The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-09-07
A Little Brown Dog.

don't mean the brown dog, but Harry Jack
low, and he earned just two dollars 9
week.
Sixty cents of this went for car fare-he
lived so far from the store that he was Obliged
to ride to and from it-aud the rest to his mo
ther, who, with that and the eight dollars q
week she received from the cloak factory
where she worked, supported herself, her
chlldren-Harry, twelve years of age, Eddie,
seven, and Jennie, two-and Mr.. Jacklow.
MIR. Jacklow was her husband, and the less
said about him, the better. I'll merely state
that he could sit in rocking chair and
smoke and think longer than any man ever
knew.
But besides this two dollars week, Harry,
who was bright-eyed, willing, whistling
young chap, sometimes got two or a five
cent piece, or, more rarely, dime, from his
employers customers when, the grocers' wag-
on being overloaded, or the customers in a
great hurry, he carried home their purchases
TOR them. And it was this money he had
been saving ever since the first of January,
for the purpose of having good time on the
next holiday. 4
On Christmas-day they had had real nice
time at his house. His ''boss" had given
him two dollars, and the superintendent of
the place where his mother worked had CIV
en- her one, and somebody they never found
out who) had sent them large turkey, and
the dress-maker down stairs had put box of
tools in Eddie's stocking-dear me! what am
saying? she couldn't have done that
meant to say she had given Ned box of
tools, and Jennie doll, in the name of San
ia Claus-and Harry had presented his NAM
ma with a new coffeespot, and his mamma
presented him with wooden comforter and
a pair of wooden gloves, and Mr.. Jacklow had
bought himself new pipe; and when Harry
saw how happy they all were, he quickly
made up his mind to give them a party on
the very next holiday, which would be the
Fourth of July.
1t was the 3rd of July when my story COM
mences, and Harry had kept his resolution OF
saving every penny outside of his wages. He
had had to pass many heap of rosy apples
without glancing at them, run away from
many peanut stands, force himself not to look
into the tempting windows of the candy
stores, and go by on the other side when he
knew himself near a well-known bakery. to
do SO; but he had done so, and now his re-
ward was near.
The house in which he lived was an old
fashioned one in an uptown street. A quar-
ter of a century ago it had been small farm
house surrounded by meadows, but now it
had large tenement house on each side, and
whole row OF brick buildings in front of it.
But one splendid old oak tree still stood be-
iOAO ubO NOOl lJuiJ w tdCh PIu-WucclS Oh,
said Harry to himself, and there was any
number of children around to cry ''Ohw and
"AhP' as the fireworks went off. 1 have al
ways noticed that when boy is setting off
fireworks, the more oh-ing and ah-ing there
is, the brighter the fire works look to that
boy. Well, Harry had laid out the supper in
his mind as follows :-Ice-cream, whole
quart, twelve-cents sponge-cake, five sticks of
nolasses candy, pitcher of lemonade, apple
v1ia 1oIf 1Nf oh L. Ia
potatoes-Mr. Jacklow liked baked potatoes.
And he meant to get his mother and the rest
of them out of the room (send them down to
visit the dress-maker, who at the last mo-
ment was to be let into the secret) set the
table himself, and then, when all was ready,
call them up again. Wouldn't it be fun to
look at their faces when they saw the ice
cream, and the sponge cake, and tho rnolasses
candy, and the lemonade, and the apple pie,
and the cheese, and the baked potatoes! Ii
would be almost as good as the circus. Ear
ry had been there once, and never forgotten
how delightful it was. And then after the
supper was over, and they thought the enter
tainment at an end, wouldn't it be fun again
to see their faces when he invited them down
on the front stoop to see the pyrotechnic
(look in your dictionaries) display.
So Harry had been saving, and saving, and
saving, until he found himself on the even
ing of the 3rd of July, with one dollar and
eighty-two cents in his right-hand trousers
pocket. Times had been very hard, very
hard, since the new year began, and people
had looked very sharply after their small
change, or it is likely he would have had
double that amount. 'But," he said to HIM
self, s'a dollar will get the feast, and the rest
will buy at least dozen nice fireworks"
He got home from the store on that evening
too late and too tired to 60 out for the things
WQntn6 nvt MI no vuac
before the sun-and the sun rises pretty early
during the summer menths-and dressed and
out in the street as the first sunbeams told
the eastern sky morning had come. The
streets were almost deserted, and no fire.
crackers or pistol-shots yet broke the silence.
But before he had walked block some can
mons doomed in the distance, and a peal of
bells nearer by began ringing "Ya nkee Doc
de" merrily. Whistlng, and jingling the
coins in his pockets in tune and time with
the music of the bells, and wishing the stores
where he meant to buy the materials for his
party would open, he sauntered slowly along
until he reached the dog pound place where
all stray dogs are taken in hot weather and
kept day or two, so that their owners may,
if they choose, seek and reclaim them. II
found to be friendless at the end of that time,
the poor things are put in large tank pre-
pared for that purpose, and drowned.
AAaAhJ hCoiA ShO inplioOnCu uOSo UdThluS
and yeping; and stopping moment to listen
to them with plying look on his face-for
like all kind-hearted boys, he dearly loved an
imals-he saw, sitting upon the doorstep,
very pretty little girl. She wore faded cali
co dress and blue checked gingham apron
the apron she held gathered up in her hands,
as though it held something of value, and
her head and feet were bare. Her large eyes
we're of soft brown, and her hair, of the
same color, hung in struggling curls about
her face. There wasn't another creature,
man, woman, or child, with the exception of
milk-man on the next block, in sight, and
Harry looked at her with surprise. At last
he said with smile, 81 thought got up ear
ly, but you must have got up much earlier
than 1 did,"
'.Pye been here all night" said the child,
In sweet, patient voice.
"Here all nightw repeated Harry with a
long whistle. "Good gracious! what'd you
do that tor?"
"'Cause L want to go in the very minute
the door opens. My Prince"-with sob
sis in there"
'sYour dog" asked Harry.
"Yes. He's the dearest little brown dog
in all the world, and love him best of every-
thing 'cept granny, and / love him just the
same as her when she scolds, and my man.
ma brought him home one day just before
oAO W0u1 w ACdtCus duu We udu hin ever
since, and he's the best dog that ever lived,
and never did anything wrong in his life, 'cept
onst, when he stole piece of boiled corned
beef somebody'd set out in the back arey to
cool, and he wouldn't have done that 'cept
he knew how hungry granny and me was;''
and the tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Oh! Pm so sorry! Don't cry," said Har-
ry. Here, take my handkerchief and wipe
your eyes,"
they'll kill him." commenced the child
again, ''f can't coax them to let him out,
and don't want him to 90 to heaven that
way. I'd rather we'd both 90 together; and
he could run on in front, and then mamma'd
say, why, here's Prince-Nellie must be
coming"
''Are you sure he's in there ?" asked Harry.
'Oh yes. He was playing by our door
yesterday afternoon, most night, and was
poklng chips in the stove to make the kettle
boil, and heard him calling like he was in
some trouble, and l run out, and two awful
men had him in cart, and Jimmy O'Neil
said they was going to take him to the pound.
so run after the cart without putting my
hat on, and soon it went so fast 1 couldn't
see 1t, and then asked everybody where the
pound was. 'membered the name by think
ing Of a pound of brown sugar; and at last
got here, and it was shut up, and so 1 staid