The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-01-26
DOYNES' DOGS.

we stmlnSter Bridge is one of the hest
known places IN the world, and when man
Jumps over its parapet 10 save fellow-crea-
ture who is struggling in the tidewav below
he is tolerably certain to be well renaid for
his eXertion. His bravery is Landed in the
next mornings papers; he gets the Royal
Humane Societ4's medal, and he is often
handsomely rewarded besides. There are
thousands of good swimmers in London
who would avail themselves of similar op-
portunity. YOU'D do it Yourself"
H'm-well, perhaps l should. But you
are taking rather cold-blooded view of the
matter. There Is some risk"
''Of course there is risk" replied DIR.
Nane, rather contemptu0usly. There is
the chance Of cramp, the chance of a bad
cold. There was possibility of the train
which brought you down here leaving the
track and crashing over an embarrassment
but that does nol make hero Of you for
coming to see me.
What are you driving at?"
Simply this. That there is a great deal
of rubbish talked about men making heroes
of themselves, when they are merely en-
countering q certain degree OF peril for their
own self-advancement. Now in my idea
thai kind of seliishness can never be linked
to true heroisn For instance, | can see
nothing heroic about Jump from the clouds
beneath parachute, when the only incen-
tive Is money.
Il am afraid you VIII nearly ALWAYS find
sordid motive OF that kind at the bottom
if you only probe deep enough"
"Generally, l grant you. Bat there are
instances 10 the contrary. A village doctor
does not often see much beyond the general
routine, but, | give you my word for it.
diu once come across real heroine. Now,
what 90 you say to an hours ecarte and
then to bed ?'
Ana DR.. Wane lit his pipe and appeared
anxious TO change the subject.
Tell me about your heroine first. Did
she pull some one out Of the river here and
tn,n run away without leaving her name ?"
Moth ing So dramatic. l dou't think the
story would interest you. Pass the
matches"
But my curiosity was aroused, and after Il
little pressing he consented to tell me.
- Your tram arriN cd" lie said, Just after
the curtain had dropped, land the heroine
Of the piece had 6 ne OF to take up an en-
Gagement on aLother stage. Did you hap
pen to see caravan, dngy. yellow paint
ed house on wheels, AS YOU walked heIe
from the station? 1t was in fed ON your
right hand"
Il can't say that did"
Very likely MT. 1t would scarcely
catch your eye unless you had looked for it,
Jet 1t lay there AL the same, an aged-loOk-
ing concern, with 'Doynes' Wonderful
Dogs painted on the outside. II is one of
the regular sort That go round to the fairs
and feasts In this neighborhood, only per-
haps trltie inferior TO most of them. 1t
was here about the middle of the summer,
when hrst came 10 this place; and out Of
curiosity | went 10 see 1t among the Others
There were just about half dozen dogs
NANCY mongrels all, with the eX option Of
gTaymuzzled cOllie-ard they were put
through their PAGES by girl who seemed
TO run the show entirely by herself. She
was my heroine"
Waue put his pipe into his mouth here
and struck q match, as If to signify that was
all, but an eXprciant YES" Irom his audi
tor limited TO him TO proceed.
Well he said. Il noticed in May that
she was looking fearfuliy emacialed- half
starved, III TACT; which wasn't to be WON
dered at, as there We're not more than half a
dozen Others besides myself in the tent, and
we only PAID a penny apiece for the per-
Torrance. But week ago, when tho cara
van passed through here Gu route for some
where else, she broke down entirely, and
that was when l first found out all about
her. She is % now, 1t seems-23 last week {;
and ten years ago her steDmother turned her
out Of doors. Poor child, she had had a
hard lie of it. She lost her own mother
wien she was ?, aud her father married
again. Then he died and the wife took on
with collier, who had a family OF his own
Both of them i'll treated her abominably ;
ana finally, as have said, turned her out of
hadn'ta friend in the world, poor little mite,
or relation either, that she knew Of, for
the matter of that; and so she wandered out
OF the place, and sat down and shiYered ON a
bank. Never before HAD she been outside
the town of her birth. 1t was night and
raining, and the passerS by, of whom there
were few, never noticed her. Not that she
minded much; she was too numbed with
misery for that-coid, hungry, wretched and
dulled with despair.
Presently dog came and shifted at her
Good SOFT OF creatures, dogs, aren't they
especially stray ones? You always see
them Cumming up to eople who are in
trouble. Well, she patted the beast and
when its owner came by lie saw tue two of
them together
""UIlo,' said he--he was Doynes, by the
way whatre you a-doin' here? G'lung
'ome wi yer
Amt got no ONE
OWS that?
Mothers turned me out, and she says
she'l rive cart out O. me if l goes back
AEGEAN. An she'll do it an all
Now, l don't know whether Dovnas was
moved by the idea that this was a good on
poItunity 10 pick UP mueh.desired assist
ant cheap, or by the child's evident misery.
should imagine the former. But any way.
lie asked: ''
w Ill yer come along wi meP'
"On being answered Yes. he stoved liz
inside his conveyance. led her. gave her a
shaEe-uown on the floor, and then drove on.
And that was how Liz became enrolled
among the exhibiting staff of the Performing
Dogs. Ava ''''i'e
he was happy-go-lucky sort of chap,
tnlS Doynes, never troubling himself partic-
uiarly about anything, whether il was busi-
ness or pleasure, religion or honesty He
drank when he felt Inclined. sometimes i'm
moderation, sometimes in excess. and ate
when ne was hungry He was not intel
nv ON
rather clever with dogs and knnw good
deal about their value and capabilifies.
AS matter of fact Doynes was not his
name at all, but it was the only one nv
which ne was known He bought 1t when
ne ne bought the show from the original
Doynes, VINO, by strict attention to bust
ness, had raised himself to the dizZv emil
nence OF the thlrd-rate music hall Stage
and proiessOrship-and his own name
sank gracefully among the mists of the
past LIZ Too, aSslmialed the surname of
DC ynes. At first she Was simplv known as
Doynes' Liz but of latter wears She he
came LIZ Doynes, and her real patronymlc
aiso Is not even matter of history now.
accustomed as she had been tn csaseless
TABOR ana thankless toll, the child found
ner new me on the Caravan one of COM
parauVe ease and eniOym,nt She had
merely 10 look after the horse and the dogs.
10 40 Tue cooking and the washing, to keep
We caravan something like tidy. and to take
OH Doynes boots when he was too drunk to
perform mat Office for himself; aud when
these duties had been attended to she was
quite at LIBERTY =, to amuse herself in any way
sue Sd" n'' iDoynes never meddled with her
except TO beStOw an occasionaI cnff if
the dogs didn't perform well or similar
IoLciole reminder If the trlpe supper was
nov cpokeu TO MS taste. But, on the other
hand he never gave her sixpence to spend.
Twice year he presented her with n cheap
new frock and bonnet, ami at erratio inter-
walls he would produce undergarments.
eull;ed. IKE blackberries, from some CON
psh h heage; And She usually had shoes
SO that, on the whole, Liz-whose
stan Iia was, was net high one-fuund her
or expect. She usually had plenty to eat,
ana that was to her the principal blessing
OF lie, She had cosy bunk and an old
horsecloth by way of coverlet, and although
Doynes, night quarters were merely sepa-
rated OIL by very sketchy curtain. this
would have satisfied her most fantastic
scruPles OF decency, if they had ever arisen,
Whleh they never did. OF variety she had
a neVer-euulup suDnlU Sbn,,, III, 70