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13. Only a Dog.

ǎb-er-ra'tion, derangement.
in-sĭd'i-oŭs, stealthy, treacherous.
pā'tri-äreh, head of the family.
per-ti-nā'çious-ly, resolutely, de-
terminedly.

sys'tem, body.

vět'er-i-na-ry, relating to treatment of diseases in domestic animals.

with-al', at the same time.

PREPARATORY NOTES.

(1) aged father: that is, Dr. Bacon. - (3) Landseer: Sir Edwin Landseer, an eminent English animal painter of this century.

PART II.

1. For more than a year Brant was the pet and pride of the household. Every one loved him almost as they would have loved a child. He was so bright and playful, with such a keen sense of the ludicrous, and yet withal so loving, so obedient and sympathetic, that all, from the aged father whose silver hairs were indeed "a crown of glory," to the youngest grandchild who visited the parental home, regarded him as a true and faithful friend and a beloved companion.

2. He was a constant source of pleasure to us all; and I am afraid, if any outsider had known the amount of time that we spent in playing with and talking to and about that dog, he would have considered that we were all laboring under aberration of the intellect.

3. It was a picture worthy of a Landseer to see the venerable patriarch of eighty years, whose life had been spent in labors for the good of his country and of

the world, talking to the dog; and the dog's quick appreciation of the honor conferred upon him by such notice, and his ready response to all efforts for his entertainment.

4. Every day we congratulated ourselves upon our wonderful good luck in obtaining such a treasure, and wondered how the dog's former master could have made up his mind to part with such a friend.

5. And now we come to the part of our tale which illustrates, more than any thing else, the little fellow's singular beauty of character. As the autumn drew on, the beloved father, whose strength had been failing for a number of months, grew more and more subject to attacks of a painful and terrible disease; and Brant, as if he appreciated the situation, seemed to grow more and more loving and considerate of his aged master.

6. When in the early morning one of those terrible attacks would come on, and we stood about the bed of the sufferer and administered whatever restoratives we hoped might bring ease and comfort, Brant would steal quietly in, and wait anxiously and pertinaciously until he knew that all was well again.

7. Nothing would induce him to leave my father's room during one of those attacks; nor, indeed, would he stir until the patient was able to rise and dress himself. If my father was obliged to lie on the sofa during the day, Brant was at once full of sympathy, and would sit beside him, and whine, and want to shake hands; and when my father rose, and again took his usual

seat, Brant would express his joy by every means in

his power.

8. So it went, and we all grew more attached to the little fellow because of his almost human sympathy with suffering. But at last came a time when Brant's character was to be even more tried, that it might show forth its beauty in a clearer light. An insidious disease attacked first his beautiful eyes, and dimmed their glory for ever, and then his whole system.

9. Every thing that veterinary science could suggest was done for his relief and comfort; but all efforts were in vain, and after a painful illness of nearly five weeks the end came, and the little sympathizing, loving heart ceased to beat. During all those painful weeks, his patience, cheerfulness, and good temper preached a sermon to us all.

10. Well do I remember one afternoon, when I was sitting beside him and talking to him, and he showed more life and spirit than for some days. My father heard me from the other end of the hall, and came down to shake hands with the little patient, and to speak a word of sympathy to him. Brant looked up at him with love shining from his dimmed eyes, and gave his little feeble paw, and wagged his bushy tail with unusual vigor. It was their last meeting. That night the aged man, who all his life long, like Enoch, "walked with God," passed gently and quietly 'through the gates into the city;" "and he was not, for God took him."

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11. From that time the little dog who had done so much to brighten the last year of my father's life grew rapidly worse; and two days after that day, when amid the grief of the whole city, and the tolling bells, and weeping heavens, we committed to earth all that was earthly of one of God's saints, Brant died. And may we not hope that there is a place somewhere in God's universe where that faithful little soul may be rewarded for the good that he was able to accomplish during his short life?

HEADS FOR COMPOSITION.

I. PET AND PRIDE OF THE HOUSEHOLD: how he was suchwhy he was so loved by all-what was a "picture worthy of Landseer"?

II. A TEST OF BRANT'S CHARACTER: the illness of Dr. Bacon - Brant at his bedside-his joy when his master was well.

III. THE TEST OF SUFFERING: Brant's eyes attacked - how he behaved during these painful weeks - an incident.

IV. THE END: death of Dr. Bacon - Brant, too, dies — hope expressed by the writer.

14. Glimpses of Science.

THE HAND.

de'vi-ous, crooked, uncertain.

min'is-terş (v.), aids, serves.

em-bŏd'ied, exemplified, dis- min'is-ter (n.), servant, helper.

played.

en-hȧnçe'ment, increase in ser

viceableness.

mu-nifi-çent-ly,

generously

bounteously.

re-strict', confine, limit.

ex-al-ta'tion, elevation, refine- threads, passes through.

ment.

un-wont'ed, unaccustomed.

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PREPARATORY NOTES.

This lesson on "The Hand" is from "The Five Gateways of Knowledge," by Dr. George Wilson (1818-1859), a distinguished Scottish scientific writer. The Five Gateways" is a metaphor denoting the five senses. In a later lesson Dr. Wilson's eloquent and instructive essay on "The Eye" is given.

1. Touch, as embodied in the hand, is in many respects the most wonderful of the senses. The organs of the other senses are passive: the organ of touch alone is active. The eye, the ear, and the nostril stand simply open; light, sound, and fragrance enter, and we are compelled to see, to hear, and to smell: but the hand selects what it shall touch, and touches what it pleases.

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2. It puts away from it the things which it hates, and beckons towards it the things which it desires, unlike the eye, which must often gaze transfixed at horrible sights from which it can not turn; and the ear, which can not escape from the torture of discordant

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