CHAPTER VIII. Finn Walks Alone
+
+CHAPTER IX. The Heart of Tara
+
+CHAPTER X. A Transition Stage
+
+CHAPTER XI. A Sea Change
+
+CHAPTER XII. The Parting of the Ways
+
+CHAPTER XIII. An Adventure by Night
+
+CHAPTER XIV. The Southern Cross Circus
+
+CHAPTER XV. The Making of a Wild Beast
+
+CHAPTER XVI. Martyrdom
+
+CHAPTER XVII. Freedom
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. Too Late
+
+CHAPTER XIX. The Domestic Lure
+
+CHAPTER XX. The Sunday Hunt
+
+CHAPTER XXI. Three Dingoes went a-walking
+
+CHAPTER XXII. A Break-up in Arcadia
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. The Outcast
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. A Lone Bachelor
+
+CHAPTER XXV. Mated
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. The Pack and its Masters
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. Single Combat
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. Domestic Life in the Mountain Den
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. Tragedy in the Mountain Den
+
+CHAPTER XXX. The Exodus
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. The Trail of Man
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. In the Last Ditch
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. Back from the Wild
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE MAN HAD HIS BACK TO THE WITHERED IRON-BARK NOW (Frontispiece)
+
+FINN AND HIS FOSTER-MOTHER
+
+TARA SMILED BROADLY, AND STRETCHED OUT HER FORE-LEGS ON THE GROUND
+
+THE GATE LEADING INTO THE YARD OPENED, AND BILL APPEARED
+
+FINN'S TEETH SANK DEEP
+
+THE NEXT INSTANT SAW THE PROFESSOR FLUNG BACK AT LENGTH AGAINST THE
+BARS OF THE CAGE
+
+WAS LOST IN THE SHADOW OF THE MAIN TENT
+
+SPURRING HIS HORSE FORWARD
+
+HE WAS BACKING GRADUALLY TOWARDS A BOULDER BESIDE THE TRAIL
+
+FINN WAS STANDING ROYALLY ERECT
+
+FINN'S TOWERING FORM STOOD OUT CLEARLY IN THE MOONLIGHT
+
+HE SLUNG THE WALLABY OVER HIS SHOULDER AND SET OUT FOR THE MOUNTAIN
+
+SCRAMBLING AND SLIDING DOWN THE HIGH BANKS OF A RIVER-BED
+
+THEY SETTLED WITHIN A DOZEN PACES OF HIS RECUMBENT FIGURE
+
+FOUR MEN WERE RIDING TOGETHER THROUGH THE LOW BURNT-UP SCRUB
+
+THE WOLFHOUND RAISED HIS BEARDED MUZZLE, AND SOFTLY LICKED THE
+MASTER'S THIN BROWN HAND
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE MOTHER OF HEROES
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Yes, it is, rather--isn't it?--after Croft."
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"And four years was to be the minimum, wasn't it?  We thought of
+five, at first."
+
+"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 _really_ lived cottage style, you
+know."
+
+"But should we? Cottages don't have kennels, you know; not
+Wolfhound kennels, anyhow."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+"Forty-nine!" cried the Master, with a tightening of his lips.
+
+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.
+
+"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----"
+
+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.
+
+The ferret-faced dealer raised the price to fifty-three guineas,
+and the Master bit his lip and made it fifty-four.
+
+"May I say fifty-five for you, sir?" said the auctioneer to the
+clean-shaven man in the kennel-coat.
+
+"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.
+
+"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 _you_, 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!"
+
+"We're not dealing in personalities, sir," snapped the Master.
+"Sixty guineas!"
+
+And then he turned on his heel; this desperate bid being far more
+than he could afford. The auctioneer smiled amiably.
+
+"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 _you_, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN THE BEGINNING
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.)
+
+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:--
+
+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:--
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE FOSTER-MOTHER
+
+
+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:--
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Come and see the Mistress, old lady; come along and stretch
+yourself," said her friend.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"There, there, pet; your children are all right, you see," said the
+Mistress, as she let Tara into the den.
+
+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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration: Finn and his foster-mother]
+
+"Um! Yes, twelve or fourteen hours' travelling with three new-born
+pups must be rather awful--poor little beast! Did she take her
+breakfast?"
+
+"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!"
+
+"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."
+
+"Then you have decided to put Finn to the foster-mother?"
+
+"Yes. You see, poor old Tara--well, she----"
+
+"Yes, I know; she's poor old Tara--spoiled darling!"
+
+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----"
+
+"Yes, I know; the illness, you mean."
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Good!" said the Master, and he sat down on a little barrel of
+disinfectant powder to fill a pipe.
+
+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:--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FIRST STEPS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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:--
+
+  Fawn bitch  10 3/4 lbs.
+  Grey bitch  11 1/4 lbs.
+  Fawn dog  12 lbs. 3 oz.
+  Finn  14 lbs. 4 oz.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"Come along, little shepherd. That's good-bye."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+YOUTH BESIDE THE DOWNS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Tara smiled broadly, and stretched out her fore-legs
+on the ground.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"I? Oh, but, really, I--I----"
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The three were seated now, so that they might observe and admire
+the family at leisure.
+
+"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."
+
+"It is very, very good of you, and I shall be delighted, delighted
+to have one of Tara's children."
+
+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--
+
+"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?"
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 _savoir-faire_. 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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ORDEAL OF THE RING
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+Finn was weighed on the station platform that morning, and turned
+the scale at 139 lbs., with nine months still before him for
+"furnishing."
+
+"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."
+
+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 _with_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Move them round, please," he said quietly. "Keep them moving as
+freely as possible."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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----
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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;
+_re_-markable, sir." And this Judge knew more about Irish
+Wolfhounds than any other man living.
+
+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.
+
+At last the Judge drew back, saying: "That will do, thank you!"
+
+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:--
+
+  1st...No. 247.
+  2nd...No. 248.
+  3rd...No. 261.
+  V.H.C...No. 256.
+  H.C...No. 259.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"The young dog has it--the finest hound I ever saw!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+REVELATIONS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"I'll walk straight on. You drive on with the cart after me. Don't
+stop till you're clear of the village."
+
+"You've got him, then?" said the second man.
+
+"Never you mind about that. Can't yer see I've got him? You get the
+pony out."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"None o' that, now!" said the man, with a new note in his voice, of
+extreme harshness. "Come along now; d'ye hear!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Steady with 'im, matey," said the other man. "Don't knock the
+dollars off of 'im."
+
+"Who asked you to shove your jaw in?" snarled the first man. "You
+didn't get the brute, did ye--curse him!"
+
+Another kick.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+An end came at last to this horrible drive.
+
+"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.
+
+"'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.
+
+"Ain't ye goin' to give 'im a drink, matey?" asked Bill, outside.
+
+"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.
+_I'd_ 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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FINN WALKS ALONE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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--
+
+"Here, then, good dog! Come on, Finn! Here, boy!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  The gate leading into the yard opened, and Bill
+appeared]
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"I'm jiggered if that ain't 'im a-waitin' for us!" exclaimed Bill,
+in a hoarse whisper.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE HEART OF TARA
+
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The Mistress nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"But that's quite impossible after this," she said; "selling Finn,
+I mean."
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+The Mistress stared.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Tara! Tara, girl! Here, girl!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A TRANSITION STAGE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+[Illustration:  Finn's teeth sank deep.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.)
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A SEA CHANGE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Over and fetch him, Finn! Over boy! Over!"
+
+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.
+
+"Over, boy! Fetch Tim! Over, then!"
+
+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.
+
+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?
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+Again the young doctor shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"I don't see what else a man can do, my Finn, boy; but--but it's
+hard."
+
+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.
+
+"Doctor," said the Master; "I want the address of that rich patient
+of yours who is fond of animals."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+And then the merchant shook hands with the Master, and read the
+note from the doctor.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The Master shook his head.
+
+Suddenly then, the Master turned upon the merchant, with a little
+upward movement of both hands.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"You don't think he'll run away, do you?" asked the merchant.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+Before noon of that day the Master was on his way to the mountains
+with the Mistress of the Kennels.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AN ADVENTURE BY NIGHT
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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-_ri_stocrat. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Here, Sam!" cried the startled landlady, "you talk about your
+blessed menagerie, come an' look 'ere. My word, this'll surprise
+yer!"
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"Well, what jer think of 'im?" the landlady asked of her son.
+
+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--
+
+"Is he savage?"
+
+"Wouldn't hurt a sheep," replied the mother. "Wouldn't yer like to
+know where I got such a beauty?"
+
+"No kid. He's not yours," said Sam.
+
+"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."
+
+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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE SOUTHERN CROSS CIRCUS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+Sam began to feel that he really was a very fine fellow, and one
+who had accomplished great things.
+
+"Well, I'll tell ye, boss; I bought him from a wild Irishman named
+O'Flaherty, who landed yesterday from the steamer, _Prince Rupert_,
+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.
+
+"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 _Police Gazette_, 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?"
+
+"Well, I'm only askin' a fiver for meself out've him, boss; so I'll
+take twenty down."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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?"
+
+The Professor inspected the furiously raging Finn with considerable
+interest.
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"Help! Me want help! You wait here two minutes, boss, an' I'll show
+you."
+
+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.
+
+"Now I'll show you how much help I need in taming, boss," said the
+Professor.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"Well, he sure is a rustler from 'way back, Professor, every single
+time," remarked the boss.
+
+"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."
+
+And a couple of days before this, the younger Miss Sandbrook had
+been resting her carefully dressed curls against Finn's head.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE MAKING OF A WILD BEAST
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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:--
+
+"I cannot bear to look at them; I never do. Let us hurry straight
+in."
+
+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!
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+MARTYRDOM
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+[Illustration:  The next instant saw the Professor flung back at
+length against the bars of the cage.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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!"
+
+"You might as well give him a mouse. He'd swaller it whole. He's
+twice the size of a dingo."
+
+"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 _don't_ think!"
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Was lost in the shadow of the main tent.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+FREEDOM
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+TOO LATE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE DOMESTIC LURE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Come on in, then, good dog! Here, boy! Here then!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"Well, say, Wolf, I suppose your belly has a bottom to it,
+somewhere, what? Here; don't mind me; take the lot!"
+
+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.
+
+Finn polished the tin dish clean and bright, and then retired into
+the shadows.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE SUNDAY HUNT
+
+
+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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+As Finn arrived beside the gunyah, Bill appeared at its entrance,
+yawning and stretching his muscular arms.
+
+"Hullo there, Wolf," he said lazily; "early bird catches the worm,
+hey? Good on ye, my son."
+
+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.
+
+"Come in here, Jess! Come in!" growled the man sharply. "Come in
+here, an' drop it."
+
+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.
+
+"Fair doos," he said explanatorily. "Wolf's the biggest; and it was
+his kill, anyway; so he gets the quarters."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"You've got mixed up in your almanack, old lady. This is Saturday."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THREE DINGOES WENT A-WALKING
+
+
+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--
+
+"You're a mighty good sort, Wolf, and you can say I said so."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+When Wallaby Bill came to look at that corpse some hours later he
+said--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A BREAK-UP IN ARCADIA
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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'
+_him_!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE OUTCAST
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: Spurring his horse forward.]
+
+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.
+
+"G-r-r-r, you thieving swine! I'll teach ye!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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?
+
+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 _noblesse oblige_,
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A LONE BACHELOR
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"If that great brute had not obliged us to feed so hurriedly,
+_this_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+MATED
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  He was backing gradually towards a boulder beside
+the trail.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE PACK AND ITS MASTERS
+
+
+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--
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Finn was standing royally erect.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+SINGLE COMBAT
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Finn's towering form stood out clearly in the
+moonlight.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Here is your old lord and tyrant! Take him away, and leave me
+now!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+DOMESTIC LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+TRAGEDY IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  He slung the wallaby over his shoulder and set out
+for the mountain.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE EXODUS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Scrambling and sliding down the high banks of a
+river-bed.]
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+THE TRAIL OF MAN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Presently this man woke his companion, who growled at him, as
+though he resented the attention.
+
+"Time we were on the move, old chap," said the first man. "We can't
+afford to wait."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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 _pomme rissolé_, 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."
+
+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.
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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!"
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"Well, if we've got a chance at all, I guess this ought to double
+it, anyway," said Jeff.
+
+"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.
+
+"So long, mate; so long!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+IN THE LAST DITCH
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  They settled within a dozen paces of his recumbent
+figure.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+BACK FROM THE WILD
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Four men were riding together through the low
+burnt-up scrub]
+
+"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.
+
+One of the riders--it was Jeff--nodded his head dolefully over
+this.
+
+"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!"
+
+"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?"
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"Well, may I be teetotally jiggered!" he growled. "What sort of a
+beast do ye call that?"
+
+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--
+
+"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----"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: The Wolfhound raised his bearded muzzle, and softly
+licked the Master's thin brown hand.]
+
+"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.)
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J. Dawson
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINN THE WOLFHOUND ***
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+***** This file should be named 30550-8.txt or 30550-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/5/5/30550/
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+Produced by Clare Graham, in memory of my dear father
+George Edgar Graham who first introduced me to Finn and
+his son Jan.
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+  <title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J.
+  Dawson</title>
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+<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&mdash;</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. Dawson
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINN THE WOLFHOUND ***
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+***** This file should be named 30550-h.htm or 30550-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/5/5/30550/
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+Produced by Clare Graham, in memory of my dear father
+George Edgar Graham who first introduced me to Finn and
+his son Jan.
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+</body>
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@@ -0,0 +1,11405 @@
+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: ASCII
+
+*** 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.
+
+
+
+
+
+FINN THE WOLFHOUND
+
+[Illustration]
+
+By A. J. DAWSON
+
+AUTHOR OF "'THE MESSAGE," "THE GENTEEL A.B.," ETC.
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY R. H. BUXTON
+
+[Frontispiece: The man had his back to the withered iron-bark
+now.]
+
+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.
+
+
+TO "THE MISTRESS OF THE KENNELS" AND TO THE MEMORY OF
+TYNAGH MOTHER OF WOLFHOUND HEROES ITS WRITER DEDICATES
+THIS HISTORY
+
+Witchampton, 1908
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER I. The Mother of Heroes
+
+CHAPTER II. In the Beginning
+
+CHAPTER III. The Foster-mother
+
+CHAPTER IV. First Steps
+
+CHAPTER V. Youth beside the Downs
+
+CHAPTER VI. The Ordeal of the Ring
+
+CHAPTER VII. Revelations
+
+CHAPTER VIII. Finn Walks Alone
+
+CHAPTER IX. The Heart of Tara
+
+CHAPTER X. A Transition Stage
+
+CHAPTER XI. A Sea Change
+
+CHAPTER XII. The Parting of the Ways
+
+CHAPTER XIII. An Adventure by Night
+
+CHAPTER XIV. The Southern Cross Circus
+
+CHAPTER XV. The Making of a Wild Beast
+
+CHAPTER XVI. Martyrdom
+
+CHAPTER XVII. Freedom
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. Too Late
+
+CHAPTER XIX. The Domestic Lure
+
+CHAPTER XX. The Sunday Hunt
+
+CHAPTER XXI. Three Dingoes went a-walking
+
+CHAPTER XXII. A Break-up in Arcadia
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. The Outcast
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. A Lone Bachelor
+
+CHAPTER XXV. Mated
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. The Pack and its Masters
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. Single Combat
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. Domestic Life in the Mountain Den
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. Tragedy in the Mountain Den
+
+CHAPTER XXX. The Exodus
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. The Trail of Man
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. In the Last Ditch
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. Back from the Wild
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+THE MAN HAD HIS BACK TO THE WITHERED IRON-BARK NOW (Frontispiece)
+
+FINN AND HIS FOSTER-MOTHER
+
+TARA SMILED BROADLY, AND STRETCHED OUT HER FORE-LEGS ON THE GROUND
+
+THE GATE LEADING INTO THE YARD OPENED, AND BILL APPEARED
+
+FINN'S TEETH SANK DEEP
+
+THE NEXT INSTANT SAW THE PROFESSOR FLUNG BACK AT LENGTH AGAINST THE
+BARS OF THE CAGE
+
+WAS LOST IN THE SHADOW OF THE MAIN TENT
+
+SPURRING HIS HORSE FORWARD
+
+HE WAS BACKING GRADUALLY TOWARDS A BOULDER BESIDE THE TRAIL
+
+FINN WAS STANDING ROYALLY ERECT
+
+FINN'S TOWERING FORM STOOD OUT CLEARLY IN THE MOONLIGHT
+
+HE SLUNG THE WALLABY OVER HIS SHOULDER AND SET OUT FOR THE MOUNTAIN
+
+SCRAMBLING AND SLIDING DOWN THE HIGH BANKS OF A RIVER-BED
+
+THEY SETTLED WITHIN A DOZEN PACES OF HIS RECUMBENT FIGURE
+
+FOUR MEN WERE RIDING TOGETHER THROUGH THE LOW BURNT-UP SCRUB
+
+THE WOLFHOUND RAISED HIS BEARDED MUZZLE, AND SOFTLY LICKED THE
+MASTER'S THIN BROWN HAND
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE MOTHER OF HEROES
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Yes, it is, rather--isn't it?--after Croft."
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"And four years was to be the minimum, wasn't it?  We thought of
+five, at first."
+
+"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 _really_ lived cottage style, you
+know."
+
+"But should we? Cottages don't have kennels, you know; not
+Wolfhound kennels, anyhow."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+"Forty-nine!" cried the Master, with a tightening of his lips.
+
+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.
+
+"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----"
+
+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.
+
+The ferret-faced dealer raised the price to fifty-three guineas,
+and the Master bit his lip and made it fifty-four.
+
+"May I say fifty-five for you, sir?" said the auctioneer to the
+clean-shaven man in the kennel-coat.
+
+"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.
+
+"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 _you_, 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!"
+
+"We're not dealing in personalities, sir," snapped the Master.
+"Sixty guineas!"
+
+And then he turned on his heel; this desperate bid being far more
+than he could afford. The auctioneer smiled amiably.
+
+"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 _you_, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN THE BEGINNING
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.)
+
+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:--
+
+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:--
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE FOSTER-MOTHER
+
+
+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:--
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Come and see the Mistress, old lady; come along and stretch
+yourself," said her friend.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"There, there, pet; your children are all right, you see," said the
+Mistress, as she let Tara into the den.
+
+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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+[Illustration: Finn and his foster-mother]
+
+"Um! Yes, twelve or fourteen hours' travelling with three new-born
+pups must be rather awful--poor little beast! Did she take her
+breakfast?"
+
+"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!"
+
+"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."
+
+"Then you have decided to put Finn to the foster-mother?"
+
+"Yes. You see, poor old Tara--well, she----"
+
+"Yes, I know; she's poor old Tara--spoiled darling!"
+
+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----"
+
+"Yes, I know; the illness, you mean."
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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:--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Good!" said the Master, and he sat down on a little barrel of
+disinfectant powder to fill a pipe.
+
+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:--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+FIRST STEPS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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:--
+
+  Fawn bitch  10 3/4 lbs.
+  Grey bitch  11 1/4 lbs.
+  Fawn dog  12 lbs. 3 oz.
+  Finn  14 lbs. 4 oz.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"Come along, little shepherd. That's good-bye."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+YOUTH BESIDE THE DOWNS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Tara smiled broadly, and stretched out her fore-legs
+on the ground.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"I? Oh, but, really, I--I----"
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The three were seated now, so that they might observe and admire
+the family at leisure.
+
+"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."
+
+"It is very, very good of you, and I shall be delighted, delighted
+to have one of Tara's children."
+
+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--
+
+"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?"
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 _savoir-faire_. 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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+THE ORDEAL OF THE RING
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+Finn was weighed on the station platform that morning, and turned
+the scale at 139 lbs., with nine months still before him for
+"furnishing."
+
+"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."
+
+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 _with_ 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.
+
+In due course, but not before Finn had become comparatively blase
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Move them round, please," he said quietly. "Keep them moving as
+freely as possible."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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----
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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;
+_re_-markable, sir." And this Judge knew more about Irish
+Wolfhounds than any other man living.
+
+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.
+
+At last the Judge drew back, saying: "That will do, thank you!"
+
+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:--
+
+  1st...No. 247.
+  2nd...No. 248.
+  3rd...No. 261.
+  V.H.C...No. 256.
+  H.C...No. 259.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"The young dog has it--the finest hound I ever saw!"
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+REVELATIONS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"I'll walk straight on. You drive on with the cart after me. Don't
+stop till you're clear of the village."
+
+"You've got him, then?" said the second man.
+
+"Never you mind about that. Can't yer see I've got him? You get the
+pony out."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"None o' that, now!" said the man, with a new note in his voice, of
+extreme harshness. "Come along now; d'ye hear!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Steady with 'im, matey," said the other man. "Don't knock the
+dollars off of 'im."
+
+"Who asked you to shove your jaw in?" snarled the first man. "You
+didn't get the brute, did ye--curse him!"
+
+Another kick.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+An end came at last to this horrible drive.
+
+"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.
+
+"'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.
+
+"Ain't ye goin' to give 'im a drink, matey?" asked Bill, outside.
+
+"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.
+_I'd_ 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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+FINN WALKS ALONE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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--
+
+"Here, then, good dog! Come on, Finn! Here, boy!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  The gate leading into the yard opened, and Bill
+appeared]
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"I'm jiggered if that ain't 'im a-waitin' for us!" exclaimed Bill,
+in a hoarse whisper.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE HEART OF TARA
+
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The Mistress nodded thoughtfully.
+
+"But that's quite impossible after this," she said; "selling Finn,
+I mean."
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+The Mistress stared.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Tara! Tara, girl! Here, girl!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A TRANSITION STAGE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+[Illustration:  Finn's teeth sank deep.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.)
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A SEA CHANGE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Over and fetch him, Finn! Over boy! Over!"
+
+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.
+
+"Over, boy! Fetch Tim! Over, then!"
+
+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.
+
+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?
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+Again the young doctor shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"I don't see what else a man can do, my Finn, boy; but--but it's
+hard."
+
+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.
+
+"Doctor," said the Master; "I want the address of that rich patient
+of yours who is fond of animals."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+And then the merchant shook hands with the Master, and read the
+note from the doctor.
+
+"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."
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+The Master shook his head.
+
+Suddenly then, the Master turned upon the merchant, with a little
+upward movement of both hands.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"You don't think he'll run away, do you?" asked the merchant.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+Before noon of that day the Master was on his way to the mountains
+with the Mistress of the Kennels.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AN ADVENTURE BY NIGHT
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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-_ri_stocrat. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"Here, Sam!" cried the startled landlady, "you talk about your
+blessed menagerie, come an' look 'ere. My word, this'll surprise
+yer!"
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"Well, what jer think of 'im?" the landlady asked of her son.
+
+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--
+
+"Is he savage?"
+
+"Wouldn't hurt a sheep," replied the mother. "Wouldn't yer like to
+know where I got such a beauty?"
+
+"No kid. He's not yours," said Sam.
+
+"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."
+
+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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+THE SOUTHERN CROSS CIRCUS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 hyaena,
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+Sam began to feel that he really was a very fine fellow, and one
+who had accomplished great things.
+
+"Well, I'll tell ye, boss; I bought him from a wild Irishman named
+O'Flaherty, who landed yesterday from the steamer, _Prince Rupert_,
+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.
+
+"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 _Police Gazette_, 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?"
+
+"Well, I'm only askin' a fiver for meself out've him, boss; so I'll
+take twenty down."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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?"
+
+The Professor inspected the furiously raging Finn with considerable
+interest.
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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."
+
+"Help! Me want help! You wait here two minutes, boss, an' I'll show
+you."
+
+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.
+
+"Now I'll show you how much help I need in taming, boss," said the
+Professor.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"Well, he sure is a rustler from 'way back, Professor, every single
+time," remarked the boss.
+
+"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."
+
+And a couple of days before this, the younger Miss Sandbrook had
+been resting her carefully dressed curls against Finn's head.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+THE MAKING OF A WILD BEAST
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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:--
+
+"I cannot bear to look at them; I never do. Let us hurry straight
+in."
+
+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!
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+MARTYRDOM
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+[Illustration:  The next instant saw the Professor flung back at
+length against the bars of the cage.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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!"
+
+"You might as well give him a mouse. He'd swaller it whole. He's
+twice the size of a dingo."
+
+"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 _don't_ think!"
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Was lost in the shadow of the main tent.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+FREEDOM
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+TOO LATE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 L260--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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE DOMESTIC LURE
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Come on in, then, good dog! Here, boy! Here then!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"Well, say, Wolf, I suppose your belly has a bottom to it,
+somewhere, what? Here; don't mind me; take the lot!"
+
+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.
+
+Finn polished the tin dish clean and bright, and then retired into
+the shadows.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE SUNDAY HUNT
+
+
+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.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+As Finn arrived beside the gunyah, Bill appeared at its entrance,
+yawning and stretching his muscular arms.
+
+"Hullo there, Wolf," he said lazily; "early bird catches the worm,
+hey? Good on ye, my son."
+
+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.
+
+"Come in here, Jess! Come in!" growled the man sharply. "Come in
+here, an' drop it."
+
+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.
+
+"Fair doos," he said explanatorily. "Wolf's the biggest; and it was
+his kill, anyway; so he gets the quarters."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"You've got mixed up in your almanack, old lady. This is Saturday."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THREE DINGOES WENT A-WALKING
+
+
+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--
+
+"You're a mighty good sort, Wolf, and you can say I said so."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+When Wallaby Bill came to look at that corpse some hours later he
+said--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+A BREAK-UP IN ARCADIA
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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'
+_him_!"
+
+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.
+
+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
+hyaena 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+THE OUTCAST
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: Spurring his horse forward.]
+
+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.
+
+"G-r-r-r, you thieving swine! I'll teach ye!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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?
+
+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 _noblesse oblige_,
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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!
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+A LONE BACHELOR
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"If that great brute had not obliged us to feed so hurriedly,
+_this_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+MATED
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  He was backing gradually towards a boulder beside
+the trail.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+THE PACK AND ITS MASTERS
+
+
+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--
+
+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.
+
+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 hyaena, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Finn was standing royally erect.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+SINGLE COMBAT
+
+
+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.
+
+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
+hyaena, there was nothing much left for the ants or the
+flesh-eating rats and mice of the bush.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Finn's towering form stood out clearly in the
+moonlight.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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--
+
+"Here is your old lord and tyrant! Take him away, and leave me
+now!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+DOMESTIC LIFE IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+"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.
+
+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--
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXIX
+
+TRAGEDY IN THE MOUNTAIN DEN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  He slung the wallaby over his shoulder and set out
+for the mountain.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXX
+
+THE EXODUS
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Scrambling and sliding down the high banks of a
+river-bed.]
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+THE TRAIL OF MAN
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+Presently this man woke his companion, who growled at him, as
+though he resented the attention.
+
+"Time we were on the move, old chap," said the first man. "We can't
+afford to wait."
+
+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.
+
+"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."
+
+"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 _pomme rissole_, 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."
+
+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.
+
+"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?"
+
+"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."
+
+"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!"
+
+"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.
+
+"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."
+
+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.
+
+"Well, if we've got a chance at all, I guess this ought to double
+it, anyway," said Jeff.
+
+"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.
+
+"So long, mate; so long!"
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXII
+
+IN THE LAST DITCH
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  They settled within a dozen paces of his recumbent
+figure.]
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII
+
+BACK FROM THE WILD
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration:  Four men were riding together through the low
+burnt-up scrub]
+
+"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.
+
+One of the riders--it was Jeff--nodded his head dolefully over
+this.
+
+"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!"
+
+"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?"
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"Well, may I be teetotally jiggered!" he growled. "What sort of a
+beast do ye call that?"
+
+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--
+
+"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----"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+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.
+
+[Illustration: The Wolfhound raised his bearded muzzle, and softly
+licked the Master's thin brown hand.]
+
+"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 L20 to the ounce, or L21,250 for the
+lot, apart from his share in a very rich claim.)
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+"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!"
+
+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.
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Finn The Wolfhound, by A. J. Dawson
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FINN THE WOLFHOUND ***
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+***** This file should be named 30550.txt or 30550.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/5/5/30550/
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+Produced by Clare Graham, in memory of my dear father
+George Edgar Graham who first introduced me to Finn and
+his son Jan.
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