The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-03-30
BILL HENDERSON, /:
keenc Center, {:
Adirondacks.


newcomer over and expressed their sew
eral opinions rs to his breed. Some
"calated he had shepherd in him."
nnd others swan he hadn't"
'Sec that; haow he hobs that head Of
his'n," said Israel Lul1ens, an old hunt
err, pecring into the crate. Hello thar,
Long Lega,' haow goes it?-hungry, be
YEP" and the puppy1iclSed the old mans
hand.
What yo 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 scufflcd into the store. A
kerosene lamp sent long shadows sour
rying over the low ceiling and diffused
n mellow light half way down the
counter, at the further end of which
was strcwn tunbled assortment of
lumbcrmcn's shirts and some old pairs
OF children's boots, the remnant of the
winter stock. Great drifts of blue to-
bacco smoke hoated 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
the men inside, and began to whine.
hen 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 the sound of wagon clat-
tcring along and the next instant Bill
henderson refined in his team and called
out:
Dog here for aour follls?"
The door was opened by the post
master
Some of my womern's relatives
daown in Fort IT," Henderson con-
tinned, writ that they had one of
them st. Demands and wanted we
should take it. told my wife, scz 1,
VIC got enough hounds to feed with
out goin' into no fancy breeds"
Ten minutes later the puppy was
lifted out of the crate and tuinbled into
the wagon, and Henderson drove off.
AS they ratified down the road the cool
air seemed to revive the puppy. It felt
Good to get out of the close crate, and
though at first he covered against the
dashboard 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 Hendcr-
son. But Henderson was surly. He
regarded 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 ncighbors, and when
it came to animals he had less.
When Henderson reached his cabin
Mandy, his 'womcrn," came out with
IL candle to see the new dog, and tho
puppy was brought into the kitchen.
where he walked about awl1warlly and
was mauled by the children. After q
scanty supper he was turned out among
the hounds in the wood-shcd, where he
lay shivering with cold and fear until
Hendcrson's eldest boy came for him in
the morning and hitchcd him to a cart.
II he was not harncssed 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 nauled by the rest of the
children. One morning he growlcd.
llcnderson's ''womcrn" said "she
knowcd that the dog was ugly soon as
she sot her two eyes on him." and that
lit was nothin' short of Providence he
hadn't bit some of the young uns."
Henderson said he'd take him where
he wouldn't get back in hurry, and
the next day the puppy was hitched
under pcddler's wagon and departed
amid the gibes of the Henderson chill
dren and the snarling of the Uender-
son hounds. The peddler drove along
in the binding heat 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
piteously.
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 oozcd from
his nostrils. Some one unhitchcd the
chain and dragged him few feet away
on the grass under tree.
Two men passing stopped.
Guess he's dead" said one. Clocks
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
mountain" were high enough to catch
the rays of the red sun. A few lamps
beamed at the windows down the single
street, and gentle breeze rustled The
Leaves overhead.
When the dew fell the puppy opened
his eyes.
1t seemed to him that he was back
once more in the crate at the store. He
could sec the stars glitter and hear the
roar of the river.
As the wind frcshcned and blew
down the valley he staggered on his