The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1856-08-21
THE DOG NOBLE, AND TIE EMPTY HOLE.
by HENRY WARD BEECHER.

The first summer which we spent in Lenox.
we had along a very intelligent dog, named No
| Die. 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 n red squirrel run into a hole
in stone wall, he could not be persuaded that
he was not there forevermore
Several red squirrels lived close TO the house
and had become familiar, but not tame They
kept up regular ronlp with Noble. They would
come down from the maple trees with provoking
GOODNESS; they would run along the fence al
most within reach; they would Geek their tails
and sail across the road to the barn; and vet,
there was such well-timed calculation under
all this apparent rashness, that Noble invariably
arrived at the critical spot inst as the squirrel
left it.
On one occasion, Noble was so close upon his
red-backed friend, that, unable to get up the ma
pie tree, he lodged into hole in the wall, ran
through the chinks, emerged at q little distance,
and sprung into the tree. The intense enthu-
siasm of the dog at that hole can hardly be de-
scribed. He filled it full of barking. He paved
and scratched, as if undermining a bastion.
Standing off at a little distance, he would pierce
the hole with gaze as intense and fixed as if
he was trying magnetism on it. Then, with
he whould rush at the empty hole with a pro-
digious 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
crotch, would sit silently watching the whole
process of bombardng the empty hole, with
great sobriety and relish. But Noble would al
low of no doubts. His conviction that that hole
had squirrel in it continued mistaken 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, no cat
tie to chase, no children to romp with, no expe-
ditions to make with the grown folks, and when
he had slept all that his dog-skin would hold,
he would walk out of the yard, yswn, and stretch
himself and then look wistf1ly at the hole, as
if thinking to himself "Well, as there is nothing
else TO do, may as well try that hole again |"
We had almost forgotten this little trait, until
the conduct of the New York Express in respect
to Col. Fremont's religion brought it ludicrous.
ly to mind. Col Fremont is, and always has
been, as sound Protestant as John Knox ever
was. He was bred in the Protestant faith, and
has never changed. He is unacquainted with
the doctrines and ceremonies of the Catholic
Church, and has never attended the services of
that church, with two or three exceptions, when
curiosity, or some extrinsic reason, led him as a
witness. We do not state this upon vague be.
lief We know what we say. We say it upon
our own personal honor and proper knowledge.
Col. Fremont never was, and is not now, Ro-
man Catholic. He has never been wont TO at.
tend that church. Nor has be in any way, di-
recty or indirectly, given occasion for this re-
port.
1t is gra.uitous falsehood, utter, barren, alb
solute, 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, INSCRIPTIONS falsehocd, from top to
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 a
thorough and total untruth, and they who spread
1t bear false witness. And as to sll the stories
OF Fulmer, &C., as to supposed conversations
with Fremont, in which he defended the mass,
and what not, they are pure fctions. They
never happened. The authors Of them are
sauderers; the men to believe them are dupes
the men who spread them become endorsers 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 No6le-a church without
a 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 inkling
Of the righteousness of his conduct, for be
would drop his tail, and walk towards us with
his tongue out, and his eyes little aslant, seem
ing to soy, "My dear sir, you don't understand
dogs feelings. / should, of course, much pre-
fer squirrel; but if l can't have that, an empty
hole is better than nothing. imagine how
would catch him if he tcas there. Besides, peo-
pie who pass by don't know the facts. Thev
think that have got something. 1t is needful
to keep up my reputation for sagacity. Besides,
to tell the truth, have looked into this hole so
long, that have half persuaded myself that
there is squirrel there, or will be, if keep
ON
Well, every dog must have his day, aud every
oog must have his way. No doubt if We were