Robert Michael Ballantyne

The Dog Crusoe and His Master Robert Michael Ballantyne

The dog Crusoe was once a pup. Now do not, courteous reader, toss your head contemptuously, and exclaim, "Of course he was; I could have told you that." You know very well that you have often seen a man above six feet high, broad and powerful as a lion, with a bronzed shaggy visage and the stern glance of an eagle, of whom you have said, or thought, or heard others say, "It is scarcely possible to believe that such a man was once a squalling baby." If you had seen our hero in all the strength and majesty of full-grown doghood, you would have experienced a vague sort of surprise had we told you-as we now repeat-that the dog Crusoe was once a pup-a soft, round, sprawling, squeaking pup, as fat as a tallow candle, and as blind as a bat.