ards her ladyship, she put her paw
to her nose--as though to shut out the odour--uttered a low howl, and,
though big enough and strong enough to have sent me head over heels with
a single blow, seemed on the point of falling to the ground. But at the
instant, two male servants, whom I had not seen, ran to her assistance,
while I, who was the innocent cause of all this commotion, stood like a
silly dog that I was, with my box in the air and my mouth wide open,
wondering what it all meant. I was not suffered to remain long in
ignorance; for the two hounds in livery, turning to me, so belaboured my
poor back that I thought at first my bones were broken; while the young
puppy, who, it appears, was her ladyship's youngest son, running behind
me, while I was in this condition, gave my tail such a pull as to cause
me the greatest pain. They then left me in the middle of the road, to
reflect on my ill success in trade, and gather up my stock as I best
could.

I do not know what it was which made me so anxious to learn the name and
rank of the lady doggess who had been the cause of my severe punishment,
but I eagerly inquired of a kind mongrel, who stopped to help me collect
my scattered goods, if he knew anything about her. He said, she was
called Lady Bull; that her husband. Sir John Bull, had made a large
fortune somehow, and that they lived in a splendid house, had about
thirty puppies, little and big, had plenty of servants, and spent a
great deal of money. He could hardly imagine, he said, that it was the
odour of the "fire-flies" which had occasioned me to be knocked down for
upsetting her ladyship, as she had been a butcher's daughter, and was
used to queer smells, unless her nose had perhaps got more delicate with
her change of position.

He said much more about her and her peculiarities than I either remember
or care to repeat; but, imagining he had some private reasons for saying
what he did, I thanked him for his trouble, and bid him good day.

Whatever the cause of my failure, it seemed that I was not fitted for the
match-business. At all events, the experience of that morning did not
encourage me sufficiently to proceed. So, returning the unsold
"fire-flies" to old Fily, I made him a present of the time I had already
spent in his service, and, with a thoughtful face and aching bones, took
my way towards the kennel by the water-side.

CHANGES.

The sun was just going down as I came in sight of the river