St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1895-05-18
BILL HENDERSON,
keene Center,
AdirOndackS-

BILL HENDERSON,
keene Center, (:
Adirondacks.
The crowd on the store porch waiting
for 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 bobs that head OF
his'n," said Israel Lul1ens. 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 ye 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 scuflied ipto the store. A
kerosene lamp sent long shadows sour
rying over the low ceiling and diffused
a mellow light half way down the
was strewn a tumbled assortment of
lumbermen's shirts and some old pairs
of childrenis boots, the remnant Of the
winter stock. Great drifts of blue to-
bacco smoke fioated 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.
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 the sound of a wagon clat-
tering along and the next instant Bill
Henderson reined in his team and called
out:
Dog here for aour folks?'
The door was opened by tho 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. l told my wife, sez L,
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 of.
As they ratified down the road the cool
air seemed to revive the puppy. 1t 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 Hender-
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 a 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 ''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
Henderson's eldest boy came for him in
the morning and hitched him to a cart
If he was not harnessed to the cart
by the eldest boy and lasl,ed up and
down the road in the broiling sun, he
was dragged into the cabin on wet
days and mauled by the rest of the
children. One morning he growled.
Henderson's ''womern" said "she
knowed that the dog was ugly soon as
she sot her two eyes on him." and that
sit 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 q peddler's wagon and departed
amid the gibes of the Henderson chill
dren and the snarling of the Hender-
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
ev..s were closed and blood oozed from
III. nostrils. Some one unhitched the
.eaaln and dragged him few feet away
an the grass under tree
Two men passing stopped.
.1suess he's dead" said one Looks
IKE he'd been ugly. anyhow" said the
other. and they passed on.
The shadows heightened until only
~ treat slides far up on Great
..c.,nt.in~ were high enough to catch
thsriys Of the red sum- A few lamps
,...nea -. at the windowsdown the single
1890 and ! gentle breeze rustled the
le6sss overhead.
when the dsw fell the puppy opened
his eysA .-.,.. h..r
= i. -. q - Gate q The store. He