[Illustration: TopOne of the fast "Whippets," or small British tanks, that created havoc and terror in the German ranks in 1918.

The tanks used were of a new small variety, known as "whippets," which rapidly wiped out the machine-gun nests with which the enemy sought to stem the tide of the victorious onrush.

There were little camels scarcely more than twelve inches high, little taller than cotton-tail rabbits and smaller than the jackass rabbits; horses 15 inches high, scarcely larger than, and very similar in build to, the little English coursing hound known as the whippet; it is not improbable that we shall find the miniature deer; there certainly existed ancestral wolves and foxes of similarly small proportions.

The Whippet 20.

CHAPTER XIX THE WHIPPET For elegance of style, cleanliness of habit, and graceful movement, few dogs can equal the Whippet, for which reason his popularity as a companion has increased very greatly within the past decade.

CHAPTER XIX THE WHIPPET For elegance of style, cleanliness of habit, and graceful movement, few dogs can equal the Whippet, for which reason his popularity as a companion has increased very greatly within the past decade.

It was probably owing to this habit, which is common to all Whippets, that they were originally known as Snap-Dogs.

Whitefoot, whose owner challenged the world, and was considered to be quite unbeatable, was a Whippet in every sense of the word, and was a nice medium weight, though probably Capplebank's time of 11-1/2 seconds stands alone.

The training of Whippets is by no means easy work, and is more expensive than most people imagine.

The very choicest food is deemed absolutely necessary, in fact a Whippet undergoing preparation for an important race is provided with the most wholesome fare.

Colour in the Whippet is absolutely of no importance to a good judge, though possibly what is known as the peach fawn is the favourite among amateur fanciers.

In some quarters the idea is prevalent that Whippets are delicate in their constitution, but this is a popular error.

Probably their disinclination to go out of doors on their own initiative when the weather is cold and wet may account for the opinion, but given the opportunity to roam about a house the Whippet will find a comfortable place, and will rarely ail anything.

In scores of houses Whippets go to bed with the children, and are so clean that even scrupulous housewives take no objection to their finding their way under the clothes to the foot of the bed, thereby securing their own protection and serving as an excellent footwarmer in the winter months.

The South Durham and Yorkshire Show at Darlington has the credit for first introducing classes for Whippets into the prize ring.

The following is the standard of points adopted by the Whippet Club: * * * *

It is apparent that the Whippet was largely used as a cross with the English Terrier, which may account to a great extent for the decline of terrier character in the breed.

* GENERAL APPEARANCEA terrier calculated to take his own part in the rat pit, and not of the Whippet type.

It was a true highway of war that those whippets of the sea had made the Channel crossing.

"Hey, you black offspring of a yellow whippet!"

Over the broad, blue shoulder of the policeman directly in front of me, I glimpsed a wicked-looking little whippet tank with two very conscious British officers just head and shoulders out.

[Illustration: Whippet Tank] * *