The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-12-01

WHICH SEEM TO SHOW THAT AMI
MAILS ARE SUPERSTiTlOUs.

The Dog and the DoII-A DemoraIized
Pussy-GettinE Ahead Of an UnruIy
PiG-The Young Mare and the Ghost.
Strange Tale.
1t is not unusual for the Scottish shepherd
TO grayely say when his sheep carefully
avoid some particular locality, that they
must haze seen a geasr there and he viii as
sure you that there are aud kinks and bTIgs
and itber uncanny places which ali the dougs
in Scotland could ma get his sheep TO gang
by. But the doug VIII sometimes see the
geast, too, and then he VIII ma gang by there
himself
Upon one occasion the writer had the op-
pOrtunity of studying the superstitiOus pro
clivities Of a great Newfoundland dog whose
chances Of association with children had been
very limited. With some visitors TO his
house came a child with doll large enough
for the dog 70 take il the human Characters
tics Of its head and face, surmounting the
dress in their proper order and proportion;
this, united with such fairylike dimensions,
constituted mystery too profound for the
mental penetration Of Bruin. He was de
lighted with the association Of the child as it
was the first Of It's kind with whom he was on
terms Of intimate acquaintance. He would
follow her about everywhere and lavish upon
heT the most friendly attentions; but the doll,
none Of it in mine, thank you" and he was
always careful to keep on that side of his lit
tie friend furthest away from the doll. No
ticing these actions, the writer took the doll
and advanced it toward the dog, who re
treated with the utmost precipitation, but
finally he was backed into corner, and, on
finding his retreat cut off, he made a dash past
the doll with an energy which could not have
been more desperate if his life had been
at stake. But the most comical part Of the
circus was the pretense he made Of not being
frightened. As soon as he secured an open
line of retreat he would take up a position at
a respectful distance and skip and caper and
bark in a manner which clearly indicated:
who's afraid. If there's any dog IN this
neighborhood that is afraid of fairies he can
not be discovered in this direction" But the
moment the doll was advanced toward him
he ran, all the same.
A DEMORALIzED PUSSY.
1t IS not uncommon for cats to play with
soap bubble without appearing to be more
than astonished or mystified by it's sudden
disappearance. In one case however, puss
was 50 demoralized at the mystery as to grow
big tailed and spit at any soap bubble which
might happen to fall to the fooor and drift
across it. Another, which up to that time
had never seen a cOlOred person, fled so pre-
cipitately from a good-looking negro girl that
it tumbled into a grating, from which it could
not be coaxed until hunger overcame its ter
rOr; and the oddly Of it was that puss herself
was as black as coal
A farmer was greatly annoyed by his neigh
boris pig getting into his potato field and
harvesting on his own account. Whenever he
drove the aggressor out he was forced to lay
down a panel of the snake fence, as bacon I'm
the conscious state S always careful never to
betray the place where 1t enters a Eonanza by
going out there, unless he is very hard pressed
by dogs. The farmer had diligently searched
for defect in the fence, but failed to find one
where the pig could by any possibility enter,
so he concluded to watch, and soon had the
satisfaction of seeing the thief enter the end
of a crooked, hollow log which made part
of the fence, one end being in his field and one
in that Of his neighbor. After driving the
burglar out he changed the position ,,f H.
log, so that both ends were in biz naiobbor,s
field, and concluded to wataSS the result Soon
Une pig came along ia1l,u went through the log,
d usual p''' upoll,, searching for potatoes he
,ouliu UiiiJ pasture grass, and after some
-.-oUle delay he seemed to arrive at the cOnclu
sion that he had not gone through the log at
all, so he went through again, and upon
emerging into the pasture field seemed more
mystified than ever; but after a more pro-
tracted search for the potatoes than ever be
blunder of his own he had not really gone
through the log, so in he went again and out
into the pasture field but this time he stood
still as a statue for about half minute, and
slowly the bristles began to stand erect along
his back and with two or three tremendous
shifts he set off at the top of his speed for the
house of his owner, and never afterwards
could be induced to approach that part of the
pasture field
THE MARE AND THE GHOST
A gentleman who is now, as the Old Greeks
would say, with the gods, pledged his veracity
upon the following statement: when a
youth on my fathers farm near the boundary
of Canada and Vermont l owned young
mare which called Kitty; she was black as
let Upon the occasion of a social gathering
of young people at neighbors some miles |
off, rode there on this favOrite colt When
the party broke up towards midnight my
friends advised me to take the roundabout
way home, as the short cut led through the
glen, where the headless ghost of a British
officer, said to have been killed by a cannon
shot in some frontier encounter, was in the
habit of appearing. l laughed at their fears
and took the short cut home. The night was
dark and the shadow of the trees made the
glen darker. just as l got TO the spot where
the ghost was said TO appear the colt stopped
from the canter SO suddenly, by braCiug her
fore feet. that she almost Threw me over ler
head which made me show some temper in
endeavoring TO force her past, but she would
not go. After fTuitlesSly struggling with her
for some time concluded to ride back lit
tie way and get her over her fright, then
turn and go home but she did the same thing
the second time and at the same spot. Again
rode back, but this time | could hardly hold
her from running away, and I had great
difficulty in turning her head hOmeward this
third time but finally got her started and
then put her to her speed In order to give
her no time to balk l struck her sharply with
the whip just at the dreaded point, and it
seemed 10 me that at a single bound we went
fifty feet through the air, and then she went
like the wind. 1 could not hold her in
when we got home she was teeming with
perspiration and trembling like q leaf. put
her in the stable rubbed her and covered her !
with blankets to keep her from taking cold;
then l stole to my room through the back /
door so that my father would not know how
late / had been out. In the morning l was
startled out of my sleep by the old gentleman |
standing by my bedside and wrathfully de |
handing why l had traded Kitty of without /
his permission, and upon my declaring that l !
had not, he ordered me to come to the stable /
and see whether | had or not. l hastily !
dressed and found upon entering the stable a /
gray colt in the stall where [ had placed |