The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-10-13
ANNEXED BY THE TsAR.

the kennel, In old DIR. Gorkam,s back
yard, In an attitude of deep meditation.
Ihere was one subject for dog-thought
lying right before him, and another Law
only yard or so beyond the first.
The one was an empty .'muzzlen that
lay upon the grass, close by couple of
well-picked bones. The second was an
equally empty steel collar, with q
strong chain attached. The end of the
chain was hooked into a staple at the
side Of the kennel door.
Tsar was dog to look twice at. His
father had been q Siberian bloodhound
and his mother an English mastiff, and
Or. Gorham would have trusted him to
pull down wild bull or to ring
church bell, if he could once have seized
with his massive flaws the nose of the
one or the ringing-rope of the other.
Tsar made no audible remarks, but
there was no difficulty at all In divining
his meditations.
''They have fed me an hour before
shutdown, for some reason, and now
they've gone off and neglected me. No
muzzle, no chain, no master around,
and all the country left open to me. 1t
Is state of affairs to which l am not
accustomed at this time of day. If there
were another bone with meat on it, I'd
know exactly what to do
He put out a great paw and turned
the muzzle over. Then he walked for
ward and smelled of the helpless collar.
Then he peered solemnly into the ken
mel, There was mystery about the
whole matter, and it seemed to suggest
q visit to the front gate. That, too, was
wide open, as witness to the haste re-
quired by the summons of the last pa
tient, and Tsar could therefore walk
out and look up and down the shady
road for an explanation of his own case.
he could not see any, at first, for there
was nothing to be learned from flock
of geese, three hens and one stray calf.
The very pig that was roofing under the
walnut-tree paid him no manner of at
tention.
Tsar shrugged his broad shoulders to
make sure about the collar, paved his
hose for moment in memory of his
muzzle, and turned for a look at the
gate There it was, with very dingy
old tin sign on one post, whose faded
letters read ''Dr. Heber Gorham," and
with very new tin sign on the other
post, whose bright, fresh gliding an
nounced "Dr. Heber Gorham, Jr.," as
also ready for patients.
That was all right, and it occurred to
Tsar that walk would be good for his
health. He acted on the suggestion
promptly enough, but with dignity, as
became dog Of his size; and no voice
from the house recalled him, as he
marched away down the road toward
the sea. A sniff of salt air would be
just the thing for his digestion, after the
hearty dinner he had eaten at the ken
mel
The sun was getting very low toward
the horizon, and yet, away down there
on the rock at the head of the cove a
curly-headed young lady of nineteen,
or Whereabouts, was still seated, bend
ing over portfolio spread,'across her
lap. From time to time she cast anx-
ious glances from the lines she traced
upon the sheet of Bristol board under
her hand to the more and more shadow
island, out there in the mouth of the
cove.
'That will do, she said. at looks
bigger than the boat, now, but it isn't
big enough for the tree. | must make
the tree smaller; the cows back, too
it's half as long as the island Thore
is always something dreadful the matter
with my waves" She worked at the
waves for few minutes. "If / had
time, I'd try to put in the sunset Dear
me, how late it is! 1t will be almost
dark when l get home. 1t gets dark
so quickly, nowadays, after it once
begins"
She rose little hastily, but she gave
the island avery long, last look, as she
closed her portfolio-loug enough for
q bystander to have read her name, in
gilt letters, on the leather cover-"Per-
! Gle Lee" But no one was there to read,
for a lonelier spot than that it would
have been hard to find, however well
adapted it might be for the making of
marine sketches.
| Percie was in the road in half min
ute more, and she could but see that the
shadows were frightening rapidly. She
reelected: at is lonely for little way
beyond Dr. Gorham's, but l won mind
it from that to the village. ! do hope
] shall not meet Heber Gorham.
will not speak to him if do. l won't
even see him. He has not called since
he came back from Europe, and | hope
he never will again. I detest him."
She said it with needless energy, and
then she began to walk briskly onward
She tried hard, too, to. persuade herself
that she was only wondering whether,
i'll her sketch, she had made the horns
of the cow bear proper proportion to
the upper branches of the tree on the
island. She was really almost thinking
sincerely about the COW, and the cow
alone, when she suddenly felt called
upon to exclaim:
''0h, that dogm
| To be sure, that dog. Tsar was on
Ethe other side of the road. and he did not
seem to be taking any particular notice
of her, but thus Percie truly remarked
of him:
"He is perfectly enormousr'
| She forgot about the COW in an in
slant, but she did not speak her opinion
directly to tho dog. Neither did she
think Of sketching him, although he was
certainly worth it. She seemed hardly
| to care to look at him
Tsar, on his part, had taken good
look at Percie Lee. He was not mis-
taken about her for one moment.
every nice girl. Well dressed. Pref
ty, too; but she's out late. Most likely
her family are friends of DIR. Gorham
| must have an eye on that young lady
1t is getting dark. -
That eye was what startled Percie sc
dreadfully moment later; for she hap
pened to look behind her, and there was
that vast creature solemnly stalking af
ter.
HE is following mer' she exclaimed
Not doubt of it, and the fact tina
he stopped or went on just when sh,
did hardly seemed to help the matter
1t was getting darker and more shad
owy every moment, and Percie would
have been almost willing to run, if she
had not feared that if she did the dog