street yesterday, when you were looking out
of the window?' and the dog spelt out: 'egsdrablad 5 hundrd franzos un
so weidr' ( = special edition 5 hundred French--and so on!). The
laughter elicited by this statement appeared to offend Rolf, for he
promptly spelt out the query: 'di lagn warum?' ( = They laugh--why?).

"After this he applied himself to counting the flowers in a bouquet,
and he was asked to whom he would like to present it. He replied: "lib
adolfin" ( = dear Adolphine), thus distinguishing a particular lady who
was present--and he further added "gomn" (i.e. kommen = come), she had
therefore to step forward and receive the bouquet in person.

"Little flags were distributed next, and Rolf was told to name the
country each stood for. For the yellow and black colours he spelt out:
"esdeig" (Austria), for the Turkish--'dirgig'; for the Baden flag:
"baadin," while the Wuerttemberg colours he regarded as _German_! On
being shown the Bavarian flag he spelt: 'lib mudr sei fei farb!' (i.e.
die feine Farbe der lieben Mutter = the brave colours of dear
mother)--Frau Dr. Moekel being of Bavarian descent.

"At the close of the meeting Rolf was told to name certain melodies,
and a gentleman present whistled the beginning of the song 'O,
Deutschland hoch in Ehren'--but the dog did not at once recognize the
song and spelt out--'nogmal!' (i.e. noch einmal = once more!). Then the
entire song was whistled to him and he spelt: 'heldons sdurm gbraus'
(i.e. Heldensturm-gebraus) and, as he liked to hear singing, he added:
'Wagd fon rein singe, bid' ( = Watch on the Rhine sing, please!). The
same gentleman then obliged him by whistling the 'Wacht am Rhein,' but
he was not quite content, for--as he subsequently observed, 'this was
not singing' (dis nid singt).

"At the close of his tests Rolf was rewarded with a cake which he
promptly recognised as 'basllegrl' (Basler Leckerle = a Specialite of
Bale).

"'The Heidelberger Zeitung' commented on the performance as follows:

"'The astonishment of the audience increased with every moment, while
their delight and enthusiasm at the close of this remarkable and
interesting evening found vent in a storm of applause.'

"Another journal, the 'Badische General Anzeige' wrote:

"'The evening's performance must have converted many who before had
been sceptical.'"

* * * * *

Even as there are numerous horses capable of exercising similar
abil