The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1890-12-05
STORY or AN uoLY poo.
How ne Secured tho Lastinr Protscslon
or ffis Master.

lie was hopelessly ugly dog. Hi.
ecru back shaded Off fnto yellow brown
on the sides splotehed with mud colors
below His tail was his only perfcc,
organ. but that dropped so habituallv
between his cowardly legs that Il add
ed neither TO his stature nor his stand
ing IN the community. He was sickly
aud sore-eyed gave forth pestilential
odors aud barked incessantlv. He had
lived Ia one neighborhuod ten Years
aud had resisted poison. glass pellets.
hobert rifles. the prayers of nm ont
ragged community and all the other in
strument of canine destruction. With
sickening sense Of the hopelessness
OF tue efforts mt destruction. the neigh
bors had resigned themselves TO the
belief that la the end the tooth of
time would gnaw him OF.
The owner of this brute was Blud,
the butcher. At the meeting of the
city triumvirs recently, before n
quorum had appeared, Greens. the
grocer, aud Finn, the fisher, appealed
to Bud fer reason for harborinr such
Il dog.
That dog has a history.n Blud was
hnaiiy Induced to say by way of
premise for the following story: You
Will readily conclude that / would not
maintain such nuisance as that cur if
ne ulu not have some sort of claim
upon US. You have heard me sneak
of my boy Bone. When he was curly
headed 2-year-old darling | was car.
rying on the business OF pardenlng
We bad few acres near the city. and
my wife would sometimes helm me AZ
the work.
One day-it was about the tine
that the Charley Ross affair was in
everybod' mind-we had left the baby
boy cooing IN II hammock under the
trees, within sight aud sound. and
were at work in the adjoining garden.
happening to look up saw that
fough-looking man had entered the
grounds. | did not divine his purpose.
We had n few days before adopted this
dog, in the hope that he would be
playful aud watchful mate for our boy.
de was asleep under the hammock
where his Young master lay. l saw
tue man suddenly run toward the ham
mock. felt ut once that he was try
ing to steal the baby. What do YOU
think that nasty-looking, yellow cur
did just ut that critical moment?m
'Leaped NJ the Villains throat" "
quickly suggested Greens, mentally
asserting that he had wronged the dog
In believing him worthless
II always said that the meanest dog
was ut least faithful To his master. =
was Firms comment; aud | have no
doubt your dog saved the ehild's life
that day"
You both do the animal an in
justice" BIud said. rising. True to
his eur instincts. he tucked his tail be-
tween his running gear and He'd
Greens was haif-angered. and only
rallied after some minutes TO ask why |
It was. then. since the dog had. in
deed. proven himself worthless. that |
Bud bad cared for him all these wears.
There Is no burying-grou cheap |
enough for such critter | cant give |
him away. and he isn't worth killlng,m |
was the owners answer 1t was only |
after the lapse of an hour or two that /
Finn discovered that the story was moi /
by the way. Blud. /" he then asked. |
'.how did YOU recover Your baby from /
the kidnapper?"
On, he wasn't kidnapper. IL was
body-snateher. after the eur for the /
pound. because the dog-tax was delin-
queni. indianapolis Netcs.