have it soiled. Vee-Vee wasextremely fond of me, and although, as you know, dear Nero is of ajealous temperament, he graciously permitted Vee-Vee to caress me asmuch as he pleased, and me to return his caresses.
"It was a sight to see the two dogs together out for a ramble--Nero withhis gigantic height, his noble proportions, and long flat coat of jettyblack, and Vee-Vee, so altogether unlike him in every way, trottingalong by his side in jacket of purest snow!
"Vee-Vee's jacket used to be whiter on Saturday than on any other day,because it was washed on that morning of the week, and to make hispersonal beauties all the more noticeable he always on that day and onthe next wore a ribbon of blue or crimson.
"Now, mischievous Nero, if he got a chance, was sure to tumble Vee-Veeinto a mud-hole just after he was nearly dried and lovely. I am sure hedid it out of pure fun, for when Vee-Vee came downstairs to go out onthese occasions, Nero would meet him, and eye him all over, and walkround him, and snuff him, and smell at him in the most provoking teasingmanner possible.
"`Oh! aren't you proud!' he would seem to say, and `aren't you white andclean and nice, and doesn't that bit of blue ribbon, suit you! What doyou think of yourself, eh? My master can't wash me white, but I canwash you black, only wait till we go out and come to a nice mud-heap,and see if I don't change the colour of your jacket for you.'
"Vee-Vee, though only a Pomeranian, learned a great many of Nero'stricks; this proves that one dog can teach another. He used to swimalong with Nero, although when first going into the water he sometimeslost confidence, and got on to his big friend's shoulders, at which Neroused to seem vastly amused. He would look up at me with a sparkle ofgenuine mirth in his eye as much as to say--
"`Only look, master, at this little fool of a Vee-Vee perched upon myshoulder, like a fantail pigeon on top of a hen-house. But I don't mindhis weight, not in the slightest.'
"Vee-Vee used to fetch and carry as well as Nero, in his own quietlittle way. One day I dropped my purse in the street, and was well-nighhome before I missed it. You may judge of my joy when on looking roundI found Vee-Vee coming walking along with the purse in his mouth,looking as solemn as a little judge. Vee-Vee, I may tell you, was onlyabout two weeks old when I first had him; he was too young to wean, andthe trouble of spoon-feeding was very great. In my dilemma, a favouritecat of mine came to my assistance. She had recently lost her kittens,and took to suckling young Vee-Vee as naturally as if she had been hismother."
"How strange," said Ida, "for a cat to suckle a puppy."
"Cats, Ida," I replied, "have many curious fancies. A book [Note 1]that I wrote some little time since gives many very strangeillustrations of the queer ways of these animals. Cats have been knownto suckle the young of rats, and even of hedgehogs, and to bring inchickens and ducklings, and brood over them. This only proves, I think,that it is cruel to take a cat's kittens away from her all at once."
"Yes, it is," Ida said, thoughtfully; "and yet it seems almost morecruel to permit her to rear a large number of kittens that you cannotafterwards find homes for."
"A very sensible remark, birdie. Well, to return to our mutual friendNero: about the same time that he had as his bosom companion the littledog Vee-Vee, he contracted a strange and inexplicable affection foranother tiny dog that lived quite a mile and a half away, and for a timeshe was altogether the favourite. The most curious part of the affairwas this: Nero's new favourite was only about six or seven inches inheight, and so small that it could easily have been put into agentleman's hat, and the hat put on the gentleman's head without muchinconvenience to either the gentleman or the dog.
"When stationed at Sheerness, we lived on board H.M.S. P--, the flagshipthere. On board were several other dogs. The captain of marines hadone, for example, a large, flat-coated, black, saucy retriever, thatrejoiced in the name of `Daidles'; the commander had two, a largefox-terrier, and a curly-coated retriever called `Sambo.' All werewardroom dogs--that is, all belonged to the officers' mess-room--andlived there day and night, for there were no fine carpets to spoil, onlya well-scoured deck, and no ladies to object. Upon the whole, it mustbe allowed that there was very little disagreement indeed among the messdogs. The fox-terrier was permitted to exist by the other three largeanimals, and sometimes he was severely chastised by one of theretrievers, only he could take his own part well enough. With thecommander's curly retriever, Nero cemented a friendship, which he keptup until we left the ship, and many a romp they had together on deck,and many a delightful cruise on shore. But Daidles, the marineOfficer's dog, was a veritable snarley-yow; he therefore was treated byNero to a sound thrashing once every month, as regularly as the newmoon. It is but just to Nero to say that Daidles always commenced thoserows by challenging Nero to mortal combat. Wild, cruel fights they usedto be, and much blood used to be spilled ere we could part them. As aninstance of memory in the dog, I may mention that two years after Neroand I left the ship, we met Captain L--and his dog Daidles by chance inChatham one day. Nero knew Daidles, and Daidles knew Nero, long beforethe captain and I were near enough to shake hands.
"`Hullo!' cried Nero; `here we are again.'
"`Yes,' cried Daidles; `let us have another fight for auld lang syne.'
"And they did, and tore each other fearfully.
"Nero's life on board this particular ship was a very happy one, foreverybody loved him, from the captain downwards to the little loblollyboy who washed the bottles, spread the plasters, and made the poultices.
"The blue-jackets all loved Nero; but he was more particularly the petof the marine mess. This may be accounted for from the fact that myservant was a marine.
"But every day when the bugle called the red-coats to dinner--
"`That calls me,' Master Nero would say; then off he would trot.
"His plan was to go from one table to another, and it would besuperfluous to say that he never went short.
"Nero had one very particular friend on board--dear old chief engineerC--. Now my cabin was a dark and dismal one down in the cockpit, Ibeing then only junior surgeon; the engineer's was on the main deck, andhad a beautiful port. As Mr C--was a married man, he slept on shore;therefore he kindly gave up his cabin to me--no, not to _me_, as heplainly gave me to understand, but to _Nero_.
"Nero liked his comforts, and it was C--'s delight of a morning afterbreakfast to make Nero jump on top of my cot, and put his head on mypillow. Then C--would cover him over with a rug, and the dog would givea great sigh of satisfaction and go off to sleep, and all the din andall the row of a thousand men at work and drill, could not waken Nerountil he had his nap out.
"On Sunday morning the captain went round all the decks of the shipinspecting them--the mess places, and the men's kits and cookingutensils, everything, in fact, about the ship was examined on thismorning. He was followed by the commander, the chief surgeon, and byNero.
"The inspection over, the boats were called away for church on shore.Having landed, the men formed into marching order, band first, then theofficers, and next the blue-jackets. Nero's place was in front of theband, and from the gay and jaunty way he stepped out, you might haveimagined that he considered himself captain of all these men.
"Sometimes a death took place, and the march to the churchyard was avery solemn and imposing spectacle. The very dog seemed to feel thesolemnity of the occasion; and I have known him march in front all theway with lowered head and tail, as if he really felt that one of hispoor messmates was like Tom Bowling, `a sheer hulk,' and that he wouldnever, never see him again. You remember the beautiful old song, Ida,and its grand, ringing old tune--
"`Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of our crew; No more he'll hear the billows howling, For death has broached him to. His form was of the manliest beauty, His heart was pure and soft; Faithful below he did his duty, And now he has gone aloft.'
"It was on board this ship that Nero first learned that gracefulinclination of the body we call making a bow, and
which Aileen Aroonthere has seen fit to copy.
"You see, on board a man-o'-war, Ida, whenever an officer comes on thequarter-deck, he lifts his hat, not to any one, remember, but out ofrespect to Her Majesty the Queen's ship. The sailors taught Nero tomake a bow as soon as he came upstairs or up the ship's side, and itsoon came natural to him, so that he really was quite as respectful toHer Majesty as any officer or man on board.
"My old favourite, Tyro, was so fond of music that whenever I took upthe violin, he used to come and throw himself down at my feet. I do notthink Nero was ever fond of music, and I hardly know the reason why hetolerated the band playing on the quarter-deck, for whenever on shore ifhe happened to see and hear a brass
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