Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1871-03-09


mus ha' forgot it." And again he
broke out into whistle, apparently
considering this an exercise eminently
suited to the time and place.
THIS being stopped, he spent the re-
mainder OF the time trying how far he
could slide down the bench without
falling off !; and that was his last APP
pearance at Sunday School. But every
Sunday afterwards he sat the whole af-
ternoon on the fence in front of the
school house, seeming to enjoy himself
exceedingly, and occasionally giving
vent to his feelings in responses to the
singing of the school all of them pref
ty much after the style Of Jerusalem,
forever gay"
On this particular Sunday afternoon
he was not alone. He sat on the fence
holding the end of string and on
the ground, at the other end Of the
string, was dog And such looking
dog! There was something about him
that reminded one of a King Charles
spaniel. But that has long, silky hair,
white and glossy brown; while this
little animal was covered with what
looked like tufts of black wool, and his
face was black. The only white about
him was on his feet, and they looked all
the whittier by contrast with the black.
He had the soft brown eyes peculiar to
the King Charles spaniel and he
turned them appealing upon the passers-
| by, as if he would say to them that he
had seen better days, that he was dog
in reduced circumstances, and to beg
them to come to his aid When Fiber
tigibbet first appeared with this dog
the opinion was freely expressed that
he had come into possession of him by
means not in accordance with the strict
observance of the Eighth Command
ment and that his remarkable APP
pearance was owing to something that
had been done to disguise him. But
Flibertigibbet, thinking probably that
possession was "nine-tenths of the
law" was Indifferent.
Well, he sat there on the fence, hold
ing fast to the dogs string; the bright
sharp eyes winking away from under
the old hat, ready to see what was
going on. But there was not much to
see just then--only the old school
| house, with the trees behind it, hold
ing up their naked branches to show
what the cruel autumn winds had done
to them, TOW crows wheeling lazily in
the air, and the sleepy old country
road stretching away in the distance.
By and by something seemed to be
moving up the road The keen eyes
caught this as soon as it came in sight,
and watching it closely, at last made
out that it was a hat Soon from
under the hat emerged a hoy and
following the boy appeared something
| which turned out to be dog.
! The boy walked mp to the fence and
Sstood in front of Flibertigibbet, and
his dog walked up and stood in 'front.'
of Flbertigibbet's dog; and then the
it very cody, with the exception of the
spaniel; and he seemed more alarmed
than gratitied at the appearance and
manners of his visitor. And not much
wonder; for he was queer-looking
animal, with body like a bulldog, ears
like a mastiff,, and tail like an ex-
clamation point, and an expression of
countenance that would totally dis
qualify him for admission in the peace
society.
The silence was broken by question
from Fibertigibbet dat ar yer
dog?"
eyes. sir, that's my dog; an the
way he'll catch rats an chaw 'em up s
caution. But what kind of dog is
that O yourn9 I never see one like
him; an I've seen heaps O dogs too
But yer hain't never seen notfin like
dat ar" said Flibertigibbet "He act
ies' like folks sit up ter de table on
cheer, an eat outen a plate, an wipe
he mouf when he froo, jes' like folks
does"
80, go long 'Spose I'm goin' to
b'ieve that You must think I'm
green"
dom care eff yer b'hebes it er not.
OATS so; an dar's lots O folks seen
him"
Well, what kind of dog is he any
wavl | thought / knowed all the
kinds O. dogs, but / never see one like
him. He'd ought to be a spaniel by
his ears and his make; but his hair
/ say, let's look at that dog" and he
made motion to take him up.
But Flibertigibbet was too quick for
him. He jumped from the fence, and
catching the dog up under his arm, ex-
claimed, "No, yer don't Eff yer don
beieb what 1 tells yer yer ANITA gwine
ter look at notfin." And he marched
off, leaving the boy staring after him
with mingled curiosity and suspicion.
This turned out to be rather an I'M
fortunate adventure for Flibertigibbet.
The boy, who prided himself upon his
knowledge of dogs. was determined to
find ont To what snecies this one be-