Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-09-07
CANINE SAGACITY.
The Remark able Dogs Described by
the ..HaM keYe., N an.

the ..Haw keye- Man.
The Hdnkeye man thus writes from the
town of Albert Lea TO his paper:
There are dogs and dogs in Albert Lea about
this time of the year. and in the company of
such Intelligent animals one imDibes posi-
tive hatred Of dog laws. There is only one
with 1t head and tail down, looking utterly
and mlseraby ashamed of itself But Mr..
Eegleston would doubtless think il a redeem
ing traltin the animal. But the hunting dogs
mere ION the great mass Of the present popu-
Iallon. Every time a man gets up from his
cnalr and starts away from the hotel two
dogs get up and ask him which way he is
going and If he isn't going to take his gun.
When stranger joins party the dogs snif
at his legs and ask him IL he is accustomed
TO shooting with Well trained dogs There
was one young man came here with a bright
new gun, velyeteen shooting suit new a
pair OF rubber boots, a blue necktie and a gold
scarf pin with the letters Y. NJ. L. s A set in
lt In Jet Well, the dogs some how or other
found out that those letters meant '.Yaung
Mems Louisville SpOrtsmen's Association"
and every time that young man raised his gun
bitches and covered down behind stumps
One morning a big pointer from northern
Iowa went into the field with his tail stuck
hung down behind him ike a Shield. 1t was
tiresome work, but at night l heard him tell
>ome Of the other dogs that it was the first
comfortable Jays sport he had had since that
ecopd day he was out. But the farmer made
him pay for it. He brought it in, but
II, SO the hunters cut il up into wads.
The presence of these dogs makes the place
ook delightfully."- free and easy. There is an
air of vagabondage about these retrievers and
pointers aud settlers that makes the very air
restful. They lie about under the trees. In
whichever direction you turn, the grave, earn
answer your glance. Occasionally one of them
VIII get up and come TO you TO ask If you think
OF going out to-day. Sometimes two or three
of them will cluster together and discuss the
weather. They make friends with every new
baby that comes to the house. and ask him
where he came from and if he isn't awful a III
and dusty. and why he didn't ride in the bag
gage car where he could get drink whenever
he wanted ii ont of The can of ice water before
it was passed around TO the passengers. and
they hand the baby their long silky ears to pull
and they Swah of his little face with their great
hot tongues, and are friends from the start.
The bird dogs are about as faithful nurses as
the babies have up here. But when boy
seven years old appears on the scene it is a
solemn lneXpllcable mystery what becomes of
the dogs. The first dog that sees the boy fall
out of the 'bus-they always do fall out
tells all the others and then they scatter.
Some OF them climb trees, others dig into the
bowels OF the earth, and the rest of them, old
veterans, watch their chances and bite the
boy when nobody is looking: and then when
the bowling youth tells his parents and the
owner of the dog is found, and the dog is
hunted up and confronted with the charge, he
indignantly denies IT, SOlemnly crosses his
heart and says he hopes TO die and he is a son
OF gun If he did il, and all the other dogs
come up out of their holes and down out of the
trees and say that's So and they've been wi n
him all the time and can prove it. Then the
owner OF the dog says he never knew the dog
10 tell lie about Such little thing as that
before, but TO satisfy tie parents he viii punish
the dog and will keep him chained up. So he
leads the cog out into the back yard, and
stGOpS down and pats his head and says,
Good old boy, good fellow, good dog y
and gets his face swabbed for it by
every dog whose tongue is long enough
to reach him. Then he says he doesn't
know where in thunder that chain is
and goes in to smoke a cigar on the piazza
while he tries to remember why he didn' {
bring II along with him, while the dogs walk
around on their hands and remark, "Ah, ha -
am with the dogs great deal. and hear and
see them say and do great many things that
pleasant homelike grounds of the Hail house.
carpeted with velvet turf, and shaded with
graceful trees, would look lonesome and in
complete without the dogs scattered about
them. Why, some OF the dogs can play Gro
quet. They don't play, but that is because
they don't want to- or haven't time, or some
thing. But they could il they wanted to.
sat down out here to write something about
Albert Lea, but the dogs came around me and
put everything out OF my head. They don't
write themselves, but they take great deal
of interest in what other people write; and il
isn't easy to write with one hand and pat three
dogs with the other.