Iron County register., 1880-02-12
JOE AND BLINKY.

Blinky was poor dirty little puppy
whom somebody had lost, and somebody
else had stolen, and whose miserable
little life was burden to himself until
Joe found him. 1t happened one warm
day in July that Joe, whose bright eyes
were always pretty wide open, saw a
group of youngsters eagerly clustering
about an object which appeared to in
terest them too much. This object
squirmed, gasped, and occasionally
kicked, to the great amusement of the
little crowd, who liked excitement of
any sort. Joe put his head over the
shoulders of the children, and saw a
wretched little dog in the agonies of a
convulsion. Now, instead OF giving him
pleasure, this sight panied him griev-
ously, as did any suffering, and Joe
pushed his way through the crowd, ask
ing whose dog it was. No one claimed
it; and Joe was watched with great in
terest, and warned most zealouslv, as
he took the poor little creature by the
nape of its neck to the nearest pump.
"You'd better look out. He's mad.
See if he isn't
"What yer goin' to do?-kill him?
My fathers got a pistol; I'll run and
get it.
"No, you needn't" said Joe.
There was no pound in the town, and
so the dog was worthless, and after a
while the crowd of children found some
thing else to interest them.
Joe bathed the little dog, and rubbed
it, and soothed its violent struggles, and
carried it away to a quiet corner on the
steps of house where a great elm-tree
made refreshing shade. Here he sat
long time, watching his little patient,
and glad to find it getting quieter, until
it fell fast asleep in his arms. Joe did
not move, so pleased was he to relieve
the poor little creature, whose thin flanks
revealed a long course of suffering.
There were few passers in the street,
and Joe had no school duties, thanks to
its being vacation, so he was free to do
as he chose. After more than an hour
the poor little dog opened its eyes,
which were so dazzled by the light that
Joe at once named him Blinky, and
presently hot red little tongue was
licking Joe's big brown hand. That
was enough for Joe; it was as plain a
"thank you" as he wanted, and he car
ried his stray charge home to share his
dinner.
From that day Joe was seldom seen
without Blinky; and after many good
dinners, and plenty of sleep without
terrible dreams of tins tied to his tail,
Blinky began to grow handsome, and
Joe to be very proud of him. Blinky
slept under Joe's bed, woke him every
morning with a sharp little bark, as
much as saying, wake up, lazy fellow,
and have frolic with me-" and then
bounced up beside him for a game. And
how he frisked when Joe took him out!
The only thing he did not enjoy was his
weekly scrubbing, and the combing with
an old coarse toilet comb which fol-
lowed. But he bore it patiently for
Joe's sake. Vacation came to an end.
and school began. InlS was as sore q
trial to Blinky as to Joe, for of course
he could not be allowed in school,
though he left Joe at the door with most
regretful and downcast looks, which said
plainly, :. This is injustice; you and I
should never be parted" and he was
always waiting when school was out.
Joe hated school; he would much
rather have been chesnutting in the
woods, gay with their crimson and
yellow leaves, or chasing the
squirrels with Blinky; but he
knew he had to study, if ever he was to
be of any use in the world, and so he
tried to forget the delights of roaming,
or the charms of Blinky's company.
DIT x,-hoo the first snow came. how