The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1893-02-04
A Case of Poetic Justice.


i
his head ?'' said mother
Why, there was something about it in
our reading lesson today, and when | asked
Miss Thompson what it meant, she said we
should see how many of us could find out
for ourselves and give her an illustration of
it tomorrow; but don't know how to find
out unless you tell me, father.
Mr. Stanley looked thoughtfully for a
moment, and then smiled as if struck by
some amusing recollection.
''Poetic justice" he said, sis kind of
justice that reaches us through the unfore-
seen consequences of our unjust acts. l
will tell you little story, Fred, that l
think will furnish the illustration you are
after.
81 recall summer afternoon, good
many years ago, when | was not as large
as | am now Two other boys and myself
went blackberrying in a big meadow several
miles from home. On our way to the
meadow, as we padded along the dusty
highway, we met stray dog. He was
friendless, forlorn looking creature, and
seemed delighted to take up with us, and
when we gave him some scraps of bread
and meat from our lunch basket he caper-
ed for joy and trotted along at our side as
if to say Now, boys, I'm one of you.
We named him Rover, and boy-like tried
to find out how much he knew and what
he could do in the way of tricks; and we
soon discovered that he could fetch and
carry, beautifully. No matter how big the
stick or stone, or how far away we threw
it, he would reach it and drag it back to
us. Fences, bitches, and brambles he
seemed to regard only as so many obstacles
thrown in his way to try his pluck and
endurance, and he overcame them all.
At length we reached the meadow and
scattered out in quest of blackberries. In
my wanderings l discovered hornets
nest, the largest ever saw-and | have
seen good many. Itwas built in cluster
of blackberry vines and hung low, almost
touching the ground Moreover, it was at
the foot of little hill, and as scampered
up the latter | was met at the summit by
Rover, frisking about with stick in his
mouth. l don't know why the dog and
the hornets nest should have connected
themselves in my mind, but they did, and
wicked thought was born of the union.
Bob Will | called to the other
boys, come here, we'll have some fun.
"They came promptly, and | explained
my vilainous project. pointed out the
hornets nest and proposed that we roll a
stone down upon it and send Rover after
the stone.
And, oh boys, won't it be fun to see
how astonished he'll be when the hornets
come out?' l cried in conclusion. They
agreed that it would be awfully funny
We selected a good sized round stone, called
Rover's special attention to it, and started
it down the hill. When it had fair start
we turned the dog loose, and the poor
fellow, never suspecting our treachery,
darted after the stone with joyous bark
We had taken good aim, and as the ground
was smooth, the stone went true to its
mark, and crashed into the hornets nest
just as Rover sprang upon it. In less
than minute the furious insects had
swarmed out and settled upon the poor
animal His surprise and dismay fulfilled
our anticipation, and we had just begun to
double ourselves up in paroxysms of laugh
ter, when with frenzied yelps Of agony, he
came tearing up the hill toward us, follow
ed closely by the hornets.
+" Run l shouted, and We did run; but
the maddened dog ran faster and dashed
into our midst with piteous appeals for help.
The hornets settled like black avenging
cloud all over us, and the scene that follow
ed battles my power Of description. We
ran, we scratched, we rolled on the ground
and We howled with agony till the meadow
was, for the time being, turned into
pandemonium.
II have never known just how long the
torture lasted, butt know it was poor Rover
who rose to the emergency, and with supe-
rior instinct showed us a way to rid lis ofonr
vindictive assailants. As soon as he realized
that we too, were in distress and could give
no assistance, he ran blindly to a stream
that flowed through the meadow not far
away, and plunged in, dived clearly beneath
the surface. We followed him, and only
ventured to crawl out from the friendly
element when we were assured that the
enemy had Withdrawn Then we sat on
the bank of the stream and looked at each
other dolefully through our swollen purple
eyelids, while the water dripped from our
clothing, and hundred singing wounds
reminded us what excessively funny fun
we had been having with Rover.
'The poor dog, innocent and free from
guilt himself, judged US accordingly, and,
creeping up to me, licked my hand in silent
sympathy. Then some dormant sense Of
justice asserted itself within me.
G Boys l said, we've had an awful
time, but tell you what, it serves us
right
''Neither of them contradicted me, and,
rising stifiy, we went slowly hOmeward
with Rover at our heels.
sThat, my boy said Mr.. Stanley in
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