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been a friend of the dogs for many years; and from much that I had seen long before I got Master Frisky, I had become convinced that they have a way of talking,—if not in real words, yet in signs, looks, and motions, that are quite as good as words.

After my acquaintance with Master Frisky began, I, of course, had more chances of studying dog language than I had before; so, in the course of time, I came to understand a great deal that went on among them, that would have escaped the notice of some people.

Some of the more common signs and signals I shall tell my readers, but other signs I have promised to keep secret; for, as Master Frisky says, if folks once knew the dog language, that would be an end of all their secrets. Here is one of the incidents that led me to think that the dogs had a language of their own.

I was sitting in the hammock, watching a flock of blackbirds that were in a big elm-tree; they were visiting and scolding away at the top of their voices. Presently I heard a patter on the sidewalk; and looking up, I saw Ned, Frisky's