The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1880-08-14

excellent swimmer he was and that it
would DO of no use.
He was getting almost miserable when
a gentleman passed by who seemed SO
well fed, SO well contented with himself
and the world and SO happy that Pedro
really cheered up and wished that he
had such man for master; and when
little behind him came well-combed,
well-kept little blue skye-terrier, whom
this gentleman spoke gently to-even
tenderly. Pedro yearned to get up and
adopt the gentleman for master at
once. But he hardly dared do it. He
knew that the little blue skye-terrier
would fiercely resent such a familiar
proceeding. Perhaps. however, the
gentleman might be willing to give him
Just a secondhand bone and far-off
corner Of a stable to sleep in for night
or two. That much he would try, at
any rate. So he rose up and followed
the gentleman and the blue skye-terrier
at a little distance. Once the blue skye
caught sight of him and turned and
gave him fierce look, as if surmising
his intentions. and then curled up his
aristocratic little black nose and trotted
on, as if, after all, such q matter was
quite beneath his notice.
The gentleman at last walked home,
and Pedro stood at the garden gate and
saw them 90 in. They had such well
come, especially the little blue sky-tcr-
rier. Two pretty children came out TO
meet him, one was a boy of ten years or
so, and the other q young lady OF MI
teen. The young lady caught up the
terrier and embraced him, and even
kissed him and talked softly to him. and
carried him off at last into the house,
where a saucer of milk and dainty bits
of cold chicken were awaiting him.
That Pedro knew, for he heard the lit
tie boy tell him that much.
"My!" said Pedro, s'if they give him
chicken and milk, they surely can't
grudge me bone, and so saying he
pushed open a gate and trotted straight
across an elegant fiower-bed, and round
the house to the kitchen door. There
was a bone, to be sure, and very
meaty bone too. OF course the little
dog inside wouldn't want it, and of
course nobody would object to his hav-
ing tit was evident that it had been
thrown away, and so Pedro shifted at
it, by way Of whetting his appetite and
then fell to, and began to gnaw bliss
fully; it was about as good a bone as
Pedro had ever had. He had almost
forgotten his misery and was begin
ming to feel that the world wasn't such
bad world after all, when the kitchen
door was flung open by q red-faced
Irish cook, who bounced out with q pan
of dirty water and flung it into Pedro's
face and eyes, saying angrily, as she
did so:
"Go long wild We. yer great black
Teller of dawg. You're a thavin' haste
to come eating poor Blitzen's" (Blitzen
was the skye's name, it seems) ''bone.
Git out wild yep and she seized a broom
stick, and flew at Pedro like a fury.
Pedro was surprised; he hung his tale
with modification and turned to leave,
when out flew Bitten. barking and yell
ing, and seized him the heels. Ped
70 might have shaken the life out Of
Bitten in moment, but he always
prided himself upon never turning upon
q dog smaller than himself-he only
started to run with Bitten at his heels.
He had nearly reached the gate, when
out rushed the benign gentleman. with
a thick cane, and said:
80, you low-bred mongrel cur, I'll
teach you to run across my flower-beds!
How came you out of the pound, you
miserable scamp" and coming up to
Pedro he dealt him such succession of
blows as made him stagger and left him
half-blind with pain.
At last Pedro reached the gate, which
fortunately had been left open. and,
darting into the street he freed himself
from the yelping Bitten and ran as hard
as he could toward the beach. He had
very bitter feeling in his heart He
was not conscious of having done any
harm and yet everybody and everything
had turned against him. Surely it was
hard world. sea
He lay down on the beach and began
looking himself over. He was bruised
from the tip of his nose to the tip of
his tail. One of his eyes was half-closed.
His heel was smarting where Bitten
had bitten him and he was dripping
with the cooks dirty water. He hadn't
energy enough to wash himself and
dress his wounds. He just lay there
and moaned. What was he, anyway
An outcast from puppyhood, homeless,
hungry, all his brothers and sisters
drowned and everybody, dog and man,
beating him. He wondered how long
it would take him to lie there and die.
He made up his mind that he would
never move on-one place was as good
as another. He couldn't even solace
himself by a swim. because the water
was salt and would give him pain where
he was bitten and bruised. So he just
stayed still. forlorn and hating himself
and everybody. He had lain there for
hours and seen the tide come up and
people go walking along the beach.
Nobody even noticed him, except one
boy, who flung pebble-stonc at him
and then laughed because he gave a
cry of pain,
1t got to be afternoon, and, as the
tide was high, people came out to