Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1889-02-04
Jennie LawtOn's Bravery.


faced girl of twelve, tall for her years,
and with an awkward stoop of the
shoulders which had come from too
much baby-tending, for there was al
ways a baby in the Lawton house
hold. No, Jennie did not look like a
heroine, and what is more, her own
folks would have been the last to be-
lieve her capable of being one. She
had always been timid, nervous
child: so timid in fact that all her
brothers, big and little, were accus-
toned to taunt her with being afraid
of her own shadow Ii was quite
true that though unusually sensible
for her age, in most respects, she
could never enter dark room alone
without a secret terror that a horrid
something was going to spring up
and catch her.
Several weeks before the event oc-
Cured which l am about to relate, the
community in which the Lawtons liv-
ed had been thrown into a great eX-
element; dog belonging to one of
their neighbors had ''run mad"-to
use the common phrase-and bitten
some of his stock, and, it was feared,
several other dogs. For time little
else was talked of in most house
holds, aud juvenile imaginations rev.
elled in horrors. Poor Jennie's nerves
were so wrought up by the dreadful
things she heard about mad dogs from
one and another, that she could hard
ly eat or sleep or be persuaded to go
outside the doorstep. Even after the
authorities had taken the matter in
hand, and there was a reasonable GER
tainty that for miles around, every
dog that had escaped slaughter was
chained up or safely muzzled, her
fears were very slow to subside.
When at last, with a beating heart,
she began to venture as far as the
chip-yard or the stable, some of her
mischief-loving brothers were sure to
cry out, "Run, Jen, run! There's a
mad dog a-comin'.''
But one bright, sunny morning in
April, when her fathers and brothers
had gone to work in the sugar bush,
and she saw the smoke from the SUI
gar camp curling up among the tall
naples, she began to feel her long,
self-imposed Imprisonment becoming
quite intolerable.
"Oh, dear! '' she exclaimed plain
lively, sits so nice out there in the
bush this morning l just wish that
l could take run down to the camp.
1t seems a whole year since I've had
any good times"
''Why, child, you can 60 if you
want to-" said her mother, looking
up in surprise. "What's to hinder
your
Jenny hesitated. She had been
laughed at so much for her fears of
encountering some rabid animal, she
was ashamed to confess even to her
mother, that she did not dare to ven
ture as far as the sugar camp, short
as the distance was.
"You needn't be afraid any dogs
will come along" said her mother,
smiling. "Of course, nobody would
let dog run loose now, because he'd
be almost certain to be shot. l have
not heard of any new cases, and I'm
in hopes the trouble is all over now.
L don't think there's any danger, Jen-
ny-not bit.
Jenny's brothers had told her the
same thing for the last two weeks
without producing conviction in her
mind but when her mother, who was
not particularly brave or fearless, as
sured her there was no danger, she
was inclined to believe it. She had
begun to put on her. and mittens
when Master Tommy, the fat, one,
year old baby, who had been playing
on the floor, set up a clamor; he
wanted to go, too, and the more his
mother tried to coax and bride him
to stay at home, the stouter became
his determination that he wouldn't.
sob, mamma, why can't | take
him along on Jacks handsled? said
Jenny, who was too much of a slave
to the sturdy little tyrant of the
hOus ehold, to think of long resisting
his will. ''He will enjoy it so much"
Mrs. Lawton made no objection
and Master Tommy, now quite up
Ioarous with delight, was speedily
equipped for a ride. Jacks hand
sled was a pretty rough, homemade
affair; but it answered the purpose
very well. The stakes that had been
driven into tho side-beams, Jennie
found quite convenient in fastening
the clumsy little fellow on, which was
done by winding an old scarf around
his body and knotting each end to
stake on either side
''Now, mamma said Jenny, as
she turned to go, tdon't worry about
Tommy. I'll be sure to take good
care of him.
Mrs. Lawton, lingering in the door
way, saw Jenny stop at the dooryard
gate to take a long look up and down
the road to make sure there were no
dogs in sight. "Poor childl" she
sighed, "Was there ever such cow
ardly little thing? j don't know what
is to be done with her, I'm sure"
Jenny had not proceeded far when
her fears werp ouita forrottop co