Sperver went on--

"What amazing strength! Do you see, Fritz, he has burst his cord to get
to me--a rope of six strands; he found out my track and here he is! Here,
Lieverlé, catch!"

And he threw to him the remains of the leg of kid. The jaws opened wide
and closed again with a terrible crash, and Sperver, looking at me
significantly, said--

"Fritz, if he were to grip you by your breeches you would not get away so
easily!"

"Nor any one else, I suppose."

The dog went to stretch himself at his ease full length under the
mantelshelf with the leg fast between his mighty paws. He began to tear
it into pieces. Sperver looked at him out of the corner of his eye with
great satisfaction. The bone was fast falling into small fragments in the
powerful mill that was crashing it. Lieverlé was partial to marrow!

"Aha! Fritz, if you were requested to fetch that bone away from him, what
would you say?"

"I should think it a mission requiring extraordinary delicacy and tact."

Then we broke out into a hearty laugh, and Sperver, seated in his
leathern easy chair, with his left arm thrown back over his head, one of
his manly legs over a stool, and the other in front of a huge log, which