Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-08-13
A DOG NAMED DIMPLE.

II ever there was q case In which
the intentions of nature were quite set
at naught, it was when my cousin Eu-
genia began to bring herself up after
her own pattern without the slightest
regard to the cutting of the cloth. Ma
ture had meant her for kitten-girl,
or dove-girl, anything that was made
up of curves or softness, while she
preferred to be a composition OF an
giles.
Therefore, in place of dancing, fiirt-
ing and enjoying life after the manner
Of q girl with big blue, contiding eyes,
whose dimples and freckles seemed
made for kissing, she propped up q
book to read as she swallowed her
hasty meals, apart from the family If
possible, studied from morning till
night, frightened the men by her erudi-
ton, despised pets, played tennis SIM
ply for exercise, rode bicycle so as
to get quickly from one place to an
other, and made all girlkind feel them
selves mere puppets and dolls.
But now had the mighty fallen. Eu-
genia had purchased n dog and given
it the name of-Dimple. No wonder
that, not daring to jeer, we were silent.
However, when the dog arrived, we
were obliged to admit that he justified
his name. OF all the dear r0ly-pOly
little dog babies that ever l saw, Dim
pie was the most fascinating, and the
very first wag of his tail excused Eu-
genia's backsliding. Not that she
realized her lapse from the intellectual;
she held and petted and caressed the
small object as if it had been her daily
occupation ever since the day of her
leaving school-that time at which
girls are apt to develop their weak
nesses-and was sublimely unconscious
of our smiles and jibes. Eugenia.
flushed and intent, her pretty, yellow
hair twisting itself into thousands of
tiny rings, her brows knitted one hand
smoothing the fur of the four-footed
baby, the other busily engaged in
writing out her paper on medieval
political economy, was sight for the
gods.
had foolishly said one day, apropos of
nothing, and Eugenia had turned upon
her with lofty scorn and informed her
that the engaging mOrsel, ut that mo-
ment busy in the demolition of one of
my newest and longest evening gloves,
'would never grow any more" the
man from whom she bought him hav
hof hn hn1 mi n
completed that part Of his education.
Which doubling, we were nevertheless
silent.
Two or three days after this mis-
take of aunty's, Dan came out to din
ner and deeply annoyed Eugenia by
picking up the soft mass of fur by
his neck and remarking:
when this fellow gets over being
puppy, he'll he quite dog. Eugenia."
He is not a puppy, Dan. he is full
grown" our cousin responded Jelly,
and then added with some asperty.
~ have no sort of tolerance for pup
pies-of any kind"
My brother threw back his hand
some head and laughed low but hearth
ly.
MAY / inquire the age of your full
grown dog, my cousin?"
"He was six months old when l
bought him, two months ago"
Eight months old! you dear little
goose, If he is one-half that. shall be
astonished. He was probably just
weaned when you got him, and these
mastiffs"-
"He isn't mastiff."
Indeed, and what is heT
"A Sicilian poodle"
"O-o-oh!
The peal Of laughter which greeted
this dignified response was quite too
much for Eugenia. She picked up her
dog and departed, red with indigna-
ton, leaving Dan, the only person in
the world who ever dared to tease her,
to apologize to aunty, to be by her for
given, and l fear, encouraged to re-
peat his offence.
From that time, we noticed that Eu-
genia was more or less uneasy. Once
l caught her holding aunty's yard
measure suspciously near Dimple,
proach. After few weeks there was
no use Disgusting the fact; that full
grown dog was rapidly increasing in
size, indeed he seemed to enlarge dur
ing his slumbers, and wake up full
size bigger than when he went to
sleep.
1t began with his legs, which so ex-
hat ha1
him in a collection of freaks. you
would have suspected him Of being on
stills; then the little round body, SO
absurdly mounted on its thin supports,
began to swell out.
Eugenia grew very grave. She
would sit for hours over her books.
glancing furtively from time to time
at Dimple, doing by her side-for he
had grown much too large for her lap
las If they had never been introduced.
One day she forgot to go to her lecture
at the proper hour. so busy was she
trying to induce Dimple to crowd him
self into suinptu0us basket which
had been purchased for his babyhood.
So careworn did she become, indeed,
that we never alluded to the dogs
growth; he was fed-and how he did
eat!-he was watered, to the extent of
several gallons day. he was housed
Mt night-in a kennel. alas! for he
scorned the larger basket that had
been quietly provided-but no one ever
spoke OF his size.
As the months rolled on, the singu-
lar happiness of Dimple's name be-