Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1895-03-27
BILL HENDERSON.
Keene Center,
AdfvAnd obs


Cor the mail to be sorted looked the
newcomer over and expressed their sew
eral opinions as to his breed. Some
-'calated he had shepherd in him,
and others ''swan he hadn't"
''See that; haow he hobs that head Of
his'n," said Israel Lulsens, an old hunt
er, peering into the crate. Hello thar,
Long Lega,' haow goes it?-hungry, be
YEP and the puppy licked the old mans
hand.
What We got in thar?-a lion?'
shouted Alfred Hammer from the road,
on his way to the lumber shanty
BY this time the mail was sorted, and
the crowd scuff1ed into the store. A
kerosene lamp sent long shadows sour
rying over the low ceiling and diffused
a mellow light half way down the
counter, at the further end of which
was strewn a tumbled assortment of
lumbermens shirts and some old pairs
of children's boots, the remnant of the
winter stock. Great drifts of blue to-
bacco smoke foated lazily toward the
lamp and, ascending, were lost in the
shadows
The puppy, left alone on the porch,
heard the laughter and the voices of
ahe men inside, and began to whine.
When realizing that this only added to
his loneliness, he cooked his head and
looked up at the stars and the great
range sleeping clear out against them.
He could hear the roar of the river as
it swung through the valley, and far
down the road the baying of the hound.
Then came .ae sound of wagon clat-
Sering along and the next instant Bill
Henderson refined in his team and called
out:
Dog here for aour folks?"
The door was opened by the post
master.
Some of my womern's relatives
daown in Fort IT," Henderson con-
'tinued, writ that they had one of
them St. Bernards and wanted we
should take it. told my wife, seq 1,
we got enough haounds to feed with
out goin' into no fancy breeds
Ten minutes later the puppy was
lifted out of the crate and tumbled into |
the wagon, and Henderson drove off.
As they ratified down the road the cool |
air seemed to revive the puppy. felt |
good to get out of the close crate, and
though at first he covered against the
he began gradually to feel
more like himself. Now and then he
would put up his foolish shaggy head
and try to make friends with Hender-
son. But Henderson was surly. He
the puppy as more of an en-
cumbrance than anything else. Such
friendly beginnings on the part of the
puppy were greeted with kick that
sent him shivering under the seat
again. Henderson hadn't much heart
even toward his neigh5ors, and when
1t came to animals he had less.
When Henderson reached his cabin
Mandy, his ''womern," came out with
a candle to see the new dog, and the
puppy was brought into the kitchen,
where he walked about awkwardly and
was mauled by the children. After a
scanty supper he was turned out among
the hounds in the wood-shed, where he
lay shivering with cold and fear until
eldest boy came for him in
the morning and hitched him to a cart.
1t he was not harnessed to the cart
by the eldest boy and dashed up and
down the road in the broiling sun, he
was dragged into the cabin on wet
days and lnauled by the rest of the
children. One morning he growled
s'womern" said 'sshe
znowed that the dog was ugly soon is
she sot her two eyes on him." and that
iy,' oh ~ |
hadn't bit some of tee young uns.''
Henderson said he'd take him where
he wouldn'tiget back in a hurry, and
the next day the puppy was hitched
under peddler's wagon and departed
amid The gibes of the Henderson chill
dran and the snarling of the Hender-
soli hounds. The peddler drove along
in the binding keat and dust, and be-
fore he had gone two miles the puppy
had hard work to keep his chain slack,
his feet began to bleed and he whined
When the cart reached the valley,
SIX miles distant, and stopped in front
Of the post office, the puppy lay un-
conscious against the hind wheel, his
eyes were closed and blood oozed from
his nostrils. Some one unhitched the
chain and dragged him few feet away
On the grass under tree.
Two men passing stopped.
Guess he's dead" said one. "Loolss
like he'd been ugly, anyhow" said the
other, and they passed on. ,
The shadows heightened until only
The great slides far up on Great
were high enough to catch
the rays of the red sun. A few lamps
oeamed at the windows down the single .
street, and a gentle breeze rustled the
leaves overhead. .
When the dew fell the puppy opened
ais eyes.
1t seemed to him that he was back
once more in the crate at the store. He
,ould see the stars glitter and hear the
oar of the river. ..
AS the%wind frcshened and blew
Town the valley he staggered on his
Feet and tottered up the road, whin- .
ng. For moment he stopped in
eront of the store and stood in the
glare of the lamps Some village ours
snaricd at him. Limping up the wooden
steps, he waited until man opened
Tho stora door. then no S1unIs -, t,c1,laJ