Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1856-08-28
The Dog Noble, and the Empty Hole,
BY REV. HENRY WARD BEEcHER.


we had along a very intelligent dog named No
bic. He was learned in many things, and by
his dog-lore excited the undying admiration OF
all the children. But there were some things
which Noble could never learn Having on one
occasion seen a red squirrel run into hole in
stone wall he could not be pursuaded that he
was not there for evermOrc
Several red squirrels lived close to the house
and had become familiar, but not tame. They
kept up a regular romp with Noble They
would come down from the maple trees with
provoking GOODNESS they would run along the
fence almost within leach, they would cock
their tails and sail across the road to the barn:
and yet there was such a well-timcd calculation
under all this apparent rashness, that Noble in
variably arrived at the critical spot just as the
squirrel left it.
On one one occasion Noble was so close mp
on his red backed friend that unable to get
up the maple tree, he lodged into hole in
the wall, ran through the chinks, emerged at
little distance, and sprung into the tree
The intense enthusiasm of the dog at that hole
can hardly be described. lie filled it full Of
barking. He paved and scratched as if un-
dermnng bastion Standing off at little
distance he would pierce the hole with gaze as
intense and fixed as if he were trying magnet
ism on it. Then with tail extended, and every
hair thereon electrified, he would rush at the
empty hole with a prodigious onslaught.
This imaginary squirrel haunted NoJle night
and day. The very squirrel himself would run
up before his face into the tree and crouched
in a crotch, would sit silently watching the
whole process of bombarding the empty hole.
with great sobriety and relish But NoLh
oil of no ic IL,
that hole had a squirrel in continued unshaken
for six weeks. When all other occupations
failed this hole remained to him. When there
were no more chickens to harry, no pigs to bite.
10 cattle to chase, no children to romp with,
no expeditions to make with the grown folks,
and when he had slept all that his dog-skin
would hold, he would walk out in the yard.
yawn and stretch himself, and then looking
wistfully at the hole as if thinking to himself,
"Well, if there is nothing else to do | NAV as
well try that hole again"
We had almost forgotten this little trait .un-
til the conduct of the Nen- York Express, in
respect to Col Fremont's religion brought it
ludicrously to mind again. Col Fremont is,
and alwas has been, as sound a Protestant as
John Knox ever was. He was bred in the
Protestant faith and has never changed. He
nies of the Catholic Church, and has never at
tended that Church with two or three excep-
tions, when curiosity, or some extrnsic reason,
led him as a witness. We do not state this
upon vague belief We know what we say
We say it upon our own personal honor and
proper knowledge Col Fremont never was.
and is not now, a Roman Catholic. He has
never been wont to attend that Church. Nor
has he in any way, directly or indirectly given
occasion for this report
1t is a gratuitous falsehood, utter barren.
absolute and unqualified The story has been
got up for political effect 1t is still circulated
for that reason and like other political lies. it
is sheer, unscrupuOus falsehood, from topic
bottom, from the core to the skin, and from
the skin back to the core again. In all its
parts, in pulp, tegument, rind, cell and seed, it
is thorough and total untruth, and they who
spread it bear false witness. And as to all the
stories of the Fumer, etc, as to supposed con-
versations with Fremont in which he defended
the mass, and what not they are pure fctons
They never happened. The authors of them
are slanderers, the men to believe them are
dupes the men who spread them become en-
dorsers of wilful and corrupt libellers.
But the Express, like Noble, has opened on
this hole in the wall, and can never be done
barking at it. Day after day it resorts to this
empty hole When everything else fails, this
resource remains. There they are, indefatiga-
blythe Express and NoJie-a church with
out q Fremont, and hole without a squirrel
in it
In some respects, however, the dog had the
advantage. Sometimes we thought that he
really believed that there was a squirrel there
But at other times he apparently had an ink,
ling of the righteousness of his conduct, for
he would drop his tail, and walk towards us
with his tongue out and his eyes little aslant
seeming to say, My dear sir. you don't un-
derstand dogs feelings. should of course
much prefer squirrel, but if can't have that,
an empty hole is better than nothing | i'm
agine how | would catch him if he ras there
Besides, people who pass by don't know the
facts. They think that I have got something
1t is needful to keep up my reputation for Sa-
gacity. Besides, to tell the truth | have look
ed into that hole so long that have half per-
suaded myself that there is a squirrel there, or
will be, if keep on
Well, every dog must have his day. and eve
ry dog must have his way. No doubt if we
were to bring back Noble now, after two sum
mer's absence, he would make straight for that
hole in the wall with just as much zeal as
ever
We never read the Express, nowadays,
without thinking invountary, "Goodness
the dog is letting off at that hole again"
ANOTHER EpIroR GoNE-Mr. S. If. Swain