River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1873-02-28
Our Dog Jerry.

morning WIFI Jerry, nave tdugnI
Jerry such lot of things since you
have been away he can fetch sticks
out of the water, and beg splendidly-
come here, Jerry" (taking piece of
bread from the breakfast table, "and
show papa how you can beg"
Jerry accordingly, beautiful black
retriever which l had bought for Ned
few months before, sat up and look
ed as demure as a four-legged stole
can do, till he got the bread, when he
thanked Ned by a wag of his tail.
$ | taught HIM that, papa" cried
Ned. Good dog, Jerry! But Liz
zie" (Ned's sister, "helped to make
him fetch the sticks"
"Well, but" said /, rather amused,
eff you teach him all this, Ned, does
he never teach you anything in re-
turn"
"He, indeed! Come, now, papa,
what can dog teach me9 And l am
very glad, dear old jerry" blending
down and clasping Jerry, who returned
the salute by licking the boys face
''you at any rate don't come the
school-master over one; it is enough
to have old Goggles" 0his was Ned's
dreadfully irreverent name for his mas
ter, who wore spectacles) bothering
one from morning to night with his
xyz's ar I his Greeks, isn't it 2 What
do you think, papa9 old Goggles pos
itively makes us learn half page of
irregular Greek verbs every morning
now, but we always slip them when
We cam
Il
mild answer, "we have all of us had to
go through the same hard experience,
suppose. But as to Jerry, do you
know | think he tries to teach you a
good deal, if You have only the wit to
learns Only jerry is wiser than most
masters he teaches chiefly by exam
pile"
Now this, as I thought it would,
piqued Ned, whose great failing was to
think himself immensely clever.
"Indeed, papa!" he cried, rather
scornfully, "And pray what is he
teaching me now, as he is jumping
about like that 2" For since we had
got out of the house, Jerry was run
ming about like mad dog, now bound
ing a dozen yards forward, now run
ming back to us and leapiDg up, bark
ing all the time and wagging his tail
till though it would come off"
ooh, can't you see, Ned 2" | replied
coolly. It's his way of giving you a
lesson against cruelty to animals"
81 don't see it bit"
"Why, he is barking out as loud as
he can. See how delighted 1 am at
getting ont of doors-just as you are
Ned, when you rush out of school !
You see there is not as much differ
ence as you thought, between you and
me; /, and all other animals can feel
pleasure and pain as keenly as your.
self; so remember that, the next time
You pull poor little fy's wings of. "
We'll, come. papa, j am not cruel
to animals, whatever else / may be, y
protested Ned.
"Idort think you are, Ned, inten.
tionally," answered. "By the way,
how is the last of those little bullfnches
you and Tom Ducie brought home a
few days ago?'
"Oh, it tumbled into a pan of boil
ing water yesterday, papa, so we were
obliged to kill it," said the boy.
"Ah, then, that makes up the six,
does it not Let me see; there was
this; and one you said fell out of the
nest; two the cat got; and two wouldn't
eat, you told me, because you could not
feed them as well as the old bird did.
SO the whole six are disposed of now.
Oh, no, Ned; you are not cruel inten-
tionally."
Ned began to see that / was poking
fun at MIN, so he did not answer but
walked on sulkily, kicking down the
thistles which happened to be rank
along the lane side. BY and by we got
to the river, where Jerry bounded in
after the sticks and stones Ned kept
throwing for him into the water. We
had amused ourselves for sometime
with watching him paving for the
stones or snaJching the stick in his
mouth, and after shaking himself when
he got back to land, bringing us the
recovered treasure.
AT last Ned, who never sulked for a
long time at once, laughed and cried
out to me There papa, now what
lesson is Jerry giving me MOVE To
fetch sticks cut of of tie river, / sup
pose but you surely don't want me to
learn 70 do that 2 A"
" No, Ned, / 90 not. But Jerry il
trying YOU now ON quite a different
tack, because he sees YOU have already
forgot his last lesson to You about
cruelty 20 animals
"Well, how am / cruel now ="
by not remembering, Ned, that il
is a cold day for him to be so long in
the water. Tie sport was very well at
first both for ms and the dog but you