le had assembled, and hung up their horses and vehicles
to the fence without the slightest concealment. They said the police
would not interfere with them--and they did not seem a nice crowd to
interfere with.

One dog was on the ground when we arrived, having come out in a hansom
cab with his trainer. He was a white bull-terrier, weighing about forty
pounds, "trained to the hour", with the muscles standing out all over
him. He waited in the cab, licking his trainer's face at intervals to
reassure that individual of his protection and support; the rest of the
time he glowered out of the cab and eyed the public scornfully. He knew
as well as any human being that there was sport afoot, and looked about
eagerly and wickedly to see what he could get his teeth into.

Soon a messenger came running up to know whether they meant to sit in
the cab till the police came; the other dog, he said, had arrived and
all was ready. The trainer and dog got out of the cab; we followed them
through a fence and over a rise--and there, about twenty yards from
the main road, was a neatly-pitched enclosure like a prize-ring, a
thirty-foot-square enclosure formed with stakes and ropes. About a
hundred people were at the ringside, and in the far corner, in the arms
of his trainer, was the other dog--a brindle.

It was wonderful to see the two dogs when they caught sight of each
other. The white dog came up to the ring straining at his leash, nearly
dragging his trainer off his feet in his efforts to get at the enemy. At
intervals he emitted a hoarse roar of challenge and defiance.

The brindled dog never uttered a sound. He fixed his eyes on his
adversary with a look of intense hunger, of absolute yearning for
combat. He never for an instant shifted his unwinking gaze. He seemed
like an animal who saw the hopes of years about to be realised. With
painful earnestness he watched every detail of the other dog's toilet;
and while the white dog was making fierce efforts to get at him, he
stood Napoleonic, grand in his courage, waiting for the fray.

All details were carefully attended to, and all rules strictly
observed. People may think a dog-fight is a go-as-you-please outbreak of
lawlessness, but there are rules and regulations--simple, but effective.
There were two umpires, a referee, a timekeeper, and two seconds for
each dog. The stakes were said to be ten pounds a-side. After some talk,
the dogs were carried to the centre of the ring by the