River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1872-11-15

he uttered a most melancholy howl,
which was very disagreeable to hear.
Stop that noise, Snapg" cried Lulu !;
"mind me this minute !" she added.
stamping her little foot. Instead of do
ing as he was told, Snap only uttered
another howl, more dismal than before.
"You are anaughty, naughty dog, and
| will punish you well You shall be
locked in this room until I come back -
AS Lulu said this, she rushed for the
door; but Snap had no intention of
staying inside. The very idea A dog
so smart as he to be locked up! He'd
see! So he started as hard as he could
scamper for the door. Now there was
just one thing that Snap did not think
of. For the first time in his life he
forgot that he had tail; so, although
he got the whole of his little fat body
outside, his tail was left behind, and,
sad to relate, the door closed upon it
with fearful bang. Smash went the
tail How Snap yelled with rage and
pain, and how Lulu screamed, and
mingled her cries with Snaps!
Mamma soon come, and with Lulu's
help carried the little dog into a room.
to see what must be done. They tried
all they could think of, but Snap only
grew worse, and the next day papa de-
cided that the poor, bruised tail would
have to be cut off. Little Lulu felt
dreadfully about it, and all the more
so, because she saw that the loss of his
tail made Snap cherished hard feelings
towards her. In course of time Snap
got well, but grieve TO say he was
even worse behaved than before. Like
many human beings, he had failed to
profit by the misfortune which his
naughtiness had brought upon him.
No more would he allow Lulu to pet
him; no more was he her companion
and, most mournful of all, no more
wore the six dolls assisted by him to
robe and unrobe. Poor Lulu many
were the tears she shed, but they
did not better matters Snap was OBJ.
stinate.
One night the six dolls were set UP
as usual, in row, in their ghostly
white nightgowns; but when Lulu got
up in the morning, to her amazement
one was missing. Although she hunt
ed the house over, no trace of the doll
was to be seen, and at night, still won
dering, she undressed and set up the
remaining five. Morning dawned, and
discovered four dolls sitting up stiff
and white, but one was not. Still more
perplexed, Lulu questioned papa,
mamma, and all the servants, but no
one had touched the dolls. The next
morning but three were to be seen.
This was too much for Lulu's tender
heart she burst into tears, and when
at night she undressed her remaining
children, she begged them, with many
sobs, not to die, for she firmly believed
that her lost ones had died, and de-
parted from earth. Alas for the little
mother! Morning came, but the dolls
had all vanished 1 will not try to
tell you about Lulu's grief; her tears
were too many to be counted. 1 will
only say that week passed, with no
news from the dolls.
Meanwhile Snaps conduct changed.
He was observed to become more so.
ciable, and would even have allowed
Lulu to pet him, had she cared to do
so; but as the same time there was a
certain sheepishness about his manner,
which was very unusual. One morning,
just week after the loss of her chill.
dren, Lulu arose, and suddenly uttered
a cry of mingled Joy and horror at the
sight which met her astonished eyes !;
there set the six dolls in their long,
trailing nightgowns, ghostly white no
longer, for, shocking to relate, they
were covered with mud from head to
foot, their countenances were concealed
by mud, their little hands were full of
mud, and their poor nightgowns were
dissolved with mud and dripping with
water. Lllu's exclamation brought
mamma to the spot, and as she opened
the door in came Snap. His head and
the remains of his tail were bent so low
that they nearly met, and he rather
rolled than ran to Lulu, and cast him
self on his back at her feet, just as he
often did when he wished to beg her
mercy. Mamma could not help laugh
ing, itwas so funny And advised Lulu
to forgive Snap, she promised to ex-
plain it all. This Lulu was quiet ready
to do, she was so delighted by her
children's return and as soon as she
had done hugging the six dolls,--in
spite of their condition, -she petted
Snap, to that worthys unbounded de-
light, and then ran to mamma to hear
how it all came about.
Mamma told her that when the first
doll was missed she and papa suspected
Snap SO they arose very early the next
morning to watch him. Looking out
of the window just as day was begin
ming to dawn, they saw the little fellow
come out of the house with a doll in
his mouth. Trotting swiftly along, he
cast the poor thing into large mud
puddle, in the back part of the yard.
The next morning he did thesame with