puppies, touched off in the extreme of the then prevailing
fashion at Caneville, turned up their noses and their tails in a way
which seemed to render it perfectly marvellous how they kept upon their
legs. All this was sufficiently irritating, even to the most
good-natured of beings, and Bruin found it especially hard to bear; he
was assisted, however, in his prudential resolution to abstain from any
outward exhibition of wrath by a sound which was as new to his ear as it
was exciting to his feelings. It came from the upper end of the street,
where a crowd had assembled; and as every one in his neighbourhood
seemed to think the amusement it promised would be of a more interesting
kind than baiting a bear, and had hastened in the direction whence it
proceeded, Bruin thought he could not do better than follow their
example.

On reaching the spot, his great height enabled him to get a view of what
was going on; and as he pressed forward, the animals with which he came
in contact gladly made way at his approach, so that in a few seconds he
stood in the front row of a large circle, the centre of which was
occupied by a fat, overgrown pig, with an astonishingly long snout, and
a couple of rings through it by way of ornament; two equally long ears,
that had evidently been submitted to some curious operation, for they
were slit in various places, and hung down from his head like uncombed
locks of hair; and a pair of very sharp little eyes, which seemed to
have the unpleasant power of piercing right through you, if in their
incessant wanderings they chanced to catch a look from your own. It was
very evident that this animal, who was quite a _savant_, or, as we
should say, a learned pig, enjoyed a high reputation in the community of
Caneville, where he had been settled some time; and whenever, as now, he
chose to make an outdoor exhibition of himself and his powers, he was
certain of a very full audience.

Behind him stood a punchy little bull-dog, with an inflamed
countenance, evidently caused by too close application to a mouth-organ,
arranged in such a way as to be at a convenient distance from his
capacious muzzle; and before him was a drum, an article on which Bruin
looked with a curious and most ludicrous expression of physiognomy. As
he was now in the foremost van, he gradually edged near and nearer to
the object of his attraction, whilst the learned beast was making
preparations for a grand display; and just as Bruin had