Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-12-02
ice. pIanceu anu sKippea

$4,000, While shaggy little wisp Of Il
tail wiggled and frisked and endeav-
pred to say: II simply can't tell you
how overjoyed am to find you. I've
looked everywhere for you. I really
believe I could almost turn myself
wrong side out from sheer happiness at
seeing you again"
Come close, Beautiful! But don't
YOU dare to bark a word, cause likes
not that dreadful, dreadful woman will
come and take you away from me-"
At this Beautiful pumped his nose
through the small opening at the win
dow, smiling violently. and then giving
voice to a loud and sympathetic whine.
Just then two hands, coming from out
the darkness of the cellar, closed round
his soft, warm body. 1t was a hard,
tight and uncomfortable squeeze, and
such Juggling and pulling you never
saw in all your days. That the feat
Was accomplished at all was probably
due to the fact that Beautiful's daily
breakfast, dinner and supper rolled in
to one meal would not have made a re-
spectacle between-meal bite.
Beautiful, it must be explained, was,
like his small mistress,a charity board
err at Miss Jane Smithson's Select
School for Young Ladies. Suffering
similar injuries, there was between the
two bond of deep sympathy.
Once inside, Beautiful was given a
tender hug of welcome. Then, holding
him closely in her arms, Lura sat down
upon pile of old carpets and pro-
"eeded to open up her heart. The dog,
accustomed to those little secret ses-
sions, showed his deep interest by
looking up lovingly into his mistress
face and endeavoring vainly to bestow
kisses thereon.
"She says I am very, very bad,
Beautiful Lura explained in soft whis-
pers. "She has said that an awful
many lots of times, and I'm getting
kinder 'fraid, I am. But honest and
truly, you know, I couldn't help it..
Honest couldn't. I broke a plate,
Just told her that the plate was all
soap-sudsy, and that it slipped right
out of my hand quicker'n 1 could catch
it. Oh, Beautiful, you ought to seen
her. She got so ma-a-d. She said
she'd teach me to break dishes and
then talk back to her, and then she hit
me-hard, just dreadfully hard, Beau
tiful''-here the dogs big, friendly eyes
looked tenderly into hers-"and then
she put me down here''
A rat ran squeaking across the floor.
Beautiful sprung up, stuck up one ear,
and growled savagely. Lura caught
hold of him and drew him back into
her lap
That's just as nice as can be of you,
Beautiful, to say you'll keep 'em
away, but I hadn't finished talking to
YOU, and you know it's not bit p'lite
to interrupt. Why, I used to be as
fraid as anything of rats, but now
when I'm 'fraid just think what my
dear daddy said to me. He said: Lit
tie daughter, it pretty nearly breaks
fathers heart t. go and leave his girl,
but she must be brave and plucky
little woman, and he'll come back and
never, never go away from her again.
Beautiful" she said, slowly, "he's
a dreadfully, dreadfully long time a.
comm back to his girl
And then the flood came. It began
by a single tear hurrying down sor-
rowful little face and descending upon
the dogs satiny black coat. He, feel
ing that his little mistress was in deep
distress, shared her sorrow by whining
piteously and burrowing his nose in the
soft little hollow of her neck. For
some time they sat thus, the girl Sob
bing and crying as if the burdened
heart had reached the limit of endur-
ance and could no longer bear up I'M
Ter its load of worries.
Suddenly Beautiful Strengthened up,
growled mysteriously, and then as
sumed an air Of defiant guardianship.
Lura understood. The dreadful wom-
am was coming.
The cellar door opened with bang,
and face peered down into the dark
ness, while shrill voice piped:
"Put them down there-and don't be
Ill. day about it."
At that, little old man, from whose
arm swung basket filled with live,
squirming Holsters, shuffled painfully
down the stairs.
On the Atlantic coast these lobster
men," as the peddlers Of shell fish are
called, are familiar characters in every
town and village, and this one, who
was weekly caller at Miss Smithson's
Select School, was special friend Of
Lura's.
Feeling the humiliation of g. prisoner
unjustly sentenced, Lura crept back in
to the deeper SHADOWS And then it
was that a most unusual and unlocked
for thing happened.
With growl and bound, Beautiful
broke away, dashed up the stairway,
and flew straight at Miss Smithson,
clutching his teeth firmly in her apron,
T. was a most undiplomatic perform
ance and one quite worthy of the faith