"Poor little Peter," said the doctor, kindly. Peter moved to the edge of the chair; sat very upright, and looked eagerly across to where the doctor was sitting. Then he wagged his tail, tapping the chair with quick, anxious, little taps. "The first wag I have seen in twenty-four hours," remarked Lady Ingleby; but neither Deryck Brand nor Shockheaded Peter heeded the remark. The anxious eyes of the dog were gazing, with an agony of question, into the kind keen eyes of the man. Without moving, the doctor spoke. "_Yes_, little Peter," he said. Peter's small tufted tail ceased thumping. He sat very still for a moment; then quietly moved back to the middle of the chair, turned round and round three or four times; then lay down, dropping his head between his paws with one long shuddering sigh, like a little child which has sobbed itself to sleep. The doctor turned, and looked at Lady Ingleby. "What does that mean?" queried Myra, astonished. "Little Peter asked a question," replied Sir Deryck, gravely; "and I answered it." "Wonderful! Will you talk this telepathy over with Michael when he comes home? It would interest him." The doctor looked into the fire. "It is a big subject," he said. "When I can spare the time, I am thinking of writing an essay on the mental and spiritual development of animals, as revealed in the Bible." "Balaam's ass?" suggested Lady Ingleby, promptly. The doctor smiled. "Quite so," he said. "But Balaam's ass is neither the only animal in the Bible, nor the most interesting case. Have you ever noticed the many instances in which animals immediately obeyed God's commands, even when those commands ran counter to their strongest instincts? For instance:--the lion, who met the disobedient man of God on the road from Bethel. The instinct of the beast, after slaying the man, would have been to maul the body, drag it away into his lair, and devour it. But the Divine command was:--that he should slay, but not eat the carcass, nor tear the ass. The instinct of the ass would have been to flee in terror from the lion; but, undoubtedly, a Divine assurance overcame her natural fear; and all men who passed by beheld this remarkable sight:--a lion and an ass standing sentry, one on either side of the dead body of the man of God; and there they remained until the old prophet from Bethel arrived, to fetch away the body and bury it." "Extraordinary!" said Lady Ingleby. "So they did. And now one comes to think of it there are plenty of similar instances. The instinct of the serpent which Moses lifted up on a pole, would have been to come scriggling down, and go about biting the Israelites, instead of staying up on the pole, to be looked at for their healing."