Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1872-09-13
A Dog Story.

THE little settlement of Cahokia was 0'
SATURDAY. last thrown into terrible aglta-
ton by a report that the infant child 1f
Mr.. Francois Xavier Papin, little girl
thirteen months old, had been lost. The
parents live about mile from the center
of the settlement, in a small frame house,
in the rear of which is frame building
used as a wood, shed, etc. Mr.. Papin
was absent, and the mother was thus left
alone with her only child. About nine
o'clock on Saturday morning she left the
child creeping about the yard, and went
up the road to the house of her nearest
neighbor, distant about three hundred
wards. She had no anxiety as to leaving
the child alone, as it could only creep a
little, and, besides, was in company OF.
black Newfoundland dog of unusual sa-
gacity. and which was accustomed to
guard the child jealousy.
When Mrs Papin had done her errand,
she UNEXPECTEDLY met friend, and en-
gagged in conversation with her. Minutes
passed by unnoticed, and it was fully half
an hour after she left her house ere she
-recollected that the child was alone. She
hurried homeward, found her worst
beliefs realized. Her baby was gone, and
the dog, too, had disappeared.
The unhappy mother was almost crazed
with anxiety, and ran hither and thither,
examining every nook and crevice Of the
premises. There was no brook near by,
and the we'll was covered, so that it could
not have fallen into the water. The next
nspposition was that the child had been
stolen by two men who had driven past
the house, and one of the neighbOrs har-
messed his horse and drove after the
strangers, who were Overtaken after a
drive of two hours, but were not in pos
session of the child, and denied all knowl-
edge of it. They had, they said, seen it
in the yard as they drove past, and it was
playing with big black dog. They knew
nothing more.
The dog seemed to indicate that it COM
pretended the situation and fully sympa-
thized with it's mistress in her att1lctlOn
1t ran anxiously here and there, utterlng
sharp, appealing barks, and seemed de-
sirous to be followed. Its unwOnted ac-
tions were, however, attributed to excite
ment, and but little attention was paid to
it, Thus matters went on till almost
evening, when the neighbors reluctantly
gave up the search and prepared to re-
turn home Only one place remained un-
searched, the low space between the floor
of the out-building and the earth, about
two and a half feet high. Thiswas boarded
up, but at one corner a board was re-
moved to allow the dog to enter and go
out. Here were her puppies, still blind,
and before it was dry ditch with sloplng
sides about eighteen inches deep. That
the child should have crawled from the
house to this out-building, distance of
some fifty or sixty yards, have passed the
ditch and squeezed through the low open
ing, appeared incredible. But such was
the case, for when the first searcher tore
away the boards to enlarge the aperture,
he heard low growl, and looking in saw
Jennie" the dog, lying there with three
little puppies swarming up her sides,
while sound asleep, with its little hands
patting the black skin of it's protector,
lay the lost child. In another moment it
was in its mothers arms. almost devoured
with kisses, while the dog lay gravely
wagging its tail, and, by its sparkling
eyes, showing its satisfaction. The child
was uninjured, though covered with dust
and earth, from its long crawl. 1t did
not manifest any hunger after being res
cued, which fact, with the position in
which it was found, left no doubt that the
story Of Romulus and Remus had been
repeated with slight variations, and that
the dog had sucked the child.-&. LOUIS
Democrat, August &c.