The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1867-07-02
SUIT Lovengood's Dog.

A'V, hut, uOb aS We kuOWS on you VI
mixed up dog so in all yer doins, that We
. cant tell adzactly what dag scrape yel
. mean"
"Well, mean ole STUFF gut Die
. eny of ye ever see 'im?"
"No.''
"Wel, ye missed a site. He wur /,
powerful dog, an sometimes ye'd think
that he wur two or three dogs, if ye seet
him eat; not a-countin owe his tail, fur ht
Ihedn't eny. When he wur pup, dad
: durn him, tuck i'm tu straw -cutter, jam
ed his starn clost up tu the frame owe the
cussed gullotine, an foch down the knife
lam thur lay the whole tail in the troft
/ like letter s, an here run the pup a
1youlin like hound, and his starn looked
like you'd busted ripe tomatis onto hit
Well, it changed his looks mitely, an
ibis mater more. Now as to his looks, rite
J onte the spot whar his tail orter staid
THAR crowd bunch ov stiff, ash cullered
. bristles, what pinted every way, like onto
a split broom with the rappin cut loose,
an rite in the middel owe all this fuzzy
llookin patch owe hal, the pint owe his
backbone, kivered with a gristil, stuck
out like onto pidgin's aig, Gaze he sot
Ionto hit SO much. Well, the afar looked
unity sassy an fte like, enyhow, purticu-
llerly when he wur struttin up to big
strange dog tu smell owe i'm. It made
his sturn look hyer than his shoulders,
Ipurpendicular and squar; an he had a
way owe walkin slow an solemn like I've
Iseed yung fellers do at camp meetin when
approaching owe gal at the spring with
thar stud-h hoss close on, agwine sorter
side ways an nifty keerful. I've seed
little hogs go through the same motions,
wun in peach orchard, and tother in the
lane, when they thot they wanted to ite,
an wud dun hit but fur the fence what
wur atween EN-. I never found out that
he wur good for enything but tu keep
bred frum mouldin, an meat frum spilin;
an when he wanted tu show glad es he
he'd no tale tu wag, he wagged his hole
sturn, an his hine feet slipped about on
the groun, sorter like a fashunable gal
walks when she thinks sum he feller is a
lookin at 'er. He wur cultured adzackly
| like mildewed saddel skirt. an he ker-
ried his ears on nowin sort of cock, like
onto muel's when he's skeered. He'd
whiskers round his eyes, an on his hine
laigs, an must had powerful active con-
since, fur he wur the meanest countinen-
lced dog ever seed in my life. Now as
tu his mater, yu cud never set i'm onto
enything yu wanted tu, an cudn't call
i'm ofen enything he got after on his own
accord. He wur skeered all the time,
an stod redy tn run or tu steal, as the
chances mout be; an takin i'm altogeth-
er, he wur jist the rite sort owe dog tu
belong to ms--not wurth durn. an 'orter
been killed afore his eyes got open.
"Well, STUFF gut he follered me tu
town wun day jiss case I didn't want i'm
tn; an while wur gittin on head owe
steam at the doggery, he started roun
town on stealth expedishion owe his
own, an like his cussed fool owner, got
hisself inter fust rate scrape an skeer.
without half tryin' an in less nor no time
at that.
IL had gin myself shake in the dog
gerry, an heard the whisky in me slosh, I
know'd I he'd my load aboard, SO cum
out intu the street, an':--the-fust thing
! seed he cum tarin down the street fif-
teen times faster than thot he cud run,
list bowin owe hisself, his ears sot fat
ontu his neck, an his bristles all sot like
a black pearch's topfn, his eyes shut up
fast an tite, an he he'd on a sort owe
harness made outer strings. sorter like
the set dad wore when he acted hoss, an
he wer haulin owe an old stage lantern
an hit filed with wet powder, an sot
afre.
| s'Now the sparks, an the scizlin an
the dust, an the ratlin, an the youlin,
an growlin, an barkin, an the eighty
nine ur ninety dogs owe all kinds what
wur chasin owe i'm, made sum sensa-
shun. Well-hit--did. Whew-w-vl
When I seed him pass without nowin me
thot of dads hornet tribulashun, an
felt that thar wur such a thing as q trib-
ulashun at last; an then I got mad an
looked roun for sum wun to ventrath on
an seed long-legged cuss, sorter owe the
Loyingood stripe, with his hat cooked
before, sitten straddil owe a hoss-rack,
swinging his legs an asingin-
crack, back Davy, rarin up behine,
You show me your foot, an I'll show mine.p
'Thinks I.you'll do, eff yu didn't start
my dog on that hellward expedition owe
his'n, yu'll do tu put it on enyhow, so
here goes. Sez /: sMister-what.hed- my
dog g-dun -tu-yu2' He pade no tention,
but kept on a-singin-
crack, back Dsvy, daddy shot a bar,
Shot 'em in the eye. an never toch har."
"I seed it wur no use trying to breed a
Iquarrel; SO that I mout be able to breed
a fite, an / jist lent him slatharin ca
llamity rite where his nose commenced tu
lsprout frum atween his eyes, with ruff
rock about the size owe goose aig. Hit
fotch 'iml He drapped ofen the hoss-
rack, but hilt squirrel holt ontu the pole
with his paws an hine feet. and hung
back down. l jumped he'd fust through,
atween his belly an the pole; my heft
broke his holt, an we cum to the ground
a ftin-ne ondermost. an turn'd heads
an tails. So the fust thing I did, was ta
shut my jaws ontu mouthful owe his
steak, nj ontu the place wher yer foot
Iitches to go when yu ar in kickin distance
over fop. He fit mitiIy for the chance
he he'd, but I soon seed he he'd cross ov
bar in i'm, for he couldn't stand ticklin
behind, eff it mount be called ticklin at