Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1895-01-10

| said, with decision, that If Ferdinand
were washed white in that house, the
washing would probably be done by
| Ferdinand's mistress.
When Catharine had made this state
ment Miss Billings dried her eyes and
left the room, taking the pug in her
arms, after she had put her pen behind
| her ear. The dog looked over her
| shoulder at US, and his eyes were
| very watery, as if with grief.
Il suppose we shall lose that board
err said despondently. "Catharine,
couldn't you have made up your mind
to wash Ferdy?'
Couldn't your she asked
But 1 did not reply. 1 was absorbed
in pie crust.
"Fm afraid we shan't have the L.
: remarked my sister, after awhile. She
added emphatically that she did not
believe that anybody ever threw in
! the pug's bath.
The rest Of the day passed calmly.
Ferdinand sat, as usual at the open
! front door and snapped at flies and at
passing ankles. If you have never
! been obliged to go frequently very
near dog that snaps at your ankles,
, you can have no idea into what a
nervous state you will fall
My duties called me often into that
! hall and near the door--in fact, the
! hall was so small that you could not
| go into it at all without going near
! the amiable brute who was stationed
! there. l used to wait in the kitchen
! or upstairs, each time until l had
! screwed up my courage, and then
would make a dash through the place;
! but | always heard the teeth snap to.
gether as l brushed by. At last 1
would almost cry when l found that
l must go there; it seemed mean to
ask Catharine to take my place.
Nothing but the thought of the L
sustained me during those days. 1t
! was not soothing, either to see the
, edge of Miss Billings frizzes outside
and to know that she was sitting
there and enjoying herself while l was
so unhappy.
Mr.. Heaton had seen me on these
skirmishes many times. He was a
middle-aged man, who was quite stout.
He had large face adorned by a
small grizzled mustache. He had an
| swered our advertisement because he
wanted a great deal of fresh milk.
He drank two or three quarts daily,
and said at breakfast each morning
that the milk did him a vast amount
! of good, but as that COMPOUNDED pug
: boarded in the same house with him
/ that fact neutraliZed all the benefit.
| so he really was not any better off
! than when he left the city.
When he would say this Miss Bill
lings would remark that dearest Ferdy
was her one comfort in this world,
! and she could not see why people were
not willing he should live. Mr. Heaton
would then sniff and say with great
| contempt that he should try and not
be the cause of removing Miss Bill
! IngS' sole comfort, but. he could not
swear that he should not some time
kick that pug into the next world.
The three other boarders would try
to laugh, as if these remarks were
| pleasantries. Occasionally Mr.. Marks,
a very young man who said he had not
a drop Of Jewish blood in him, would
break out into indignant words adj
dressed to Mr.. Heaton, but the elder
gentleman withered him directly.
Miss Billings would cast an express
! sive glance of the most ardent graft.
tude at the young man, and he would
blush. We all understood that Mr..
Marks was an admirer of Miss Bill
lings. He had ever been known to
carry Ferdinand for her, in spite of his
growing and grinning all the time.
She would walk beside and pat him
the dog, you understand-and tell him
that the darling petsy ought to know
his friends, and she must punish him
if he did not. But she never pun.
ished him. That pug was almost as
bad in the house as modern child
would have been-not quite so bad, for
nothing is as bad as the modern child.
SO my sister and 1 used to tell our
selves, and try to be thankful that
we had dog instead Of a child
"For," said Catharine, one day, in
confidence, and in a burst of graft
tude, ga pug may be poisoned, but a
little boy or girl could not be treated
in that way"
Not that we ever dreamed of poi
soning Ferdy.
Mr.. Heaton seemed to wish to be
very kind. He had witnessed, as
have said, my transits by the pug,
One day he appeared in the kitchen
with a long-legged pair of hunting
boots in his hand. He said he hoped
1 would excuse him, but he would sug
gest that put on those boots when
went near the COMPOUNDED little beast
He said they would give me a feeling
of safety and he thought would like
them. | was extremely glad of them
1t is true, it was a bother to be
obliged to stop to put on hunting boots
every time I went into the front en-
try, but was paid for my trouble in
the sense Of security they gave.
1t was Joy to be able to sauntel
calmly by Ferdinand and to see hin
slowly raise his upper lip until his
T dear little teeth became visible and ht
thrust his head forward and snarled
, knew that the leather incasing m!
feet and ankles was tough, and TIT
5 knowledge gave me a serenity 1 ha(
not enjoyed since the advent of Fer
! dinand.
r l had been wearing these hunting
I boots on my visits to the front entry
rIx