The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1877-02-09
FAITHFUL DHU.

FAITHFUL 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 dog, evidently
in great pain. Turning round, he saw
coolie puppy, who had just received
kick from drunken farmer, who was
now reeling out Of sight. MacGregor
picked up the dog, and, upon examina-
ton, found one Of his forelegs broken.
Carrying him into the inn, he inquired
10 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 bowling and looked at
his new protector with an expression of
astonishment, evidently unaccustomed
10 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 a basket, which he placed in his
gig. Then he went into the stables,
where he was.greeted by a loud neigh; in
few minutes he returned, followed by a
handsome, stroDg-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 way. MacGregor was one of those
few people who love and thoroughly un-
derstand animals. lie 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
ncedful 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.
Their first nights resting place was a
small inn on the shore of large loch.
After seeing to BluebelPs 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 q peculiarly large dog for his age,
jet black, except where marked by tan.
McGregor called him "Dhu," which, in
Gaelic, means dark.
And now our story must pass several
years-years in which Dhu has fully re-
warded all the care and kindness he re-
ceivcd as a miserable and neglected
puppy, by a devotion to his master only
ended with life. They were never apart /;
and a cleverer 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 a
glance Of his masters eye; others, again,
can be got to do nothing without swear.
ing, gesticulating, and shouting, and
often stones thrown at the dog, who
stands puzzled and uncertain amid such
din. We find MacGregor, Dhu, anC
Bluebell crossing the same range o
mountains we described in the beginning
ofour story, butin very different weather
IL was the month Of November; the roaC
was covered with snow, driven by fierc
northeast wind. Calamity the littl
horse had climbed the steep ascent. /
was hard work sometimes to keep foot
ing, as the wind came whistlinp will
tremendous force down the glens, driy
ing the binding snow in their face,
Many time it had brought Bluebell t
a stand, with his legs firmly planted ii
the wild blast passed.
Slowly they reached the top, whel
the road wound around the little loci
now dark and wild, lashed into roug
waves by the wind. The horse stoppe,
exhausted with his pull, when wilde
gust came bowling on them. Bluebe
could not resist it, and the gig was blow
off the road. down into the water b
meath, fall OF some thirty feet, into a
awful abyss of seething water, with th
night closing in and several miles frol
help. This is no invention of the fanc
The fact happened within the last tw
years, and close TO the writer's hom
Happily, MacGregor was tossed ont, ar
fell not in deep water, his fall broken !
some of the bushes, but still so sever
injured that for long time he remain,
unconscious. Bluebell was almost il
mediately drowned-being unable to fr
himself from the gig. When MacGreg