in. His swimming powers were marvellous, and so powerful
were his muscles that he seemed to spurn the water while passing
through it, with his broad chest high out of the curling wave, at a
speed that neither man nor beast could keep up with for a moment. His
intellect now was sharp and quick as a needle; he never required a
second bidding. When Dick went out hunting, he used frequently to drop
a mitten or a powder-horn unknown to the dog, and after walking miles
away from it, would stop short and look down into the mild, gentle
face of his companion.

"Crusoe," he said, in the same quiet tones with which he would have
addressed a human friend, "I've dropped my mitten; go fetch it, pup."
Dick continued to call it "pup" from habit.

One glance of intelligence passed from Crusoe's eye, and in a moment
he was away at full gallop, nor did he rest until the lost article was
lying at his master's feet. Dick was loath to try how far back on his
track Crusoe would run if desired. He had often gone back five and six
miles at a stretch; but his powers did not stop here. He could carry
articles back to the spot from which they had been taken and leave
them there. He could head the game that his master was pursuing and
turn it back; and he would guard any object he was desired to "watch"
with 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 boun