The true northerner., 1886-07-29
My WIFE'S Pet.
BY NELSON HERsH.

He was not her dog.
But she thought he was, which amounted
to the same thing.
She fondled him as atfectlOnately as
though she had owned the sole proprietary
right and title IN him. She looked upon
him with undisguised pride. She put him
through all his little tricks with an en-
thusiasm that time could not abate nor
repetition tire.
The truth is, my wife was fond of dogs.
She liked animals IL general and dogs III
particular. And the dogs liked her. The
tacit but mutually complete understanding
between her and them was something abSo-
lutely wonderful. In the nine years of oui
married life had never seen a dog that
would not make friends with nv wife on
first sight, without waiting for IA formal in
PRODUCTION.
Hopkins, cur neighbor across the street,
once bought German mastitf for watch
dog. The German mastitf is by nature the
most ferocious and blood thirsty OF dogs.
Hopkins was uncommonly savage. The
brute had a mouth like u al-scuttle, and
his voice KEEP. tramps at distance of many
blocks from the house, summer ana winter.
He was valuable dog in this respect,
The Hopkinses called him Cyclone, be-
cause desolation marked his path. He
would ca, nothing but chunks of raw meat,
and ii was 30 dans erous TO get within range
of his lavenous NAV that they had to stand
off and feed him with pitchfork. OF
course they kept him chained all day, and
when he was loosed at night no one ever
ventured out of the house.
Well, one day my wife went over to the
Hopkinses', and Cyclone" saw her. He
was fastened with n giant size log chain,
but he broke away and rushed toward my
wife. The Hopkins women fled into the
second stoiy of the house and screamed
They expected to have n balcony view of q
human sacrifice right there. But the bar
baric spectacle did not come OF as adver-
tised When Cyclone" had given prac-
tical illustration of the second axiom III
Euclid by covering the shortest possible
distance between his kennel and the spot
where my wife stood, he stopped. He looked
into my wife's face and my wife smiled
From that moment the huge brute was q
changed dog. He rubbed up against my
wife, fawned at her feet, and $50 she sol
emnly AYERS to this day. actually purred
like a kitten. That settled it. She and
"Cyclone" became firm friends, but the big
German mastiif was never worth his keep
as a watch dog afterward. His feIocity OF
disposition entirely disappeared, and old
man Hopkins gave him to IA butcher III Mil
waukee.
Since the Milwaukee butcher took him
Cyclone" never has been seen alive.
/ mention this merely as an instance. 1t
is only one of many. Tn, history of our
family is full of just such cases. Time and
again have | seen my wife followed in the
street by procession of dogs that would
have reached more than a block, single file:
orphaned dogs, vagrant dogs, dogs of high
and low degree. from the once -pampered
greyhound thrown by some sad and sudden
reverse in fortune from n home of luxury
out into a cold and boneless world, TO the
ginger -colored mongrel that never had a
home.
But digress.
Notwithstanding my wife's remarkable
fondness for dogs, she never had dog
which she could call her own until she got
the one | started to speak Of. As | said
before, the dog in question was really not
her dog, but she thought he was, and when
my wife makes up her mind on point Of
that kind the matter is settled TO all prac-
tical intents and purposes. Just here, it
may be proper for me to explain how my
wife came by the dog. 1t happened like
this:
My wife has for many years been n lead
ing member of well-known humane
society. She has also been President of an
association tor the prevention of cruelty to
angle worms. This association has ac-
complshed great work, not only in pro-
tecting the worms but in restricting the
ruthless slaughter of fish owing to scarcity
of bait. In view of its successful work in
this direction, the association recently
passed n set of resolutions declaring the
belief OF its members that the gratifying
decrease noted in fishcrmen's lies this
season is due principally, in an indirect
way, to the associations far-reaching
efforts.
She has also taken an active part in the
work of an organization devoted exclusively
to the ameloration of the condition of the
canine race. IL has made phenomenal
strides the last two seasons. Year before
last it devised q scheme, now in successful
operation, for washing white poodles with
out getting soap in their eyes; and last year
it devoted the greater part of its time to the
consideration of painless process of re-
moving fleas from dogs without killing the
feas. The organization is still busy with
this work
From her connection with these societies
my wife's fondness for the brute creation in
general and dogs in particular became
known to all our friends. Among others
were the boys in the office They at once
began to manifest great interest in animal
life. They attended several meetings, at
which my wife delivered addresses. and
after she had been down to the Office and
talked to them two or three times they
joined the Association for the Prevention
of Cruelty TO Angle-worms and the Society
for the Amelioration of the Condition of
the Canine Race, in body.
After this thing had been going on some
time the head clerk in the office came in
one evening, with smile on his face and a
dog at his heels. He said the dog was foi
my wife. He thought she would like it,
and he wanted me to take the dog home.
objected at first, but the clerk insisted.
am the senior partner in the firm, but when
the head clerk insists he generally carries
his point. / would repel with scorn and in-
dignation an insinuation that am afraid OF
that man, yet he rarely requests anything
that is not granted. He is valuable man
around the Office. and it is hiO way.
So took the dog home.
He was n good-looking dog Of the cocker
spaniel variety. He had unusually long