TWO dogs on Bournemouth beach: a mon-
grel, one,
With spaniel plainest on the palimpsest.
The blur of muddled stock; the other, bred.
With tapering muzzle, rising brow, strong jaw—
A terrier to the tail's expressive tip,
Magnetic, nimble, endlessly alert.
The mongrel, wet and shivering, at my feet
Deposited a wedge of half-inch board,
A foot in length and splintered at the butt;
Withdrew a yard and crouched in act to spring,
While to and fro between his wedge and me
The glancing shuttle of his eager look
A purpose wove. The terrier, ears a-cock,
And neck one curve of sheer intelligence,
Stood sentinel : no sound, no movement, save
The mongrel's telegraphic eyes, bespoke
The object of the canine pantomime.
I stooped to grasp the wedge, knowing the game;
But like a thing uncoiled the mongrel snapped
It off, and promptly set it out again,
The terrier at his quarters, every nerve
Waltzing inside his lithe rigidity.
"More complex than I thought!" Again I made
To seize the wedge; again the mongrel won,
Whipped off the jack, relaid it, crouched and
watched.
The terrier at attention all the time.
I won the third bout: ere the mongrel snapped
His toy, I stayed my hand: he halted, half
Across the neutral ground, and in the pause
Of doubt I seized the prize. A vanquished yelp
From both; and then intensest vigilance.
Together, when I tossed the wedge, they plunged
Before it reached the sea. The mongrel, out
Among the waves, and standing to them, meant
Heroic business ; but the terrier dodged
Behind, adroitly scouting in the surf.
And seized the wedge, rebutted by the tide,
In shallow water, while the mongrel searched
The English Channel on his hind-legs poised.
The terrier laid the trophy at my feet:
And neither dog protested when I took
The wedge : the overture of their marine
Diversion had been played out once for all.
[Excerpt]