St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-08-24
JACKS DOG, LEO.
BY MART ROWE

BY MARY ROWE
de was poor tramp He appeared
soddenly in the path. standing notion
less at = respectful distance from the
open door, as we sat together at din
ner in the old farm house. Shaggy
ankempt. gaunt and hungry-looking
ne fastened longing eye-he had bu,
one-on the rapidly disappearing
viandA AS no one noticed him, his
anxiety and suspense presently became
unbearable.
Wow" said he, gently.
1t was a humble, propitiatory little
bark, such as dog who had been SO
unfortunate rs to lose his master would
naturally learn to use when presenting
himself to strangers. As we stared in
surprise be shive red visibly, with head
and tail indicating very low spirits.
Then, not receiving his accustomed
marching orders in the dreaded Get
out!' he ventured to lift his head and
whine q little.
Still nobody came to kick him. So.
after another short pause, and glance
of most anxious inquiry, Jacks dog
elect-rose up suddenly bn his
launches. made his back as stiff and
as straig hit as . grenadier's, pointed
his nose straight up at the zenith. and
emitted a long, loud, most melancholy
howl.
'Sakes alive-' cried Jacks mother,
with her hands to her head.
But Jacks father laughed, and Jack
was delighted. He not only managed
to place sumptuous repast before the
hungry tramp, but also succeeded in
smuggling him over to his stronghold.
the barn. where the dog without mas
ter and the boy without dog soon
made compact and rubbed noses on it
The rest OF us looked coldly on the
poor, shabby tramp-he was SO mani
festly of no account He was not
handsome. nor aristocratic, nor we'll
hammered. He was incurably lame in
his left forefoot, and had but one eye
the result, proba bly,, Of some dreadful
conflict in his unknown past And
though that surviving eye remained
peculiarly bright and watchful, = one
eyed, three-legged dog could not ex-
pect to be regarded by the general
public as a valuable acquisition.
But Jacks dog seemed not to expect
admiration. He had evidently q poor
opinion of himself. And though he
soon learned, under the stimulus of
Jacks friendship and protection. to
carry himself with an air of spirit and
self-respect, no dogs tail was ever
more quickly depressed by an unkind
word than his.
= However, Jack loved him devotedly.
He used to brag about him to the other
boys Sam Peters had lovely young
Newfoundland-at least his uncle had
"A beautiful creature, but stupid, Jack
said, just simply stupid, when com
pared with Leo-the somewhat am
bilious name which Jack had bestowed
on his favorite. Leo was short for
Leonidas-
THAT dog of mine now, he would
say, with fine air of proprietorship,
''why. he'll fetch the cows quicker
than / can"' This feat Sam was labor
ing heavily to teach to the handsome
and dignified, but as vet strictly orna-
mental, Bruce. '.And he's just the
smartest dog with the sheep. He can
do anything he's mind to with them.
He's Scotch collie-partly. l don't
know what the rest Of him ia" con-
cluded Jack, rather lamely.
MY dog Bruce" said Sam, very
slowly, cudgelling his brains the while
FOR something noteworthy that his dog
Bruce could do. ''he always sleeps on
q rug close to my door. guess a bur
glar would have . lively time of it If
he tackled us"
mot If he carried pistols" struck in
Tom Ketchum- why, your dogs
scared to death of = drecracker!"
Sam blushed, and looked on at the
distant hills As if lost in thought
Last FOURTH" pursued the merci-
less Tom, '.he was SO scared that he
hid away under your Aunt Jenny's
bed, and she had to punch him with .
broom to make him come out Ny
dog Kaiser's no moro afraid Of . gun
than am-and you ought to see him
handle . woodchuck! Now Bruce |
wouldn't kill a rat unless 1t scratched |
his nose"
"Your Kaiser kills chickens, too,
doesn't he?" said Sam He killed |
Sues fan-tail pigeons
81 know he oughtn't to have done |
that" Tom admitted. But what do !
you expect Of a bird dog? Say, did l |
ever tell you fellows how he walked |
into my rabbits? Nineteen of 'em. sir,
In about ten minutes; beauties they |
were, too. 1 don't think he set out to
kill them, exactly. He was just having
= real good time, nosing 'em and toss
Ing EN- about and rolling over among
'em, and laughing to himself all the
the happiest dog you ever
saw! ! licked him for that, sir; l |
couldn't stand it-thouRh my father
says l was the one to blame, for leav-
Ing the window open. But l wanted
to give the rabbits little fresh air."
THAT pup of mine." Jack began
again, Il could shut him up in yard
full Of chickens and rabbits aud things
like that and starve him for three days
besides, and he wouldn't touch one Of
'em-I don't suppose. Why, he's aw-
fully faithful! 1 wish you could have
seen him when the team ran away
last week. I'd left my coat on the
seat and told him to take care of il,
and he curled up on it just IS if he
was going to sleep-but he wasn't.
They ran more'n two miles, an pa and
I after 'em. clear down by jerks mills,
and through the creek and up Ander-
sons hill. and they were so tired when
they got to the top they just pulled up
and went 70 feeding by the roadside.
"Well, sir"-Jack drew a long breath
-s'when we came up with them there
sat that pup on that coat of mine, Just
Is cool ~ . cucumber, sir. And he
looked At me, and he grabbed that |
coat with his teeth-see? Amt they |
And he held it up and shook |
lt 20 show twas all right, and sort of |
In his way-didn't you, old
ealler. hey? There. can't he laugh?
aae? Look at those teeth-and that
Jack's fsthert farm lay near the top