Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1889-08-14

trotted over on an of-day to call upon
him. This hale and well-preserved
old gentleman, after inspecting Mr..
! Belton's hunters. was pleased to un-
I bend SO far as to slap his friend ON the
back, calling him a mighty lucky fell
low to be able to mount him so we'll.
Now. who could ever have supposed
that this kindly and condescendings act
was liable to misconstructionp Who
could have guessed that the idiotic dog
! would take it for demonstration OF
hostility Yet some such idea must,
no doubt, have suggested itself to the
foolish Duffer, who, without uttering a
sound, promptly pinned Sir Brooke by
the leg. a.
1t was no easy matter to choke him
off; but this was finally accomplished
by Dicks strong fingers, and as, by tho
mercy of Heaven, tho old gentleman
was wearing leather CATERS, the dam
age done was comparatively trifling.
Nevertheless it was Il very disagree
able thing to have happened, and Sir
Brooke was not quite as pleasant about
it as he might have been.
This decided the buffers fato. He
received a tremendous thrashing, to
which he submitted without a whim-
per-he who would yell aloud if lap
dog snapped at him!-and on the fol-
lowing day he was driven over in a
dog-cart to the abode of his late pro-
prietor.
"Here, Marlham!'' called out Mr.
Bolton, i've brought that brute OF
yours back to you. I'll give you a
couple of soverefgns for his keep and
! his license, but I can't stand him fol-
loving me about any longer"
Joe Markham accepted the dog and
the sovereigns, and Dick drove away
NOT, indeed, WITHOUT some inward
pangs OF conjunction. yet feeling
that, upon the whole, he had behaved
handsomely in the matter.
"Duffer come 'ome late ]arst night,
Sir" remarked his groom when he
sauntered into the stable yard next
AAOA mug. 1Au ~ O1U " COlu lOuuu
his neck, which I expect he'd gnawed
it through, sir"
And there, sure enough, crouche
| behind the door, was the culprit,
feebly agitating a penitent tail and
bringing a pair of pleading, depre-
eating eyes to bear upon the object OF
his alteration. The poor things eyes
were not soft and eloquent, as the
eyes of some dogs are. They were
only two little round, black beads,
with ugly pink rims. Yet there was q
look in them which, quite against
Dick Belton's will, found its way to
his heart.
"Oh, you abominable, useless, hide
GUS beast!' he exclaimed. breaking
into a vexed laugh. Il suppose you
will stick to me now until one or other
of us dies"
lie was a nuisance of course; but
Dick ended by accepting him as he
accepted shaving every morning and
| other inevitable nuisances about which
there is no use in grumbling.
When Dick moved up to London for
the season, the Duffer accompanied
him and shared his rooms in ST. James.
The other dogs went, as usual, to the
stables; but this audacious mongrel re-
fused to be contented with accommoda.
tion which was considered good enough
for his betters. Before the month OF
July he had made many friends by his
general affability, and had done moth
ing to earn another such enemy as Sir
Brooke Scattertield.
At some point or other, however, the
line must needs be drawn, and Dick
| drew it at taking this four-footed ador-
er of his out of the United Kingdom.
| It was towards the end of the season
when every body was leaving London,
that he received a pressing invitation
from a friend to proceed to the Fyre.
nees and join in a shooting expedition
on the unfrequented southern slopes
of that range. Dick, who was an ar
dent sportsman, and whose ambitio on
was excited by the hopes held out to
him of a shot at a bouquetin, 'er wild
goat, readily agreed to this PROPOSE
ton, and at once made preparations
for a start"
"Just keep your eye on the Duffer,
will you?" he said to his groom at the
last moment; land you may as well
chain him up for the rest of the day. ~
Dick Bolton, as he settled himself
comfortably in smoking carriage oil
the express which was to take him to
Dover, gave great sigh of relief.
THANK Heaven he soliloqs1ized,
Il shan't see that beggar's ugly mug
the first thing when l wake ia the
morning for some time to come! Per-
haps, if Ihaye any luck, he may die OF
decamp before 4 get back again.
dog ticket please, sir?" said the
guard, apologetically, when the trair
reached the Dover station,
Haven't got a dog with me-" an
swered Dick
beg pardon, sir; under the seat,
think. see him jump in while yor
was buying paper at Victoria, sir.''
| Dick glanced hastily 11ndar his 1arn