till the water reached his shoulders. Then with a squeal of
venturesome joy, he would launch himself outward for a swim; and,
once facing away from shore, he never had sense enough to turn
around.

After a half-hour of steady swimming, his soft young strength
would collapse. A howl of terror would apprise the world at large
that he was about to drown. Whereat some passing boatman would
pick him up and hold him for ransom, or else some one from The
Place must jump into skiff or canoe and hie with all speed to the
rescue. The same thing would be repeated day after day.

The local S.P.C.A. threatened to bring action against the Master
for letting his dog risk death, in this way, from drowning.
Morbidly, the Master wished the risk might verge into a
certainty.

The puppy's ravenous appetite was the wonder of all. He stopped
eating only when there was nothing edible in reach. And as his
ideas of edible food embraced everything that was chewable,--from
bath-towels to axle-grease--he was seldom fasting and was
frequently ill.

Nature does more for animals than for humans. By a single
experience she warns them, as a rule, what they may safely eat
and what they may not. Bruce was the exception. He would pounce
upon and devour a luscious bit of laundry-soap with just as much
relish as though a similar bit of soap had not made him horribly
sick the day before.