The Iuka vidette. (Iuka, Miss.) 1894-1912, 1895-03-14
Mr.. eIXRY,S DOG.

speaking OF dogs, SAID the man
with glass eye, reminds me of an
experience | had once with friend
of mine named Bixby, Samuel j.
Bixby."
That's a reflection on Mr.. Bixby,"
remarked listener.
I'm telling this story" replied the
man. ''As l was going to say, Bixby
was friend of mine that would have
done anything in the world for. !
think if Bixby had asked me to steal a
horse | would have done it with pleas
ure. Well, Bixby had dog that he
laid great store by because it had be-
longed to his wife, and when he took
notion to go to California and travel
for big San Francisco grocery house,
he asked me to take care of the dog for
him because it wasn't possible for him
to take it along with him. / tell you
Bixby thought lot of that dog and
when he told me about how he hated
to leave it, the tears actually came to
his eyes, and l kind of SMILED little
myself The dog was at a dog
fancier's in an adjoining town, and 1
was to send for it as soon as l could
conveniently do so. 1t was a mastiff-at
least l thought he said so-about two
years old and Bixby said it would be
mighty useful about the place as a
watch-dor. l needed Watchdog, but
that WASH what was doing this for.
1t was simply to please Bixby. Well,
he got away at last and as the train
pulled out for the west he waved his
hand TO me and called back not to neg
lect the dog. And didn't. The very
next day / sent one of my stable boys
over after it and he brought it back in
good hape. And what a dog it was
As biz as 1 calf and would eat four
times "a, IA H.. And what savage
brute, We lad to tie him up in the
back yard the first night, and after
that we kept him in the stable, most
ly, for the hired girl was scared to
death a him and the boys used to put
his meals down in front of him and run
as if they had set fire to a fuse of dy-
Mantle bomb.
Sat the end of the first week that
dog owned the place and / had to pay
the boys extra to look after him. As
for myself, even my devotion to Bixby
was not enough to get me within
dozen rods of it. Just the same, though,
/ had promised Bixby not to neglect
the dog and | kept that promise faith
fully. And not for week or month
Dr. a year, but for four long years.
Think of that, will your and the
nan heaved a great sigh, partly |
If relief at the thought of
! duty done, and partly of
for himself "And in that
ime, gentlemen" he continued, 81
ost half of my friends, my wife,
threatened to move out of the house,
he neighbors shook us, servants re-
used to live with me, 1 fought the
police to keep them off of him, the |
pack yard and the stable became a |
and a scene of desolation
md l was on the verge of lunacy.
Yet through it all was loyal to Bixby
and the dog.
''Well, the end of all things must
come, and the end of this trying occa-
sion came at last with Bixby. He had
with money, and the first
thing he wanted to know about was
the dog. had never failed to report
to him at least once month on the
general health and happiness of the
dog, and he knew pretty well how he
was doing, though he never knew
what suffered, for l loved Bixby too
much to worry him with my trials.
He had enough of his own, going into
a new country among strange people.
When / got home with Bixby, my wife
.,,f,. 80. I,
him that, either, and before there was
any reason for my lying about it, Blk
by was on his way to see the beloved
dog after all these weary years of
separation and waiting l cautioned
him to be a little careful, for the dog
hadn't seen him for so long that he
mightn't remember him. But Bixby
wouldn't hear of anything like that
and sailed right into the stable, | re-
naming outside so as not to intrude
upon the affecting scene of their meet
ing. In about two minutes, there was
a ruction and a rumpus in the stable
that was simply terrorizing, and in
about two minutes more, Bixby, or
what was left of him, came out of the
door with the dog hanging to him.
How he ever got loose, l don't know,
but he did, and the next thing l re-
member, we were sitting on the top of
the fence looking at each other 1t
took Bixby about seven minutes to get
his breath SO he could say anything,
and l hadn't anything to say. Then
what he did say gave me such a shock
that l fell off the fence into the alley
Good Lord, old man." he groaned,
that isn't my dog, and never was.
Mine was bull pup"
''And to think, concluded the friend
of Mr. Bixby, signing profoundly,
what ] suffered from the wrong
dogn'-Detroit Free Press.
Dainty Bureau Scarfs.
W.. L. 1.