The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-05-11
ABOUT Observation-Disclosures
LITERATURE.

ALL my life, from boyhood up, 1 have
had habit of reading a certain set of
anecdotes, written in the quaint vein of
the Worlds ingenious Fabulist, for the
lesson they taught me and the pleasure
they gave me. They lay ALWAYS con-
yenient to my hand, and whenever I
thought meanly of my kind l turned to
them, and they banished that sentiment;
whenever l felt myself to be selfish.
sordid and ignoble l turned to them.
and they told me what to do to win back
my self-respect. Many times | wished
that the charming anecdotes had not
stopped with their happy climaxes, but
had continued the pleasing history of
the several benefactors and beneficial
ries. This wish rose in my breast so
persistently that at last determined to
satisfy it by seeking out the sequels of
those anecdotes myself. So | set about
it, and after great labor and tedious re-
search accomplished my task. [ will
lay theresult before you, giving you each
anecdote in its turn, and following it
with its sequel as | gathered it through
my Investigations.
THE GRATEFUL POODLE.
One day benevolent physician (who
had read the books, having found
stray poodle suffering from a broken
leg, conveyed the poor creature to his
home, and after setting and bandaging
the injured limb gave the little outcast
its liberty again, and thought no more
about the matter. But how great was
his surprise, upon opening the door one
morning, some days later, to find the
grateful poodle patiently waiting there,
and in its company another stray dog,
one of whose legs, by some accident,
had been broken. The kind physician
at once relieved the distressed animal,
nor did he forget to admire the inscru-
table goodness and mercy of God, who
had been willing to use so humble an
instrument as the poor outcast poodle
for the intoxicating of, etc., etc., etc.
Sequel.
The next morning the benevolent ply
stefan found the two dogs, beaming
with gratitude, wait at his door, and
with them two other dogs-cripples.
The cripples were speedily healed, and
the four went their way, leaving the
benevolent physician more overcome by
pious wonder than ever. The day passed,
the morning came. There at the door sat
now the four reconstructed dogs, and
with them four others requiring recon-
struction. This day also passed, and
another morning came; and now sixteen
dogs, eight of them newly crippled,
occupied the sidewalk, and the people
were going around. By noon the broken
legs were all set, but the pious wonder
i'll the good physicians breast was be-
ginning to get mixed with involuntary
profanity. The sun rose once more,
and exhibited thirty-two dogs, sixteen
of them with broken legs, occupying
the sidewalk and half of the street: the
human spectators took up the rest of
the room. The cries of the wounded.
the songs of the healed brutes, and the
comments of the unlocking citizens
made great and inspiring cheer, but
traffic was interrupted in that street.
The good physician hired couple of
assistant surgeons and got through his
benevolent work before dark, first tax
ing the precaution to cancel his church
membership, so that he might express
himself with the latitude which the
case required
But some things have their limits.
When once more the morning dawned,
and the good physician looked out upon
a massed and far-reaching multitude of
clamorous and beseeching dogs, he
said; II might as well acknowledge it,
l have been fooled by the books; they
only tell the pretty part of the story,
and then stop. Fetch me the shotgun;
this thing has gone far enough"
He issued forth with his weapon, and
CHANGED to step upon the tail of the
original poodle, who promptly bit him
in the leg. Now the great and good
work which this poodle had been en-