Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-02-04

| up, and with many cordial gestures of
his hospitable tail, trotted down the
steps and over the lawn to the corner
of the fence where the little stranger
was.
"Me love 90, y said the little stranger,
patting Fido's honest brown back; ''me
love 90, little goggie!"
Fido knew that, for there were ca
resses in every stroke of the dimpled
hands. Fido loved the little boy, too
yes, all at once he loved the little boy
and he licked the dimpled hands and
gave three short, quick banks, and
wagged his tail Historically. So then.
and there began the friendship of Fido
and the little boy.
Presently Fido crawled under the
| fence into the next yard, and then the
little boy sat down on the grass and
Fido put his fore paws in the little
boys lap and cooked up his ears and
looked up into the little boys face, as
much as to say: ''We shall be great
friends, shall we not, little boyP"
"Me love co." said the little boy;
"me wan to tiss 90, little goggie!'
And the little boy did kiss Fido-yes.
right on Fido's cold nose; and FidO
liked to have the little boy kiss him,
for it reminded him Of another little
boy who used to kiss him, but who was
now sotbig that he was almost ashamed
to play with Fido any more.
us 90 sit, little goggiep" asked the
| little boy, opening his blue eyes to their
utmost capacity and looking very pite-
Gus. 800 nose be so told, 90 mus be
sit, little goggie!"
But no, Fido was not sick, even
though his nose soas cold Oh, no; he
romped and played all that morning in
| the cool, green grass with the little
boy, and the red-headed woodpecker,
clinging to the bark ON the hickory
tree, laughed at their merry antics till
| her sides ached and her beautiful head
turned fairly livid. Then, at last, the
| little boys mamma came out of the
| house and told him he had played long
enough--and neither the red-headed
| woodpecker nor Fido saw him again
that day.
| But the next morning the. little boy
toddled down to the fence corner bright
and early and called: Google! goggie
goggier' so loudly that Fido heard
him in the woodshed, where he was
holding a morning chat with Mrs.
Tabby. Fido fastened to answer the
call-the way he sprung ont OF the
woodshed and down the gravel walk
and around the corner Of the house was
marvel.
Mamma says 90 dot feas, little
google" said the little boy HAS 90
dot f'easp
Fido looked crestfallen, for could
Fido have spoken he would have con-
fessed that he indeed aCaS afflicted with
heas-not with very many fleas, but
just enough to interrupt his slumber
and his meditations at the most mop
perfume moments. And the little boy S
guileless impeachment set Fido to
feeling creepy-crawly all of sudden,
and without any further ado. Fido
turned deity in his tracks, twisted his
head back toward his tail, and by
means of several well-directed bites
and plunges gave the malicious
bedouins thereabouts located timely
warning to behave themselves. The
little boy thought this performance
very funny and he laughed heartily.
But Fido looked ores tfallen.
Oh, what play and happiness they
t had that day; how the green grass
} kissed their feet and how the smell OF
+ clover came with the springtime
, breezes from the meadow yonder. The
} rea-headed wood-pecker heard them al
, play, and she clambered out of the
5 hollow maple and lodged hither and
thither as if she, too, shared their mer.
i riment. Yes, and the yellow thistle.
D bird, whose nest was in the blooming
5 lilac bush, came and perched in the
pear tree and sang little song about
: the dear little eggs in her cunning
Y home. And there was flower in the
| fence-corner--a sweet, modest flower
/ that no human eyes but the little boys
: had ever seen-and she sang little
song, too, song about the kind old
1 mother earth and the pretty sunbeams
/ the gentle rain and the droning bees
4 Why, the little boy had never known
k anything half so beautiful, and Edo
he, too, was delighted beyond all tell
: ing. If the whole truth must be told
:, Fido had such an exciting and Devil
. dering romp that day that when night
Y came and he lay asleep on the kitchen
G floor he dreamed he was tumbling il
j. the green grass with the little boy, anC
J. he tossed and barked and whined so il
s his sleep that the hired man had to ge
up in the night and put him out O.
e doors
/ Down in the pasture at the end of tn,
e lane lived an old woodchuck. Las
a year the freshet had driven him from
/ his childhood's home in the cornfelC
by the brook, and now he resided in .
+ snug hole in the pasture. During thei
/ rambles one day Fido and his little boz
II friend had come TO the pasture an'
e found the old woodchuck sitting uprigh
at the entrance to his hole.
e sob, I'm not going to hurt you, ole
b Mr.. Woodchuck, y" said Fido. Il hav,
Q too much respect for your gray hairs. }
Il "Thank you," said the woodchuck
Q sarcastically, "but I'm not afraid o
any bench-legged flee that ever walked
J 1t was only last week that l whipped
| Deacon SINNERS yellow mastiff, and
calc'late can trounce you, you ridicu
l. lous little brown cur"
|. The little boy did not hear this bad
O image. When he saw the woodchucl
d solemnly perched at the entrance to hi
a hole he was simply delighted.
/ "Oh, see" cried the little boy
+ stretching out his fat arms and running
o toward the woodchuck; "oh see-nuz
n ger little google! Tum here, little COG
gie--me love oo!h
# But the old woodchuck was sh
y creature, and no. knowing what gull
lie the little boys cordial greeting Nigh
1 mask, the old woodchuck discreet
d disappeared in his hole, much to the lii
lie tie boys amazement
5. Nevertheless, the old woodchuck, til