Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1886-02-11

house where the new neighbors were
moving in. A second glance assured
Fido that the calling stranger was
little boy not more than three years
old. wearing a pretty dress and broad
hat that concealed his yellow hair and
| shaded his big blue eyes and dimpled
face. Tho sight was pleasing one
and Fido vibrated his tail-very eau
tiously, however, for Fido was not
quite certain that the little boy meant
his greeting for him, and Fido's sad
experience with the old neighbors had
| made him wary about scraping &C.
quaintances too hastily.
''Tum, little goggie!" persisted the
prattling stranger. and, as if to en-
courage Fido, the little boy stretched
his chubby arms through the fence,
! and waved them entreatingly.
"Me love co." 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 barks, and
wagged his tail Historically. So then
and there began the friendship of Edo
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: 1--WE shall be great
friends, shall we not, little boy?"
ME love Co.," said the little boy;
''me wan to tiss 90, little goggieH'
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 so big that he was almost ashamed
to play with Fido any more.
''Is 90 sit. little goggie?" asked the
little boy, opening his blue eyes to their
utmost capacity and looking very pite-
.ous. 800 nose be so told, 90 mus be
sit, little goggier'
But no, Fido was not sick, even
though his nose Uas 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-headcd
woodpecker nor Fido saw him again
that day.
But the next morning the little boy
and early and called: Google! google!
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 out 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 feas?'
Fido looked crestfallen, for could
Fido have spoken he would have con-
fessed that he indeed WaS afflicted with
tleas-nOt with very many feas, but
just enough to interrupt his slumber
and his meditations at the most mop
perfume moments. And the little boys
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 Whereabouts located timely
warning to behave themselves. The
little boy thought this performance
very funny and he laughed heartily.
But Fido looked cres tfallen.
Oh, what play and happiness they
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
red-headed wood-pecker heard them at
play, and she clambered out of the
hollow maple and lodged hither and
thither as if she, too, shared their mer-
riment. Yes, and the yellow thistle
bird, whose nest was in the blooming
lilac bush, came and perched in the
pear tree and sang little song about
the dear little eggs in her cunning
home. And there was a 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. a song about the kind old
mother earth and the pretty sunbeams,
the gentle rain and the droning bees
Why, the little boy had never known
anything half so beautiful, and FIdo-
he, too, was delighted beyond all tell
ing. If the whole truth must be told,
Fido had such an exciting and bewil-
dering romp that day that when night
came and he lay asleep on the kitchen
floor he dreamed he was tumbling in
the green grass with the little boy, and
he tossed and barked and whined so in
his sleep that the hired man had to get
up in the night and put him out of
doors.
Down in the pasture at the end of the
lane lived an old woodchuck. Last
year the freshet had driven him from
his childhood's home in the cornfield
by the brook. and now he resided in a
snug hole in the pasture. During their