A CHURCH-GOING DOG.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATOR.."] SIR,—Some little amusement and doubt has been caused by an anecdote which lately appeared in a local paper telling of the sagacity of a certain dog who was a regular worshipper at church. One day a longer sermon than usual was preached and the dog left his mat in the porch and went up to the churchwarden who collected the alms and scratched at his leg as if to remind him that it was time for his part of the per- formance to take place. The following similar instance occurred with my own fox terrier Dandy at family prayers. At first be behaved perfectly, lying curled up on the cushion of the window seat and only getting up when he saw us moving. But one morning all was changed. Prayers, as usual, ended with the Lord's Prayer, but my mother remembering that it was St. Andrew's Day, started hastily a rather long prayer for missions. Up got Dandy, yawned and stretched himself fore and aft, jumped down from the window seat, and sat, head on one side, for a second, and then sang a high loud song of impatience. Seeing all his friends still unresponsive, in unusual attitudes, he made a hurried inspection of us all, hopped on to the back of one, gave a lightning lick to the half-hidden cheek of another, and then, hearing the voice of prayer going on undaunted, he made a dart at my mother, jumped up into her face, upset her glasses, knocked down the Prayer-book, reducing us all to speechless laughter with his triumphant barking. He evidently knew that his meal was due directly we had finished murmur- ing all together on our knees, and that it was time we all were reminded of it.—I am, Sir, &c., CHRISTIAN MACKIE. Compton Greenfields.
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