The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-02-08
FAITRFUL DHU.

PAINFUL DHU.
Among the farmers in the market
place at Falkirk stood Duncan Mac
Gregor. He had come down from his
farm among the mountains of Argyle
shire with sheep, and having finished
his business, was preparing for his jour
ney home, which lay through some of the
finest scenery in Argyleshire. As he
turned into the stable yard where his
horse was put up, his attention was
called by the bowling of a dog, evidently
in great pain. Turning round, he saw a
coolie puppy, who had just received a
kick from a drunken farmer, who was
now reeling out Of sight. MacGregor
picked up the dog, and, upon examina-
tion, found one of his forelegs broken.
Carrying him into the inn, he inquired
to whom it belonged. Nobody knew
anything about him. He looked starved
and miserable, and evidently had been
neglected for some days. On finding
himself gently handled and spoken to,
the puppy left off howling and looked at
his new protector with an expression of
astonishment, evidently unaccustomed
to such usage, which soon turned to one
of instructive trust. Procuring some
splints of wood, MacGregor set and
bound up his leg. and then fastened him
into basket, which he placed in his
gig Then he went into the stables,
where he wasgreeted by loud neigh; in
few minutes he returned, followed by
handsome, strong-built Scotch pony,
which, though rough and shaggy, showed
marks of his Arab blood in delicate
muzzle and small pointed ears. Bluebell
was soon harnessed, and they started on
their rway. MaeGregor was one of those
few people who love and thoroughly un-
derstand animals. He had found the
secret of managing them. They were
not to him hewers of wood and draw.
ers of water" to do his work, and to be
treated and cared for Just as much as was
Deedful not to lose by them but to him
they were what they ought to be to every
true man, Gods gift, to be loved and cared
for as such, and for the use of which he
was one day to give an account. All the
animals Of his farm obeyed and loved
him. He showed them that he loved
them, and did not fear them, and they
gave to him, what the severest treatment
or the longest wrongly called breaking
in" could never have obtained, their full
submission. avn rsra~.s.- ~-
Their first nights resting place was
small inn on the shore of large loch.
After seeing to Bluebell's comfort, Mac
Gregor bound up the puppy's leg again,
and gave him some food. The dog had
evidently accepted him for his master.
He was peculiarly large dog for his age,
jet black, except where marked by tan.
McGregor called him "Dhu," which, in
Gaelic, means "dark." -l s.
So
And now our story must pass several
years-years in which Dhu has fully re-
warded all the care and kindness he re-
eeived as miserable aud neglected
puppy, by devotion to his master only
ended with life. They were never apart;
anda cleyerer sheep dog on the hill could
not be found. How easily one can tell,
by the way dog does his work, how he
has been trained. Some will turn sheep
any way by a turn of the hand or
glance of his masters eye; others, again,
can be got to do nothing without swear
ing, gestieulating, and shouting, and
often stones thrown at the dog, who
stands puzzled and uncertain amid such
a din. We find MacGregor, Dhu, and
Bluebell crossing the same range of
mountains we described in the beginning
ofour story, butin very different weather.
1t was the monthof November; the road
was covered with snow, driven by fierce
northeast wind. Calamity the little
horse had climbed the steep ascent. It
was hard work sometimes to keep foot
ing, as the wind came whistling with
tremendous force down the glens, driv-
ing the binding snow in their faces.
Many time it had brought Bluebell to
stand, with his legs firmly planted till
the wild blast passed.
Slowly they reached the top, where
the road wound around the little loch,
now dark and wild, lashed into rough
waves by the wind. The horse stopped
exhausted with his pull, when wilder
gust came howling on them. Bluebell
could not resist it, and the gig was blown
off the road. down into the water be.
meath, fail OF some thirty feet, into an
awful abyss of seething water, with the
night closing in and several miles from
help. This is no invention of the fancy.
The fact happened within the last two
years, and close 10 the writer's home.
Happily, MacGregOr was tossed out, and
fell not in deep water, his fallbroken by
some of the bushes, but still so severly
injured that for long time he remained
unconscious. Bluebell was almost i'm,
mediately drowned-being unable to free
himself from the gig. When MacGregol