San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-20
JUBA AND THE GHOST.

negro quarters where he belonged by right OF
ownership to refer to him as an "ornery cur; y
but this contemptuous appellation was more
descriptive than accurate, for Juba united In
himself dozen strains of blood and belonged
to no race of dogs in particular.
He had the heavy lower jaw of a bulldog,
the deep intelligent eyes of Scotch collie and
the watchfulness and agility of terrier, but
somehow these characteristics refused 60
blend tremendously in him, and his best
friend would have been forced to fall back on
the darky's description admit that he was
"ornery" looking.
He was dog that you would have known
in a glance was a Negroes dog. You have seen
thousand such in the cane, or corn, or cot
ton fields guarding dinner pail, or doing on
ragged old coat at the end of the turn
row." faithful sentinels even in sleep Of the
poor treasures they are set to watch There
is always something trife pathetic in the
affection that exists between these Outcast
dogs and their maSters-a kind of comrade-
ship between those who have drawn blank,
in the lottery of life, and who cling together
in community Of misfortune
1t was JUDAS destiny to be born on a fine
wheat and tobacco farm in Tennessee, whose
owner was a connoisseur in dogs, and who
had a scorn for a scrub dog only less than hi
contempt for a horse without pedigree Sc
Juba was very nearly being drowned for the
sins of his ancestors when Uncle Nose, the
old negro overseer, interposed and saved him
! Whether it was that Juba looked upon Unclc
Nose as his saviour, or whether he was natur
| ally of an affectiOnate disposition, must ever
remain a conjecture, but from the first there
was remarkable affection between the ole
man and his dog.
"Juba amt a settin up to be no plumb
beauty" he would say sententiously whel
any one criticised his pet; 'but he's power
! full peart dog en- mighty KNOWN. Lord, de
believe dat dog could teach a schoolmarste
grammar eff he had de use of his tongue"
1t really seemed to matter little to the oil,
man, though, that his constant companion
did not have the use of his tongue" A
they trudged fieldward in dewy mornings
and i'll the long evenings when Nose sat anc
| dreamed before his cabin fire with the dog a
his feet, it really seemed as if JUDAS love wa
strong enough to bridge over the gulf tina
separates the human and the mere brute.
But perhaps JUDAS chief charm was hi
satisfactOriness. He was a sober minded
dog, who never rushed off on hair brainec
excursions on a wrong scent; he never fore
told disaster by bowling at the moon, o
freed imaginary POssums up the wrong gun
tree. He was not a brilliant dog, and he wa
keenly conscious of his own defects Whel
the brown cartridges hid in the stubble il
autumn. and the settlers and pointers wer
brought out, Juba would drop his ears, tina
were greatly the worse for having beel
''chawed" in a fight, and sink dejectedl
away.
These disadvantages, however, counted TO
nothing i'll Uncle Moses eyes.
Talk about yo' pinters en- settlers en- shee
dogs en- whut all yo' mind to, dey amt mar,
one Of dem can hol a candle to Juba when hi
comes TO treein pOssums and varmints," tn
old man would say, and then he would dro
his voice to a whisper and add, "Lawd. de
amt nothin can stop datNlog, not even sper
rits en- hants, en- one time he freed a ghos"
When Uncle Nose remembered the possun
hunts he and Juba had taken together h
loved him as we do an old friend who ha
shared our labors and our triumphs, bu
when he thought Of the ghost no revere
Juba as his preservcr.
1t happened years and years ago and
was in the early fall, when the wild grape
hang from the heavy vines in purple beauty
when the haw trees bend under the weight {
their own crimson and black berries, whe
the pawpaws fall. to the ground with thei
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