The Globe-republican., 1897-03-18


~ the mail to be sorted looked the
Aswcomer over and expressed their sew
Gsal opinions as to his breed. Some
s'eslated he had shepherd in him, /"
end others ''swan he hadn't"
''See that; haow he hobs that head Of
his'n," said Israel Lukens. an old hunt
er, peering into the crate. Hello thar,
Long Lega,' haow goes it?-hungry. be
yer and the puppy licked the old mans
hand.
"What 70 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 scufiled into the store. A
kerosene lamp sent long shadows sour
yying over the low ceiling and diffused
D mellow light half way down the
counter, at the further end of which
was strewn tumbled assortment Of
lumbermen's shirts and some old pairs
of children's boots, the remnant Of the
winter stock. Great drifts of blue to-
bacco smoke foated 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 rs
It swung through the valley, and tar
down the road the baying of the hound.
Then came the sound of a wagon clat-
tering along and the next instant Bill
Henderson refined in his team and called
out:
''Dog here for aour folks?"
The door was opened by the post
master.
''Some of my womern's relatives
daown in Fort IT," Henderson con-
tinued, writ that they had one Of
them st. Demands and wanted we
should take it. l told my wife, SEE 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. Itfelt
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 kick that
sent him shivering under the seat
again. Henderson hadn't much heart
even toward his neighbors, 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
ecanty 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 Ia
the morning and hitched him to a cart.
If he was not harnessed 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 lnauled 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
''it was nothin' short of Providence he
hadn't bit some of the young uns."
/ Henderson said he'd take him where
be wouldn't get back in a 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, hi.
eyes were closed and blood oozed from
his nostrils. Some one unhitched the
chain and dragged him few feet away
on the grass under tree.
Two men passing stopped.
Guess he's Dead" said one. Look
Ike 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 1t the windows down the single
street. and q gentle breeze rustled The
leaves overhead.
When the dew fell the puppy opened
his eyes
It seemed to him that he was baol
once more in the crate at the store. ID
could zee the stars glitter and hear thu
tuar Of the river.
A tho wind freshened and blew
DOWN the valley he staggered on hi
Ssst and tottered mp the road, whin-
M. For . moment he stopped n
fk,nmk ~ thu sforo and skood &, a.