Connecticut western news., 1876-11-17
CANAAN, CONN.,. FRIDAY NOVEMBER IT, 1876.
Mr., Sommerbeck's Dog.

"I love my dog," said Mir. Sommer- beck. Mans faithful friend always devoted to his master; always vigilant iu his protection untiring in his efforts to please docile under discipline, for giving in his disposition, kind and faithful, man does not half appreciate him nor understand him. have bought dog, one that will in his infantile days be source of unceasiug mirth to us all by his innocent gambols, and, as age de- velops his sterner qualities, will be a faithful, vigilant guardian of our sleep ing hours. Let us love him and deal with him gently and tenderly, and his very life will be devoted to our service. Come, Herzegovina, come come in and get acquainted with your friends"
 He tied him to the back fence with a piece of the clothesline, and sought his downy couch. He had been in bed about ten minutes when howl of most unearthly import smote the air, dying away in prolonged, shuddering gurgle that lifted every hair on Mir. Sommer- beck's head, and emptied all the shriek
 ing, fainting women in the house into his room in one wailing, hysterical tor rent. Again and again the howl came swelling up through the closed windows, as though it walled out of the very walls of the house, then one would come series of choking, gurgling gasps and asthmatic groans that were too full of horror to listen to without shrieking.
 He dressed and took the lantern and revolver and went out. Guided by the terrible sounds he came to where he had tied the dog. No dog was visible, but the rope that was stretched tight across the top of the fence showed where he was. The docile animal had jumped over the fence and the rope was just long enough to let his hind legs touch the ground. As long as he could stand, the dog could howl till he hushed the railroad whistles, and when his weaken ing legs buckled and let him down, the rope frightened and shut of his wind in Q series of chokes and gasps and gurgles that were too awful to think about. MT. Sommerbeck climbed painfully over the fence and tried to lift the dog back into the yard, and as he pushed the bowling animal over the fence, it paved the top of his bald head until it looked like a map of the Servian war. MT. Somp1erbeck wished the faithful dog at the Centennial. Then it crawled it's hind legs down the neck of his night shirt, aud braced it's fore paws against the fence and pushed back, and walked all over MT. Sommerbeok's uptnrned face, bowling all the time. Finally MT. Sommerbeck pushed him over and heard him drop with a heavy thump on the ground. Then, he tried to climb over himself. It was @ slow, painful task, for MT. Sommerbeck is not a light weight, nor is he so young as he once was. At last he got one leg over the top of the fence after many grunts, and with great groan of satisfaction bal anced himself on top. His sudden ap- pearance seemed to fill the dog with terror, and in flash, just as MT. Som merbeck dropped on the inside of the fence, the faithful dog went up like Q rocket and shot out of sight on the other, and recommended his hideous howls and gasps. MT. Sommerbeck felt as though he couldn't groan deep enough nor fast enough as he prepared to scale the dreadful fence. It was discouraging work, but he got to the top at last, lost his balance and went down on the other side like a land slide, falling plump on the faithful dog and killing it so quick that the doomed animal never whined a protest. MT. Sommerbeck limped slowly down the alley and up the street to the front gate. He got in the house and went to bed, and in response to the anxious inquiries of the women as to what was the matter, he merely told them to pull on the clothesline in the morning and they would find out.