San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1877-12-08

speaking, its accomplishments are lin
tied to sleeping by your horse in the
stable, and jumping at his nose when he
is on the road. Well, this 'Dalmatian
fell blind; he had cataract on both
eyes. lie went cropping about the
streets and tumbling into cutters, until
he stirred up the compassion of my
brother in surgery, Beach. Beach, by
the way, cares nothing for dogs; he has
no fordness for them whatever. But he
said it was pity to see this wretch
struggling in that style, if the thing
could be helped. So he got hold ofhis
subject, had him tied and chloroformed,
operated on him, and removed the cat
aracts. The sight, in short, was restor-
ed completely. Ever since then this
Dalmatian has been a monster of graft
tude, and absolutely worships and
haunts and bores his benefactor. 1t
isn't because Beach feeds him. Not at
all. Beach isn't of that..sort. He is
not dog-fancier nor a dog-providery
He might think o dog, wanted an opera.
ton, but he would never think he want
ed bone. Well, all the same, the
Dalmatian adores him. He is savage
brute; he will bite any body else, includ-
ing his master, but from Beach he will
take any sort of maltreatment.l Perhaps
the most curious thing about the case is
that he keeps some account of time, and
knows the days Of the week and the
hours Of the day. This is very
extraordinary, of course, but it
is absolutely certain. Beach. you must
understand, lives out of town, and
only comes in twice week to attend to
his duties there, once on Wednesday,, at,
10 in the morning, and once on Satur-
day, at 8 in the afternoon. Well, his
old patient never fails to meet him on
the right day and at the correct time,
just as accurately as though all Dalma-
tians were born with chronometers in
their mouths. He never mistakes one
day for another, and never goes on
either day at the wrong hour. As Beach
drives in, the dog meets him a little way
out, follows him through his round, sits
or stands by him, watches him devoted
ly, attends him homeward a certain dis
lance, and then leaves him. Nobody
can call him off, not even his. master.
BY the way, if Beach comes to town by
some unusual road, and SO misses the
dog, the latter Immediately sets up a
persistent search for him, going in sue
cession to every one of his haunts, and
among them to my quarters. How he
has learned that Beach and have some
relation to each other, 1 don't know;
but he has learned it perfectly, and is
just as mindful of it as either of us.
Once I undertook, just for the curiosity
of the thing, to detain him in my office.
1 put my arms around him and held on
with all my strength. The result was
that, after violent tussle, 1 found my
self on the floor, and the big brute was
off like lightning after his dear Beach.
Any body else would have been badly
bitten. He only spared me out of con-
sideration for my obvious relations and
my supposed intimacy with his benefac-
tor. Now, the beasts gratitude is per-
haps nothing remarkable; great many
dogs show affection and remembrance
of kindness. But how upon earth does
that Dalmatian know the day of the
week and the time of day?
THE MERCHANTS STORY.
Yes, it was rather a curious start 1
had in business. The first thing did,
after having saved little pile of mon
ey, was to set up shanty in Sioux City.
l had all sorts of traps to allure Indians,
and 1 wanted to buy any kind of pei
tries, scalps excepted. Butt was new
arrival, and the noble red man couldn't
believe in me without help, and | found
trade rather dull. Late one night, how
ever, as l was sleeping among my stock,
there came tremendous banging at my
door; and when 1 unbarred it there was
tall fellow who seemed to me little
drunk and said he, 81 want butcher
knife" q, ....e...-,
"All right. Come in" said
81 want reliable one," says he. 81
want it to kill a man with. Give me a
good strong handle. want knife that
can put in and turn it round"
Says l, 81 think can suit you. Walk
in and take look"
knew him by that time. He was a