Page 60 - Jack's victory and other stories about dogs

band was playing briskly, and a large con­

course of people had assembled to witness the

departure of the gallant warriors. The exhilar­
ating sounds of tlie drums and trumpets, together

with the martial appearance of the troops, and

the general enthusiasm which prevailed, com­

plete] y overcame the feelings of the country dog,

stirred up an innate martial feeling within him,
and he, with the promptitude o£ a commander-in­

chief in the midst of action, at once resolved that

he would be a soldier, and nothing else. Accor­
dingly, without returning to his good master, the

grocer, to bid him farewell, the military-smitten

dog looked carefully about him to see that he

was not observed, dropped his tail and made oft

to the outskirts of the town to the road which
the soldiers were to pass along. In about an

hour they came up, and Moustache, without

obtrusively putting himself forward, continued

to follow them until the last of the crowd who
had accompanied them out of town had returned

home.

Now, our hero was not a pretty dog; on the