The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1883-12-08

As q protection he slept in the house
at night; aud SO acute was his hearing
during his younger days that strange
football anywhere within fifty yards or
more around the house was the signal
for ferocious outburst on his part
On fine evenings he liked TO roam
around awhile. or perhaps visit a friend;
and sometimes when the hour came for
retiring he had not yet returned from
these jaunts. By eleven or twelve
O'Clock, however, never later. some of
the family were sure to be aroused by q
short, sharp yelp at the side door, which
meant II have come back. Let me in,
If you please, rs soon as possible,"
If you felt inclined to punish him fer
his tafdiness, and refused to get up, he
would try the other side of The house;
and in the end he always conquered.
Somebody (generally his mastery would
IN self defenss have - corne down antk
let him in.
As the years passed by Towser lost
some Of that superabundant vitality
which at first distinguished him, and
became more portly and stout. although
he continued bright and active almost
to the last The family. his family as
he had grown to consider them. grad
ually scattered-some called homo by
death, and others to new spheres and
foreign lands; until only three of the
once numerous household remained.
At first he felt each departure sadly, es-
pecially in the case of one of his young
masters, to whom he was greatly at
tached, and who died after short and
sudden illness. For weeks he seemed
to feel that something was wrong. and
searched for him in all his accustomed
haunts, standing sometimes for hours
at the door of certain Office in tho
town watching all the passers-by in the
hope of his coming. But after time
he appeared to reconcile himself To
these changes. and to have made up his
mind that they were unavoidable, and
in the natural order of things; so he
quietly accepted the inevitable, and
calmly pursued the even tenor of his
life, no matter what happened. Thun-
der-storms were the only things that
seriously disturbed him; the element
of the mysterious in them was too much
for him; they were more than he could
| fathom; and at the first distant rum
BILE of their approach he would seek
refuge In his masters study, or hide in
the darkest room that he could find.
As he grew old and venerable he ac-
quired certain position and standing
in the community. which long life Of
right living and well doing invariably
gives. DIR. Ms old Towser was known
all through the neighborhood; and he
even had the honor of having his picture
appear in one of our Illustrated period
icals in connection with an article on
his masters life and work.
During the past summer 1t became
evident that he was failing fast, though
he still kept up an interest in all that
was going on. and occasionally scented
rabbit; but they were too active for
him now to catch. One bright sun
shiny October morning he dragged
himself into the study, where during his
latter years he had passed many COM
Portable happy hours dosing upon the
rug. There now he lay all day too weak
and feeble to move or notice any one
In the evening he was taken to his ken
mel in the barn, and soon the good old
fellow passed away, simply worn out,
not by sickness, but by old age. He
lies under the willow tree down in the
garden; and one OF the pleasantest
memories that will cling to us through
life will be that of warm-hearted, af-
fectionate old Towser. Alice Nemn, in
N. Y. Independent.