It Is Customary In
This Country To Chloroform A Dog And Give Him A Dose Of Strychnine To
"Put Him
Out of his misery." But it was not necessary in this case, as
he was not in misery; not a
Groan did he ever emit, waking or sleeping;
and if you put a hand on him he would look up and wag his tail just to
let you know that it was well with him. And in his sleep he passed
away - a perfect case of euthanasia - and was buried in the large garden
near the second apple-tree.
X
THE SAMPHIRE GATHERER
At sunset, when the strong wind from the sea was beginning to feel
cold, I stood on the top of the sandhill looking down at an old woman
hurrying about over the low damp ground beneath - a bit of sea-flat
divided from the sea by the ridge of sand; and I wondered at her,
because her figure was that of a feeble old woman, yet she moved - I had
almost said flitted - over that damp level ground in a surprisingly
swift light manner, pausing at intervals to stoop and gather something
from the surface. But I couldn't see her distinctly enough to satisfy
myself: the sun was sinking below the horizon, and that dimness in the
air and coldness in the wind at day's decline, when the year too was
declining, made all objects look dim. Going down to her I found that
she was old, with thin grey hair on an uncovered head, a lean dark face
with regular features and grey eyes that were not old and looked
steadily at mine, affecting me with a sudden mysterious sadness.
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