Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-10-02
sPoT's SAVINGS BANK.
A DOG who, Like His Mastor. Lost His
Faith In BANKS OF Deposit.

A Dog Who, Like His Mastor, LOST Ats
Faith In BANKS OF Deposit.
We are all familiar with the habi:
peculiar to dogs of burying and hiding
| bones for future dinners and lunches.
making. as it were, savings-banks Of
1 our flower beds and strawberry patches.
] once lived in a farmhouse whore
there also resided 4 dog which was par
ticularly given to this thrifty practice:
and the boys used to play practical
Jokes on him on account of his miserly
habit.
One day. having watched him hide a
sleeps humerus Cor shoulder-of-mut'
ton bone) in this manner. they dug it up.
and buried in its place one of those toy
observation-disclosures, with big furry wills.
kers and large starring eyes, which fly
up with a spring as soon as you un.
fastcn the lid, This they so arranged
that the moment Spot touched it with
his paw it should go of, so to speak.
For several days Spot was as closely
watched as a suspected Nihilist would
be by thepolice of Russia, but he showed
no sign of drawing on his bank &C.
count. At last it was suggested
by a shrewd little fellow that
they cut off his rations. and so
starve him into dong what they
wanted. This soon had the desired ef-
feet. and Spot was seen slyly creeping
along under the shadow Of the fence
toward his safe deposit vault. where,
after casting a cautious glance around
to see that he "a not watched, he be-
gan q lazy and deliberate scratching.
All of a sudden the grim and grizzly
Jack flew out of the earth. looking
none the less awful from having his
hair and whiskcrs filled with particles
of earth and gravel.
Spot glared with dumb terror at the
apparition for the sixtieth part OF a
second. and then pave one great bound
backward, and, uttering a howl of
agony, wheeled off, with his tail between
his legs. till he was brought up stand
ing in one of those vegetable porcu-
pines known as a g%ooseberry bush.
Then he prickcd up his cars. frightened
bis tail more firmly between his legs,
stared wildly to the right. left. behind,
ara all round. and then raised up his
voice and walled. ''W-o 100000! 90
ow-wow-ow-wow!" After this he took
two bars rest, looked all round again,
and once more gave vent to q ''Wow-
wow-wow!" but this time rather more
d%efiansly. Receiving no response to
this challenge. he ventured to take a
few steps cautiously toward Jach-in
the-boA, paused awhile, and gave an
ether bark; and so, with barlks and
pauses, Ae' at lays reached the fearful
object.
1t would take too long to describe
alf his manGuvres and his many snaps
before he ventures to seize the thief
who.haG stolen his bone. but when he
did so it was very amusing to watch
the mannep'in which, he worried that
unlecky toy,
The spiral spring. which We all know
is the backbone OF q jack-in-the-box.
was the only thing which batllcd him.
the end of it getting into his eyes, up
his nose. in his cars and everywhere.
tor weeks after, when that spiral wiro
had become covered with rust, Spot
used always to- give it a timid nibble,
followed by q contcnsptuous snilf, as hs
passed it by.
For 8 long time after this Spot was
very cautious about digging up his
buried treasures, and when at last the
boys tried another trick upon him lin
which gunpowder played an important
part), and his savings bank burst
up" as other banks sometimes do. he
lost his faith in banks OF deposit. and
never buried any bones thereafter
Harpsr's Young People.