Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1878-10-25
A DOCS VENGEANCE.

| ] was always fOnd of dogs. Goldsmith,
in his beautiful stlye, makes touching
and eloquent plea for the dog, where,
/ in alluding to a sort of mania for dog
killing, which prevailed at the time Of
VIII u he speaks, in consequence of an
unreasonable apprehension of the spread
of hydrophObia, he says, among otheR
fine things, that the dog is the only
animal which will leave its own kind
voluntarily to follow man. It is true,
and the truth should bind man to be the
dogs protector and friend.
An American brig on one of her voy-
ages had on board a splendid specimen
of the Newfoundland breed, named
| Napoleon, and his magnificent size and
proportion, his intelligent head, broad,
| white chest, white feet and white-tipped
tail, the rest of his glossy body being
black. made him as beautiful as his peer
less namesake, who no doubt would
have been proud to possess him. He was
owned By man named Lancaster, who
was naturally enough extremely fond of
him The captain, however, was not
partial to animals of any kind, and. had
an unaccountable and especial dislike to
dogs, so much so indeed, as if all his
ancestors had died of hydrophobia, and
he dreaded to be bitten like his unfor-
tunate predecessors. This dislike he
one day manifested in a most shocking
manner, for as Napoleon had several
times entered his room, and by wagging
his great banner of tail knocked paper
and ink off his desk, on the next ocas-
| sion the captain seized knife and cut
half the poor animals tail of. The dogs
veil brought his master to the spot, and
seeing the calamity and the author of it,
without a moments hesitation he felled
the captain to the cabin floor with a
! sledge hammer blow, which, had it hit
the temple, would forever have pre-
vented the captain from cutting off any
more dogs tails. The result was that
! Lancaster was put in irons, from which.
however, he was soon released. The
ptain partly repented llis cruel deed,
on learning that Napoleon had once
,,ved his owners life.
The white shark, as all my nautical
fr;ands are well aware, is one of the
yr-ry largest of sharks. It averages
hi. re than twenty feet, and have seen
one twenty-seven and half feet in
length 1t is generally considered to be
the fercest and most formidable of all
sharks. @
But few days elapsed after the catas-
trophe of poor n poleon ere he became
the hero Of a most thrilling occurrence,
the very thought of which has often
thrilled me with horror. During the
interval the noble beast was not at all
backward in exhibiting his wrath at the
captain by low growls when he ap-
preached. In vain did his master, fear
full for the life of his dog, essay to check
these signs of his anger. The captain,
however, made the allowance he should,
and offered no further harm to him.
One morning, as the captain was stand
ing on the bowsprit, he lost his footing
and fell overheard, the brig then rum
ming about ten knots.
"Man overheard The captain over
boardw was the cry, and all rushed to
get out the boat as they saw the swim
mer striking out for the brig, which was
at once rounded to; and as they felt es-
pecially apprehensive on account of the
white sharks in those waters, they re-
garded his situation with the most pain
ful solicitude. By the time the boar
touched the water their worst fears were
realized, for at some distance beyond the
swimmer they beheld a white shark adj
vancing upon them.
"HuTTyl hurry, men or we shall be
too lateP' shouted the mate. What's
that 7" he exclaimed.
The splash which caused this inquiry
was occasioned by the plunge of Napo-
leon into the sea, the noble animal hay
ing been watching the cause Of the
tumult from the bow of the vessel. He
had noticed the captains fall and the
shout, and for few moments had vented
his feelings in deep grows, as if con-
sCious of the peril of his late enemy, and
gratifed at It. His growls, however,
were soon changed into those whines Of
sympathy which so often show the at
tachment of dog to man, when the latter
is in danger. At last he plunged into the
water, rapidly making his way to the
now nearly exhausted captain, who,
aware of his double danger, and being
but passable swimmer, made fainter
and fainter strokes, while his adversary
closed rapidly upon him.
"Pull, boys, for dear life % shouted the
mate, as the boat now followed the dog,
whose. huge limbs propelled him gall
lantly to the scene of danger.
Slowly the fatigued swimmer made his
way, while ever and anon his head sank
in the waves, and behind him the back
of the YoraciOus animal told what fear
full progress he was making, while Lam
caster, in the bow of the boat, stood with
a knife in his appraised hard, watching
alternately the captain and his pursuer,
and the faithful animal who had saved
his own life.
"What a swimmer' remarked the
men who marked the speed of the splen-
did animal. The shark will have one
or both five don't do our best"
The scene was of short duration. Ere
the boat could oYertake the dog, the
enormous shark was within three boats
lengths of the captain, and had suddenly
turned over on his back, preparatory to
da1ting on the sinking man, and receiv-
ing him in his vast jaws, which now dis
Teeth.
The wild shrek of the captain an
nounced that the crisis had come. But
now Napoleon, inspired with increased
strength, had also arrived, and, with a
fearful howl, leaped upon the cleaning
belly of the shark and buried his teeth
in the monsters flesh, while the boat
had swiftly neared them.
s'fSaved if we're half as smart as that
dog is! p cried the mate, as all saw the
Voracious monster shudder in the sea,
and, smarting with pain, turn oS er again,
the dog retaining his hold and becoming
submerged in the water.
At this juncture the boat arrived, and
Lancaster, his knife in his teeth, plunged
into the water where the captain had
also now sunk from view. But few
minutes elapsed ere the dog rose to the
surface, and soon after Lancaster rose
with the insensible form of the captain.
Pull them in and give me an oar p
cried the mate, for that fellow is pre-
pairing for another launch"
His orders were obeyed, and the sec
ond onset of the marine monster was
foiled by the mates splashing water in
his eyes, as he came again, and but few
minutes too late to snap off the captains
legs, while his body was drawn into the
boat.
Foiled a second time, the shark passed
the boat, plunged, and was seen no more,
but left track Of blood upon the surface
of the water, a token of the severity of
his wounds from Napoleon.
The boat was now pulling toward the
brig, and not many hours elapsed before
the captain was on deck again, feeble
from his efforts, but able to appreciate
the services of our canine hero, and most
bitterly to lament his own cruel act,
which had mutilated him forever.
Il would give my right arm,p ex-
claimed the captain, as he patted the
M!eWfoundland, who stood by his side,