unflinching constancy. But it would occupy too much space and time to
enumerate all Crusoe's qualities and powers. His biography will unfold
them.

In personal appearance he was majestic, having grown to an immense size
even for a Newfoundland. Had his visage been at all wolfish in
character, his aspect would have been terrible. But he possessed in an
eminent degree that mild, humble expression of face peculiar to his
race. When roused or excited, and especially when bounding through the
forest with the chase in view, he was absolutely magnificent. At other
times his gait was slow, and he seemed to prefer a _quiet_ walk with
Dick Varley to anything else under the sun. But when Dick was inclined
to be boisterous Crusoe's tail and ears rose at a moment's notice, and
he was ready for _anything_. Moreover, he obeyed commands instantly and
implicitly. In this respect he put to shame most of the _boys_ of the
settlement, who were by no means famed for their habits of prompt
obedience.

Crusoe's eye was constantly watching the face of his master. When Dick
said "Go" he went, when he said "Come" he came. If he had been in the
midst of an excited bound at the throat of a stag, and Dick had called
out, "Down, Crusoe," he would have sunk to the earth like a stone. No
doubt it took many months of training to bring the dog to this state of
perfection; but Dick accomplished it by patience, perseverance, and
_love_.

Besides all this, Crusoe could speak! He spoke by means of the dog's
dumb alphabet in a way that defies description. He conversed, so to
speak, with his extremities--his head and his tail. But his eyes, his
soft brown eyes, were the chief medium of communication. If ever the
language of the eyes was carried to perfection, it was exhibited in the
person of Crusoe. But, indeed, it would be difficult to say which part
of his expressive face expressed most. The cocked ears of expectation;
the drooped ears of sorrow; the bright, full eye of joy; the half-closed
eye of contentment; and the frowning eye of indignation accompanied with
a slight, a very slight, pucker of the nose and a gleam of dazzling
ivory--ha! no enemy ever saw this last piece of canine language without
a full appreciation of what it meant. Then as to the tail--the
modulations of meaning in the varied wag of that expressive member! Oh!
it's useless to attempt description. Mortal man cannot conceive of the
delicate shades of sentiment e