Aileen Aroon, A Memoir
Page 49
the intercourse. Instead of worrying him,Nero simply held him down, and lay quietly on top of him for more thantwo minutes, during which time he appeared to reason with the cur, whowas completely cowed.
"`I'll let you up presently,' Nero said; `but you must promise not toattempt to attack me again.'
"`I promise,' said the other dog.
"Then, much to the amusement of the little crowd that had collected,Nero very slowly raised himself and walked away. Behold! no sooner hadhe turned his back than his prostrate foe sprang up and bit himviciously in the leg.
"It was no wonder Nero now lost his temper, or that he shook that blackdog as a servant-maid shakes a hearthrug.
"_I_ tried to intervene to save the poor mongrel, but was kept back bythe mob.
"`Let him have it, sir,' cried one man; `he killed S--'s dog.'
"`Yes, let him have it,' cried another; `he kills dogs and he killssheep as well.'
"To his honour be it said, I never saw Nero provoke a fight, but whenset upon by a cur he always punished his foe. In two instances he triedto drown his antagonist. A dog at Sheerness attacked him on the beachone day. Nero punished him well, but seeing me coming to the dog'srescue, he dragged the dog into the sea and lay on him there. I had towade in and pull Master Nero off by the tail, else the other dog wouldassuredly have been drowned. I am referring to a large red retriever,lame in one leg, that belonged to the artillery. He had beenaccidentally blown from a gun and set fire to. That was the cause ofhis lameness.
"There was a large Newfoundland used to be on the _Great Eastern_, whosename was `Sailor.' Before Nero's appearance at Sheerness, he was lookedupon as the finest specimen of that kind of dog ever seen. He had tolower his flag to Nero, however.
"They met one morning on the beach at the oyster beds.
"`Hullo!' said Sailor, `you are the dog that everybody is making such afuss over. You're Nero, aren't you?'
"`My name is Theodore Nero,' said my friend, bristling up at the saucylooks of the stranger.
"`And my name is Sailor, at your service,' said the other, `and I belongto the largest ship in the world. And I don't think much of you. Yah!'
"`Good-morning,' said Nero.
"`Not so fast,' cried the other; `you've got to fight first, but Idaresay you're afraid. Eh! Yah!'
"`Am I?' said Nero. `We'll see who is afraid.'
"Next moment the oyster beach was a battle-field. But some sailorscoming along, we managed to pull the dogs asunder by the tails.Whenever Sailor saw Nero after this he took to his heels and ran away.But a good dog was Sailor for all that, and a very clever water-dog. Heused to jump from the top of the paddle-box of the great ship into thesea--a height, I believe, of about seventy feet.
"Nero's prowess as a water-dog was well known in Sheerness, andwonderful stories are told about him, even to this day; not all of whichare true, any more than the tales of the knights of old are. But someof our marines managed to turn his swimming powers to good account, asthe following will testify.
"On days when it was impossible for me to get on shore, I used to sendmy servant with the dog for a swim and a run. When near the dockyardsteps, a great log of wood used to be pitched out of the boat, and Nerosent after it. Anything Nero fetched out of the water he considered hisown or his master's property, which it would be dangerous for any one tomeddle with. Well, as soon as he had landed with the log, Nero used tomarch up the steps, the water flowing behind from his splendid coat, upthe steps and through the dockyard; the policemen only stood bymarvelling to see a dog carrying such an immense great log of wood. Ifmy servant carried a basket, that would be searched for contrabandgoods, rum or tobacco.
"Then my servant would pass on, smiling in his own sleeve as the sayingis, for no one ever dreamed of searching the dog."
"Searching the dog!" said Ida, with wondering eyes.
"Yes, dear, the dog was a smuggler, though he did not know it. For thatlog of wood was a hollow one, and stuffed with tobacco. I did not knowof this, of course."
"How wicked!" said Ida. "Why, Nero, you've been a regular pirate of theboundless ocean."
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE.
THE STORY OF AILEEN'S HUSBAND, NERO--CONTINUED.
"Poor dog! he was faithful and kind, to be sure, And he constantly loved me, although I was poor."
Campbell.
"Do I think that Master Nero knows we are talking about him? Yes,birdie, of that I am quite convinced. Just look at the cunning oldrogue lying there pretending to be asleep, but with his ears wellforward, and one eye half-open. And Aileen, too, knows there is a bitof biography going on, and that it is all about her well-beloved lordand master.
"But to tell you one-tenth part of all that had happened to Nero, or tome and Nero together, would take far more time than I can spare, dearIda. I could give you anecdote after anecdote about his bravery, hisstrength, his nobility of mind, and his wonderful sagacity; but thesewould not make you love him more than you do.
"And you never can love the faithful fellow half so much as I do. Ihave been blamed for loving him far too well, and reminded that he isonly a dog.
"Only a dog! How much I hate the phrase; and sinful though I know it tobe, I can hardly help despising those who make use of it. But of thosewho do use the expression, there are few, I really believe, who wouldwonder at me loving that noble fellow so well did they know the sincerefriend he has been many a time and oft to me.
"He saved my life--worthless though it may be--he saved the life ofanother. Tell you the story? It is not a story, but two stories; andthough both redound to the extreme wisdom and sagacity and love of thedog, both are far too sad for you to listen to. Some day I may tellthem. Perhaps--"
There was a pause of some minutes here; Ida, who was lying beside thedog, had thrown her arms around his neck, and was fondly hugging him.Aileen came directly to me, sighed as usual, and put her head on myshoulder.
"Love begets love, Ida, and I think it was more than anything else thedog's extreme affection for me, shown in a thousand little ways, thatcaused me to take such a strong abiding affection for him. He knew--ashe does now--everything I said, and was always willing to forestall mywishes, and do everything in the world to please me.
"When ill one time, during some of our wanderings, and laid up in anout-of-the-way part of the country among strange people, it was a sadanxiety for me to have to tell the dog he must go out by himself andtake his necessary ramble, as I was far too ill to leave my bed.
"The poor animal understood me.
"`Good-bye, master,' he seemed to say, as he licked my face; `I know youare ill, but I won't stop out long.'
"He was back again in a quarter of an hour, and the same thing occurredevery time he was sent by himself; he never stopped more than fifteenminutes.
"Would a human friend have been as careful? Do you not think that therewere temptations to be resisted even during that short ramble of his--things he would have liked to have stopped to look at, things he wouldhave liked to have chased? Many a dog, I have no doubt, invited him tostop and play, but the dog's answer must have been, `Nay, nay, notto-day; I have a poor sick master in bed, and I know not what mighthappen to him in this strange place, and among so many strange people.I must hurry and get home.'
"When he did return, he did so as joyfully and made as much fuss over meas if he had been away for a week.
"`I didn't stop long, _did_ I, master?' he would always say, when hereturned.
"But wasn't he a happy dog when he got me up and out again? Weak enoughI was at first, but he never went far away from me, just trotted on andlooked about encouragingly and waited. I allowed him to take me wherehe chose, and I have reason to believe he led me on his own round, theround he had taken all by himself every day for weeks before that.
"`Nero, old boy,' I said to him one day, some time after this sickness,`come here.'
"The dog got up from his corner, and laid his saucy head on my lap.
"`I'm all at
tention, master,' he said, talking with his bonnie browneyes.
"`I don't believe there are two better Newfoundlands in England thanyourself, Nero.'
"`I don't believe there is one,' said Nero.
"`Don't be saucy,' I said.
"`Didn't I take a cup at the Crystal Palace?'
"`Yes, but it was only second prize, old boy.'
"`True, master, but nearly every one said it ought to have been first.I'm only two years old and little over, and isn't a second prize at aCrystal Palace show a great honour for a youngster like myself?'
"`True, Nero, true; and now I've something to propose.'
"`To