Aileen Aroon, A Memoir Part 29

"But one morning, when I put up my hand and patted him, and said--'You are a good, honest-hearted dog, I do believe,' he lowered his great head instantly, and licked my face.

"That is how our friendship began, Ida, and from that day till this we have never been twenty-four hours parted--by sea or on land he has been my constant companion.

"He was very young when I first got him, and had only newly been imported, but he was even then quite as big as he is now.

"The ice being broken, as I might say, affection both on his side and on mine grew very fast; but what cemented our friendship infrangibly was a terrible illness that the poor fellow contracted some months after I got him.

"He began to get very thin, to look pinched about the face, and weary about the eyes, his coat felt harsh and dry, and his appet.i.te went away entirely.

"He used to look up wistfully in my face, as if wanting me to tell him what could possibly be the matter with him.

"The poor dog was sickening for distemper.

"All highly-bred dogs take this dreadful illness in its very worst form.

"I am not going to describe the animal's sufferings, nor any part of them; they were very great, however, and the patience with which he bore them all would have put many a human invalid to shame. He soon came to know that I was doing all I could to save him, and that, nauseous though the medicines were he had to take, they were meant to do him good, and at last he would lick his physic out of the spoon, although so weak that his head had to be supported while he was doing so.

"One night, I remember, he was so very ill that I thought it was impossible he could live till morning, and I remember also sorrowfully wondering where I should lay his great body when dead, for we lived then in the midst of a great, bustling, busy city. But the fever had done its worst, and morning saw him not only alive, but slightly better.

"I was on what we sailors call a spell of half-pay, so I had plenty of time to attend to him--no other cares then, Ida. I did all my skill could suggest to get him over the after effects of the distemper, and soon had the satisfaction of seeing him one of the most splendid Newfoundlands that had ever been known in the country, with a coat that rivalled the raven's wing in darkness and sheen.

"The dog loved me now with all his big heart--for a Newfoundland is one of the most grateful animals that lives--and if the truth must be told, I already loved the dog.

"Nero was bigger then, Ida, than he is now."

"Is that possible?" said Ida.

"It is; for, you see, he is getting old."

"But dogs don't stoop like old men," laughed Ida.

"No," I replied, "not quite; but the joints bend more, the fore and hind feet are lengthened, and that, in a large dog like a Saint Bernard or Newfoundland, makes a difference of an inch or two at the shoulder. But when Nero was in his prime he could easily place his paws on the shoulder of a tall man, and then the man's head and his would be about on a level.

"Somebody taught him a trick of taking gentlemen's hats off in the street."

"Oh!" cried Ida, "I know who the somebody was; it was you, uncle. How naughty of you!"

"Well, Ida," I confessed, "perhaps you are right; but remember that both the dog and I were younger then than we are now. But Nero frequently took a fancy to a policeman's helmet, and used to secure one very neatly when the owner had his back turned, and having secured it, he would go galloping down the street with it, very much to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the pa.s.sengers, but usually to the great indignation of the denuded policeman. It would often require the sum of sixpence to put matters to rights."

"I am so glad," said Ida, "he does not deprive policemen of their helmets now; I should be afraid to go out with him."

"You see, Ida, I am not hiding any of the dog's faults nor follies. He had one other trick which more than once led to a scene in the street.

I was in the habit of giving him my stick to carry. Sometimes he would come quietly up behind me and march off with it before I had time to prevent him. This would not have signified, if the dog had not taken it into his head that he could with impunity s.n.a.t.c.h a stick from the hands of any pa.s.ser-by who happened to carry one to his--the dog's--liking.

It was a thick stick the dog preferred, a good mouthful of wood; but he used to do the trick so nimbly and so funnily that the aggrieved party was seldom or never angry. I used to get the stick from Nero as soon as I could, giving him my own instead, and restore it with an ample apology to its owner.

"But one day Nero, while out walking with me, saw limping on ahead of us an old sailor with a wooden leg. I daresay he had left his original leg in some field of battle, or some blood-stained deck.

"'Oh!' Nero seemed to say to himself, 'there is a capital stick. That is the thickness I like to see. There is something in that one can lay hold of.'

"And before I could prevent him, he had run on and seized the poor man by the wooden leg. Nero never was a dog to let go hold of anything he had once taken a fancy to, unless he chose to do so of his own accord.

On this occasion, I feel convinced he himself saw the humour of the incident, for he stuck to the leg, and there was positive merriment sparkling in his eye as he tugged and pulled. The sailor was Irish, and just as full of fun as the dog. Whether or not he saw there was half-a-crown to be gained by it I cannot say, but he set himself down on the pavement, undid the leg, and off galloped Nero in triumph, waving the wooden limb proudly aloft. The Irishman, sitting there on the pavement, made a speech that set every one around him laughing. I found the dog, and got the leg, slipping a piece of silver into the old sailor's hand as I restored it.

"Well, that was an easy way out of a difficulty. Worse was to come, however, from this trick of Nero's; for not long after, in a dockyard town, while out walking, I perceived some distance ahead of me our elderly admiral of the Fleet. I made two discoveries at one and the same time: the first was, that the admiral carried a beautiful strong bamboo cane; the second was, that master Nero, after giving me a glance that told me he was brimful of mischief, had made up his mind to possess himself of that bamboo cane. Before I could remonstrate with him, the admiral was caneless, and as brimful of wrath as the dog was of fun.

"The situation was appalling.

"I was in uniform, and here was a living admiral, whom _my_ dog a.s.saulted, the dog himself at that very moment lying quietly a little way off, chewing the head of the cane into match-wood. An apology was refused, and I couldn't offer him half-a-crown as I had done the old wooden-legged sailor.

"The name of my ship was demanded, and with fear and trembling in my heart I turned and walked sorrowfully away."

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CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.

THE STORY OF AILEEN'S HUSBAND, NERO--CONTINUED.

"His hair, his size, his mouth, his lugs, Showed he was none o' Scotland's dogs."

Burns.

"You see, dear," I continued, "that Nero had even in his younger days a very high sense of humour and fun, and was extremely fond of practical joking, and this trait of his character sometimes led his master into difficulties, but the dog and I always managed to get over them. At a very early age he learned to fetch and carry, and when out walking he never seemed happy unless I gave him something to bring along with him.

Poor fellow, I daresay he thought he was not only pleasing me, but a.s.sisting me, and that he was not wrong in thinking so you will readily believe when told that, in his prime, he could carry a large carpet bag or light portmanteau for miles without the least difficulty. He was handy, therefore, when travelling, for he performed the duties of a light porter, and never demanded a fee.

"He used to carry anything committed to his charge, even a parcel with gla.s.s in it might be safely entrusted to his care, if you did not forget to tell him to be very cautious with it.

"I was always very careful to give him something to carry, for if I did not he was almost sure to help himself. When going into a shop, for instance, to make a purchase, he was exceedingly disappointed if something or other was not bought and handed to him to take home. Once I remember going into a news-agent's shop for something the man did not happen to have. I left shortly, taking no thought about my companion, but had not gone far before Nero went trotting past me with a well-filled paper bag in his mouth, and after us came running, gasping and breathless, a respectable-looking old lady, waving aloft a blue gingham umbrella. 'The dog, the dog,' she was bawling, 'he has run off with my buns! Stop thief!'

"I stopped the thief, and the lady was gracious enough to accept my apologies.

"Not seeing me make any purchase, Nero had evidently said to himself--'Why, nothing to carry? Well, I don't mean to go away without anything, if my master does. Here goes.' And forthwith he had pounced upon the paper bag full of buns, which the lady had deposited on the counter.

"At Sheerness, bathers are in the habit of leaving their boots on the beach while they enjoy the luxury of a dip in the sad sea waves. They usually put their stockings or socks in the boots. When quite a mile away from the bathing-place, one fine summer's day, I happened to look round, and there was Nero walking solemnly after me with a young girl's boot, with a stocking in it, in his mouth. We went back to the place, but I could find no owner for the boot, though I have no doubt it had been missed. Don't you think so, birdie?"

"Yes," said Ida; "only fancy the poor girl having to go home with one shoe off and one shoe on. Oh! Nero, you dear old boy, who could have thought you had ever been so naughty in the days of your youth!"

"Well, another day when travelling, I happened to have no luggage. This did not please Master Nero, and in lieu of something better, he picked up a large bundle of morning papers, which the porter had just thrown out of the luggage van. He ran out of the station with them, and it required no little coaxing to make him deliver them up, for he was extremely fond of any kind of paper to carry.

"But Nero was just as honest, Ida, when a young dog as he is now.

Nothing ever could tempt him to steal. The only thing approaching to theft that could be laid to his charge happened early one morning at Boston, in Lincolnshire. I should tell you first, however, that the dog's partiality for rabbits as playmates was very great indeed. He has taken more to cats of late, but when a young dog, rabbits were his especial delight.

"We had arrived at Boston by a very early morning train, our luggage having gone on before, the night before, so that when I reached my journey's end, I had only to whistle on my dog, and, stick in hand, set out for my hotel. It was the morning of an agricultural show, and several boxes containing exhibition rabbits lay about the platform.

"Probably the dog had reasoned thus with himself:--

"'Those boxes contain rabbits; what a chance to possess myself of a delightful pet! No doubt they belong to my master, for almost everything in this world does, only he didn't notice them; but I'm sure he will be as much pleased as myself when he sees the lovely rabbit hop out of the box; so here goes. I'll have this one.'

"The upshot of Nero's cogitations was that, on looking round when fully a quarter of a mile from the station, to see why the dog was not keeping pace with me, I found him marching solemnly along behind with a box containing a live rabbit in his mouth. He was looking just a little sheepish, and he looked more so when I scolded him and made him turn and come back with it.

"Dogs have their likes and dislikes to other animals and to people, just as we human beings have. One of Nero's earliest companions was a beautiful little pure white Pomeranian dog, of the name of 'Vee-Vee.'