Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-03-12

sssA G E , ! possibIe wsy sto expfsss ms thanks ansi assure them that he was the proudess and bravest dog on the Pacific coast, and ready and able for any service that might be required of him.
 Then he started on ahead of the wagon, looking back every few rods to make certain that he was leading in the right direction; but before they were half way to town he had dropped back to the side of the wagon; then he fell into the rear, and finally, looking back and seeing how nearly the poor old fell low was tired out and how piteously he begged with his great eyes not to be left behind, the wagon had been brought to Q stop and Erastus had got out and lifted him in with the rest of the family" where the girls and Mrs. Parsons had had some difficulty in in- ducing him not to show his gratitude In too demonstrative a manner. When they descended from the wagon and went on board the steamer he was SO fearful of being left that he kept in front of them and under their feet until several members of the family came near falling over him; but when Erastus | had said ''good-bye' to them all and turning to go called to him to follow, | ne went willingly. evidently satisfied that after all he was mistaken and this was only holiday excursion. l Ana now he sat upon the seat with Erastus in perfect contentment and | with slight air of importance, as if he felt consciousness of having proven anew his devotion to those he served, and had received recognition of his value.
 Ordinarily the presence of the dog m1ght have prevented any feeling of posed to it; but to-day, although he did feel that the dog was company in a sense. yet his very presence, being unu- sual, served to remind him that the house to which they were returning was desolate. and somehow things took on an unreal look, and when he turned into the barnyard and saw the chickens and turkeys scratching in the straw or wallowing in the dust, he was not quite certain whether they were chickens and turkeys or just the ghosts of those that were wont to scratch and strut there before all other signs of life had ceased and such an unnatural and oppressive st Illness had settled down over the place.
 After taking the gears from the horses and feeding them he started to the house to get his dinner. The thought ot cooking his own meal was not quite so pleasant now as he had thought it might be, and he was half inclined to go without it or take cold snack and wait until night before cooking any, thing. Then his appetite began to re- turn, and he concluded to at least fry a couple of eggs and make cup of cof- fee
 He entered the house by the back way, and stood for moment looking about him. The fire was out in the kitchen stove; the chairs stood, stiff backed and unsociable. against tho wall; the room had lost it's air of cheer fulness, and his footfall had a lonely kind of so,Ad as he stepped on the bare kitchen Soor.
 He threw open the door which opened onto the kitchen porch and let in a flood of sunshine. The old dog had pre- ceded him to the house and taken his accustomed place upon the porch and was resting. When Erastus opened the door, the dog opened one eye sleepily and half raised his head as if to inquire if he was wanted for anything. and then stretched himself to sleep again. Every thing seemed asleep or dead, and he cooked and ate his dinner with feel ing. as if he was cut off from all human society by thousand miles of desert.
 When he had eaten his own meal he called Bose in and set down a plate with scraps on it for him to eat. Then, not knowing exactly what to do with the remainder of the food which he had cooked, he set that down for the dog also, and took his hat and went out to work.
 Several times that afternoon he won- dered to himself that he had never be- fore noticed how still it was out there in the orchard. and whether it was al- ways so perfectly quiet on the farm any how; and if the geese swimming about in the little pond made for them by means of a low dam across the creek, always moved around without making any moro stir in the water; or if their occasional "honk' when one rose up in the water and Tapped his wings was always pitched on that particular lone- some key.
 As night approacued he returned to the house and fed the teams and the pigs and the poultry and then went in and got his own supper. At dinner he had said to himself that he would wash all the dishes after supper, when he should have nothing else to do but after eating his supper he found that he had no hot water, and decided to defer the job until morning; so he let Bose lick the grease of of them and stacked them up in the sink and went to bed an hour earlier than was his custom, with out spending any time boring over his favorite authors, with nobody to dis turb him." as he had fancied himself doing when the idea of leaving him in sole charge of the house for a week had first been broached
 The next morning he arose, built a fire and put on water to heat and then went out to feed the animals. The old dog welcomed him with wag of the tail, and even followed him to the gate,