Mr. Stephens' Dogs

CleTclacd Leader. Alexander Stephens was fond of any creature with which he carne in contact. He liked animáis of all kinds, and especially young animáis. At home he paid much attention to his little pigs; was very careful that their mother should not mjure them bv rolling, upon them. He always had several dogs about him. He treated them as almost human, and I think he oonsidered them nearly so He would talk to them and pet them. They sleptat night either in his room or on the outside of the door. At Liberty Hall the doors 'vvere never closed at night, and any one might have gone through the house were it not for the dogs, They slept in the library, and Alexander Stephen3 always occupied the chamber which opened into this. A step on the porch would raise a terrible howling, and it would have been indeed dangerous for iny robber to have entered over such a guard. Thurc is one nog which deserves to be known in history, and that is Mr. Stephens' oíd poodle, Rio. He was for years Mr. Stephens' constant companion. He loved hira as an intímate frnnd, and when he died he shed tears over his grave. Rio was a remarkable dog. He could reason more than any animal I have ever known. I remember at Liberty Hall wc would be talking about something going wrong on the place, and Rio would riso and go to the spot spoken of by us. He seemed to understand language, and his face was very much like that of a human. Ho was a big, fat poodle, with wool as white as snow, as heavy as that of a sheep, and as soft as silk. He had a high forehead and bright, black eyes. He grew blind several years before he died, and Mr. Stephens took as much caro of him as lie would have done had he becn his own flesh and blood. When ho died he pul him in a wooden coffin and buried him in the garden. He had intended to have erected a marblo slab over his grave, but this was put off and fiually neglected. He never cast off any of his dogs in their oíd age, and Troup, Pluck, Frank and half a dozen others of his pets wero cared for during their declining ycars of senility and decrepitude. To think we are able is almost to do to determine upon attainmeut is frequontly attainuient, itsolf. Thus carnest resolutions have often seemed to havo almont a aror of omnipotonoe.