I thought of all this and of many things besides. The dog, I
remembered, was taken by man out of his own world and thrust
into one where he can never adapt himself perfectly to the
conditions, and it was consequently nothing more than simple
justice on my part to do what I could to satisfy his desire
even at some cost to myself. But while I was revolving the
matter in my mind, feeling rather unhappy about it, Jack was
quite happy, since he had nothing to revolve. For him it was
all settled and done with. Having taken him out once, I must
go on taking him out always. Our two lives, hitherto running
apart--his in the village, where he occupied himself with
uncongenial affairs, mine on the moor where, having but two
legs to run on, I could catch no rabbits--were now united in
one current to our mutual advantage. His habits were altered
to suit the new life. He stayed in now so as not to lose me
when I went for a walk, and when returning, instead of going
back to his kennel, he followed me in and threw himself down,
all wet, on the rug before the fire. His master and mistress
came in and stared in astonishment. It was against the rules
of the house! They ordered him out and he looked at them
without moving. Then they spoke again very sharply indeed,
and he growled a low buzzing growl without lifting his chin
from his paws, and they had to leave him! He had transferred
his allegiance to a new master and head of the pack.
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