CHAPTER V.
CANICHE AND THE TRAVELLER
Mr. Lee returned one day from the city with a party of friends who had been invited to visit them. They were all seated at the tea table, when a quick ringing of one of the chamber bells attracted their attention.
The gentleman glanced at his wife, who at once noticed that all the family were present at the table, and only answered by the words, “Who can it be?”
“It is Maria or Emily Otis, from the city,” he answered, smiling. “They came, I suspect, in the noon train, and have taken this method to announce their arrival.”
At this moment the bell was rung again, and more furiously than before.
Minnie sprang up, and ran from the room. She reached the chamber just as a servant was opening the door. What was their surprise, instead of the expected guest, to see Tiney standing on his hind feet pulling the bell rope! He had accidentally been shut into the chamber, and took this means to get out.
The child ran down with the news, and Tiney, who followed her, was quite the hero of the occasion.
After dinner, the conversation turned upon the intelligence and fidelity of dogs, when one of the gentlemen related the following singular incident, which he said was strictly true: —
“An English officer, who was in Paris somewhere near the year 1815, was once crossing one of the bridges over the Seine, when a poodle dog rubbed against his boots, which had just been polished, dirtying them so much that he was obliged to go to a man stationed on the bridge to clean them.
“The same circumstance having occurred more than once, his curiosity was excited, and he watched the dog. He saw him roll himself in the mud of the river, and then station himself where he could see a person with well-polished boots, against which he contrived to rub himself.
“Finding that the shoe-black was the owner of the poodle, he taxed him with the artifice; and after a little hesitation, he confessed that he had taught the dog the trick, in order to procure customers for himself.
“The officer, being much surprised at the dog’s sagacity, purchased him at a high price, and carried him to England. He kept him tied up in London some time, and then released him. The poodle remained with him a day or two, and then made his escape. A fortnight afterwards, he was found with his former master, pursuing his old trade of dirtying gentlemen’s boots on the bridge.”
“Your story, which is a capital one,” remarked another gentleman of the company, “reminds me of something I read lately, which, if not well vouched for, I should scarcely have credited.
“A man by the name of Edward Cook, after having lived some time with his brother in Northumberland, came to the United States, bringing with him a pointer dog, which he lost soon afterwards, while shooting in the woods near Baltimore.
“Some time after, his brother and sister, who continued to reside in Northumberland, were alarmed at hearing a dog in the night. They arose, admitted it to the house, and found, to their surprise, it was the same their brother had taken with him to America. The dog lived with them until Mr. Edward Cook returned, when they mutually recognized each other.
“They were never able to trace by what vessel the dog had left America, or in what part of England it had been landed.”
“One of the best stories I have heard of the sagacity of a dog,” remarked a lady, “was the account of Caniche, which, if not familiar to you, is well worth repeating.”
Mr. Lee begged her to favor the company with the story, when she began.
“Once upon a time, Dumont, a tradesman of the Rue St. Denis, in Paris, was walking with a friend, when he offered to lay a wager with the latter, that, if he were to hide a six-livre piece in the dust, his dog would discover it, and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, and the piece of money secreted, after being carefully marked.
“When the two had proceeded some distance from the spot, M. Dumont said to his dog that he had lost something, and ordered him to seek it. Caniche immediately turned back, and her master and companion pursued their walk to the Rue St. Denis.
“Meanwhile, a traveller, who happened to be just then returning in a small chaise from Vincennes, perceived the piece of money which his horse had kicked from its hiding place. He alighted, took it up, and drove to his inn.
“Caniche, after a careful search, had just reached the spot in pursuit of the lost piece, when the stranger picked it up. She at once set off after the chaise, went into the inn, and stuck close to the traveller. Having scented out the coin in the pocket of the latter, which she had been ordered to bring back, she leaped up incessantly at and about him. The traveller, supposing him to be some dog that had been lost by her master, regarded these movements as marks of fondness, and, as the animal was handsome, determined to keep her. He gave her a good supper, and, on retiring to bed, took her with him to his chamber. No sooner had he pulled off his pantaloons than they were seized by the dog: the owner, conceiving that she wanted to play with them, took them away again. The animal then began to bark at the door, which the traveller opened, under the idea that the dog wanted to go out. Caniche snatched up the pantaloons, and away she flew, the traveller posting after her, dressed only in his night shirt. Anxiety for the fate of a purse full of gold Napoleons of forty francs each gave redoubled quickness to his steps.
“Caniche, having a good start, ran full speed to her master’s house, where the stranger arrived a moment afterward, breathless and enraged. He accused the dog of robbing him.
“‘Sir,’ said the master, ‘my dog is a very faithful creature; and if she has run away with your pantaloons, it is because you have in them money which does not belong to you.’
“The traveller became still more exasperated.
“‘Compose yourself, sir,’ rejoined the other, smiling: ‘without doubt there is in your purse a six-livre piece, with such and such marks, which you have picked up in the Boulevard St. Antoine, and which I threw down there with the firm conviction that my dog would bring it back again. This is the cause of the robbery which she has committed upon you.’
“The stranger’s rage now yielded to astonishment; he delivered the six-livre piece to the owner, and could not forbear caressing the dog which had given him so much uneasiness and such an unpleasant chase.”
“There is no doubt,” remarked Mr. Lee, “that the character and intellectual faculties of the dog are more strongly developed than those of any other quadruped, on account of his being the constant companion of man. It is a pleasing thought, the more that is known of his fidelity, faithfulness, and sagacity, the more he will be appreciated, and the better, therefore, his treatment is likely to be.”