Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1886-12-12
A PROFESSIONAL DOG sTEALER.
BY JAMES PAYN.

is not true, as some assert, Lnab 10 aQnlTe
this animal is a passport to her fGvor-al-
though to show any dislike to him would IN
doubleday be TO lose it Love me, love my
dog" is her motto However, to my tale, or
rlther to Carlos, which is quite straight 1t
used TO be curly until a certain catastrophe
happened to it last November; it was run
over by an enormous dray and, so to speak,
ironed out Thank heaven, l had nothing TO
do with that Elizabeth, my aunt's maid, an
old-fashioned person, who, having been in
the family for a quarter of a century, was
thought worthy OF the sacred trust, was tax
ing him out for a ramble. Newly washed
and woolly white, he was attached to her Gt
was supposed firmly By silken string, and
she had hook to her umbrella to restrain
him in extreme cases, which caused her TO
resemble shepherdess with her lamb; but
all these precautions proved useless. He
escaped from her custody with the terrible
result have described
10 conceal from her mistress the fact of
Carlos tail having become straight was, of
course, impossible; you might as well have
tried TO deceive gigilant auditor Of &C
counts by showing him one for an eight;
and my aunt's distress of mind was indescrib-
able. The winter, she said, had indeed set in
with severity for her. Never again. she
averred, should that little angel 60 out Of
her sight into the wicked cruel world" and
henccforth, forbidden the back garden,
Carlo passed his out door time on the draw
ing room balcony.
from there, at first. Ibis sober wishes never
learned TO stray" his thoughts were entirely
occupied upon his tail, which, though lost TO
sight for it was too stiff and painful to be
wagged into view, was never absent from
his memory. He knew il was there; and the
problem that occupied his mind was, why
had it become invisible. Presently, aS IL re-
covered tone, though never shape, he caught
sight of it, and then its marvellous metanor-
phosiS puzzled him even more than its dlsap-
pearance had done He remembered the
operation no doubt but probably aScrlbed
it to some phenomenal Intervention OF ma
ture-the fall of mountain, or even OF
comet.
After a while, when it ceased 10 remind
him of its existence, he forgot all about MS
tail and concentrated his intelligence upon
schemes of escape from his balcony. For
weeks he watched at the little gate that
opened upon the steps which led into the gar
den; and after about 5000 observations
about the number of times it was shut in his
face-came to the conclusion that 1t was not
intended for canine egresS. He then turned
his attention To the front railing, and, squeez-
lug with great difficulty through Its bars,
would stand for hours with his head out for
it was a very tight fit, and not, therefore,
worth his while to withdraw it in hurry
and contemplate the drop OF eighteen leet or
so. Aunt Adela would have it that 1t was
the beauties Of nature that attracted him;
the iciCleS on the trees, the snow wreathS on
the evergreens etc. ; but Carlo was not such
fool as that. | repeat, and, indeed, the
event proved il, he was calculating the
drop Failing TO make this less by looking at
it, the aStute animal tried the lett-hand rail
ing which separated my auntS balcony from
that of her neghbOr, and emanclpated HIM
self at the first trial. The drawing room
door was open, and in two minutes Carlo had
Scuttlcd through the house and into the
street.
Aunt Adela was in despair. She always
used to express a whitening scorn for adver-
tScmentS. and wonder how ANY one in their
sober senses" could think of being influenced
by them But now she became what the
Salvation army term 4 prisoner to the
faith" in them She seemed 10 think of
nothing else; Advertise, advertise, advcr-
tiSe,' was her one cry. | ventured to re-
mark that that business was, with n few eN-
captions, conducted on the ready money syS-
tenn: upon which she flung me her purse and
burst INTO tears
There was only three-and-six pence in it,
which does not go far in the way of world
wife circulation, but invested It judiciOuSly
in a most respectable print, and within four
and twenty hours it produced dog Stealer.
Never had Acacia villa, the haunt-indeed
the hOme-of peripatetic preachers and mis-
Sionary matrons, opened its doors to such a
visitor One cannot say his dress was un-
seaSouable but it was certainly peculiar
Q,,Ig lat
and numerous enough la hold whole pack
of Carlos, vclvctecn dttoS, an immense red
wooden scarf and n ScalSkin cap.
Nevertheless his card, with Mr. William
ElOdgcrS, dog fanCier, Whitechapel," upon
it, procured him an interview with Aunt
| Adcla at once. The herald that brought
tidings of her lost darling was welcome in
any shape.
had the honor to he present at the inter.
! view.
Aunt Adela wept tears which might have
been pearls SO far a. cost was concerned, for
| am convinced that Mr.. Blodgers increased
his price for every one of them
Had he the little dawg" Gracious good
ness! the was much more emphatic in his
CALCULATIONS than thuO what could have put
that into the good lady's head! He had only
fancy for little dawgS, and having CHANGED
TO see this I'm in the neighborhOod, had
| looked in to say So Notwithstanding, hc
didn't doubt that, in case parties acted
honorable and in n liberal spirit C., if nc
questions were asked and q Gl0 note
were TO be paid-Carlo would be forthcom
/ in.
but if I were to give you elO note, >
| of money, how do | know that should evel
| get my dog!
Mr.. Blodgers drew himself up with dignity
and Smote his mOlt~Skinned breast.
| "My word, num-" he replied, lis as good
as my bond"
Moreover" continued that gentleman,
''unleSS | have the money, you may TAKE
your davey that you will never see that thert
dawg again"
This last sentence had all the force of 6
! postscript TO a lady'S letter. 1t contained the
/ giSt of the whole matter.
What do you think, JohnP she muir.
INJURED to me beSeechingly.
! 1T appears to me, my dear aunt re
turned /, that you have no choice but t.
trust to Mr. Blodgers' word"
From secret depository in her dcsl
/ (which | have never seen opened on my &c
/ count) she produced a beautiful, crisp ten
| pound note, and handed it with a sigh to Mr.
BlodgerS
And when shall have Carlo bach
/ again" pleaded Aunt Adela- Tonight
/ Oh, do hope tonight"
We'll, Mum, | willynot deceive you
| have, you see, not myself got the dear little
/ dawg. ! only knows the party as has got
! him. But tonight, or tomorrow night al
| furtheSt, hope to return him to your loving
| arms
! When he had gone, expected Aunt Adels
/ to break ont" for she was a woman not only
/ endowed with considerable sclf-reSpect, but
| who praCtiScl the Strictcst economy. As tn,
/ worst part Of love- like that of wig, is saiC
/ To be the parting" 50 it was with her as re-
/ garded money; She never could bear to de
crease her store; far less her balance at heI
bankers. And here was ten pound nott
/ gone, or as good rs gone, in five minutes
1 On the contrary, she expressed favorable
/ opinion of BlodgerS.
! Il think, John, we can trust that man; he
/ seems To me TO have "A certain honesty in hi,
/ way"
/ 1t was not my business to remind her that
! more brutal bluntuesS was not necessarily
honesty. lcontontcd myself with maintain
ing what considered judicious silence con
corning Mr.. BlodgerS
No one can tell, unless he is the nephew
(and not the favOrite nephew of an amt
from whom he has great expectations, and