before turning away he would emit a low growl and show his teeth. It
was the one thing that put him out and would make him angry with his
friends and life companions.

I should not have related this incident if Dandy had been alive. But he
is no longer with us. He was old--half-way between fifteen and sixteen:
it seemed as though he had waited to see the end of the war, since no
sooner was the armistice proclaimed than he began to decline rapidly.
Gone deaf and blind, he still insisted on taking several
constitutionals every day, and would bark as usual at the gate, and if
no one came to let him out or admit him, he would open it for himself
as before. This went on till January, 1919, when some of the boys he
knew were coming back to Penzance and to the house. Then he established
himself on his sofa, and we knew that his end was near, for there he
would sleep all day and all night, declining food. It is customary in
this country to chloroform a dog and give him a dose of strychnine to
"put him out of his misery." But it was not necessary in this case, as
he was not in misery; not a groan did he ever emit, waking or sleeping;
and if you put a hand on him he would look up and wag his tail just to
let you know that it was well with him. And in his sleep he passed
away--a perfect case of euthanasia--and was buried in the large garden
near the second apple-tree.




X

THE SAMPHIRE GATHERER