Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1896-01-24

| was HOnUO.
Ponto was enamored of a certain
wooden ball about the size Of billiard
ball. In a moment of weakness had
purchased this one day and brought
IL home. Ponto Immediately seized it,
rolled it toward me, and said: Throw
that over there in the rose bushes. I
will find 1t. You see if don't" So
said, so done. The ball was thrown,
and Ponto found it. But he became
rather irksome with his desire to re-.
trieve the bell, because his favorite re-
mark to me became: PLAY ball" lie
had fashion of coming into my study
with brisk air, wagging his tail, with
the ball held in his mouth. Then, pIac-
ing his forepaws on the table, he would
put the precious ball in the middle Of
the papers, letters and books and say:
'"There is my ball. Now toss it out of
the window, and 1 will 20 and get it.
That will be very much more amusing
than wasting your time on all these
stupid papers and books" Iwould fire.
ouently feign to hurl the ball from the
window, and. like fash, Ponto would
disappear. A few minutes would pass
before Ponto would reappear with the
forepaws at the window and remark:
Say you, you man with the papers, l
don't find anything here. The ball
isn't In the garden. You must have
kept It." Then he would come In at the
door, go shifting around under the fur
niture and in the partly opened desk
drawers, and then, with the air of
man who smites his forehead and dis
covers something, he would look in
quiringly at you and say: II will
wager that IL Is on the table" He was
right--with his intelligent eye he had
followed your glance. If you attempted
then to conceal the ball, there was an
end to the work. He burst into extrav-
agant gayety, jumped after the ball,
followed your least movements and
would not quit you, laughing ener-
getically with his tail,
Ponto made me sometimes think that
he was one of those men turned into
dogs, of whom we read in the fairy
stories. His eyes were deep, tender and
human, and at times they seemed 20
say: "What would you? 1 am only
four-footed beast, but have q human
heart-a better one than that of many
men. i am beast, and have suffered
much. suffer still, because 1 cannot
express myself in speech and tell you
in those things you call words, my fidel-
ity and devotion. Yes, l an, yours, and
love you like n dog. Whatever belongs
TO you is secure. Just let anybody
touch 1t, and you will see."
But Ponto and fell out one day. It
was q very unfortunate affair. Only
those people, who, like myself, believe
blindly in dogs, will understand me. This
is what happened: The cook had killed
two chickens. and had gone into the adj
joining pantry to get basket TO put the
feathers in as she plucked them. When
she returned to the kitchen she uttered
q shriek--one of the two chickens was
gone. Yet she had been absent but a
few minutes,
"Ahl" said the cook. rehectiveIy, "evi-
IDENTIFY some beggar has passed by here
and has taken ono of the chickens
through the window"
She looked out Of the door in order
70 find the supposititious beggar, but
there was nobody there. Then for q
moment she thought IL must be the dog,
but she was at once seized with re-
morse.
"Whati Suspect Ponto? Neverl He
would not steal. Why, he would watch
over a leg of mutton all day without