or a large dish of soup, and then gave a
loud whistle. At once there came into the room a mastiff, a fine Angora
cat, an old raven, and a remarkably large rat, with a bell about its
neck. These four animals went to the dish, and without disturbing one
another, fed together. After they had eaten, the dog, cat, and rat lay
before the fire, and the raven hopped about the room.

XXV

THE DOLPHIN

In the reign of Augustus Caesar there was, in the Lucrine lake, a dolphin
which formed a most romantic attachment to the son of a poor man. The
boy had to go every day from Baiae to Puteoli to school, and such were
the friendly terms on which he had got with the dolphin, that he had
only to wait by the banks of the lake and cry, "Simo, Simo"--the name he
had given to the animal, when, lo! Simo came scudding to the shore, let
fall the sharp prickles of his skin, and gently offered his back for the
boy to mount upon. The boy, nothing afraid, used to mount at once, and
the dolphin, without either rein or spur, would speed across the sea to
Puteoli, and after landing the young scholar, wait about the shore till
it was time for the boy to go home, when it would again perform the same
sort of friendly service. The boy was not ungrateful for such great
kindness, and used every day to bring a good store of food for Simo,
which the animal would take from his hand in the most tame and kindly
manner imaginable. For several years this friendly intercourse was kept
up. It was, in fact, only ended by the death of the boy. As the story
goes, the dolphin felt so badly when the lad failed to come as usual,
that it threw itself on the shore, and died, as was thought, of very
grief and sorrow at the loss of its friend.

[Illustration]

XXVI

A GOOD FINDER

One day a tradesman, walking with a friend, offered to wager that if he
were to hide a five-shilling piece in the dust, his dog would find it
and bring it to him. The wager was accepted, and the piece of money
marked and hidden. When the two had gone on some distance, the tradesman
called to his dog that he had lost something, and told him to seek it.
The dog turned back at once, and his master and his friend went on their
way. Meanwhile a traveller, driving a small chaise, saw the piece of
money which his horse had kicked from its hiding-place, alighted, took
it up and drove to his inn. The dog had just reached the spot in search
of the lost piece, when the stranger picked