" And wherefore sings he that strange song of death,
That song of sorrow? Is the doom at hand? "
THE wife of Granger soon provided refreshments for the young savage, of which he ate sparingly, and without much seeming consciousness of what he was doing. Harrison did not trouble him much with remark or inquiry, but busied himself in looking after the preparations for the defence of the building. For this purpose, Hector and himself occupied an hour in the apartment adjoining that in which the household concerns of Granger were carried on. In this apartment Hector kept Dugdale, a famous bloodhound, supposed to have been brought from the Caribbees, which, when very young, Harrison had purchased from a Spanish trader. This dog was of a peculiar breed, and resembled in some respects the Irish wolf-hound, while having all the thirst and appetite for blood which distinguished the more ancient Slute or Sleuth-hound of the Scots. It is a mistake to suppose that the Spaniards brought these dogs to America. They found them here, actually in use by the Indians and for like purposes, and only perfected their training, while stimulating them in the pursuit of man. The dog Dugdale had been partially trained after their fashion to hunt the Indians, and even under his present owner, it was not deemed unbecoming that he should be prepared for the purposes of war upon the savages, by the occasional exhibition of a stuffed figure, so made and painted as to resemble a naked Indian, around whose neck a lump of raw and bleeding beef was occasionally suspended. This was shown him while chained, — from any near approach he was withheld until his appetite had been so wrought upon that longer restraint would have been dangerous and impossible. The training of these dogs, as known to the early French and Spanish settlers, by both of whom they were in common use for the purpose of war with the natives, is exceeding curious; and so fierce under this sort of training did they become in process of time that it was found necessary to restrain them in cages while thus stimulated, until the call to the field, and the prospect of immediate strife, should give an opportunity to the exercise of their