Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1897-08-25
A YELLOW DOG.
By BRET HARTE.
Copyright, 1897, by tho Author.l

be p,overbially considered the acme of |
canine degradation and incompetency,
nor why the possession of one should |
seriously affect the social standing of
the possessor. But the fact being estab-
lished, / think we accepted it in Rat
Tiers Ridge without question. The mat
ter of ownership was more difficult to
settle, and although the dog I have in
my mind at the present writing attached
himself impartially and equally to every
one in camp, no one tentured to exclu-
sively claim him, while after the per-
petration of any canine atrOcity every
body repudiated him with indecent
haste. "Well, can swear he hasn't
been near our shanty for weeks, or the
retort, :" He was last seen cNmin out of
your cabin expressed the eagerness
with which Rattlers Ridge washed its
hands of any responsibility. Yet he was
by no means a, common dog, nor even
an unhandsome dog, and it was singu-
lar fact that his severest critics We'd
with each other in narrating stories of
his sagacity, insight and agility, which
they themselves had witnessed
He had been seen crossing the fume
that spanned Grizzly canyon at height
of 900 feet on plank six inches wide.
He had tumbled down the shoot to the
South Fork, 1000 feet below, and was
found sitting on the river bank with
out scratch 'cept that he was lazily
givin himself with his off hind paw
He had been forgotten in snowdrift OIL
Sierran shelf and had come home in
| the early spring with the conceited com
placency of an Alpine traveller and
plumpness alleged to have been the re-
suit of an exclusive diet of buried mai;
bags and their contents. Hee was gener,
| ally believed to read the advance cleo
ton posters and disappear a day or two
before the candidates and the brass
band-which he hated-came to the
Ridge. He was suspected of having over
looked Colonel Johnson's hand at poker
and Of having conveyed to the colonel's
adversary by succession of bowls the
danger of betting against four kings.
While these statements were supplied by
wholly unsupported witnesses, it was a
very human weakness of Rattlers Ridge
that the responsibility Of Confederation
was passed over to the dog himself, and
he was looked upon as a consummate
liar. "Swoopin round yere and calm
yourself poker sharp, are ye? Scoot,
ye yallow pizena was a common ad-
Duration whenever the unfortunate ami
NAL intr4ded upon a card party. Ell
thar was spark--an atom-of truth in
that dog, I'd believe my own eyes that
I saw him sittin up and tryin to mag.
netize young bird off tree. But wo,
are ye goin to do with a yaller equivo-
Gator like that?''
i have said that he was yellow, or, to
use the ordinary expression, ''yaller. 7
Indeed, am inclined to believe much
of the ignominy attached to the epithe'
lay in this favorite pronunciation. Men
who habitually spoke of yellow
bird. = a yellow hammer" q "yellow
leaf, !" always alluded to him as "yal-
Ter dog He certainly was yellow.
After a bath-usually compulsory
presented decided gamboge streak
down his back from the top Of his fore
head to the stump Of his tail, fading in
his sides and TANKS to delicate straw
color. His breast, legs and feet, wher
not Redeemed by 'slumgullin, in which
he was fond Of wading, were white. A
few attempts at ornamental decoration
from the india ink pot of the storekeepel
failed partly through the yellow dog.
excessive agility, which would never
give the paint time to dry on him, anG
partly through his success in transfer
ring his markings to the trousers ant
blankets Of the camp. The size anG
shape of the tail, which had been cut
off before his introduction to Rattlers
Ridge, was favorite source of specula
ton to the miners, both as determining
his breed and his moral responsibility
in coming into camp in that defective
condition. There was a general opinion
that he couldn have looked worse with
tail, and its removal was gratuitous
effrontery His best feature was his
eyes, which were a 1ustrous Vandyke
brown and sparkling with intelligence,
but here again he suffered from evolu-
tion through environment, and their
original trustful openness was marred
by the experience of watching for flying
stones, sods and passing kicks from be-
hind, SO that the pupils were continu-
ally reyerting to the outer angle of the
eyelid. There was recurrence of antic-
ipation in this which fear few Of "the
boys" ever disappointed.
| Nevertheless none of these character
isties decided the vexed question of his
breed. His speed and scent pointed to a
"hound, and it is related that on one
occasion he was laid on the trail of a
wildcat with such success that he fol-
lowed it apparently out of the state, re-
turning at the end of two weeks foot
sore, but blandly contented. Attaching
himself to a prospecting party, he was
sent under the same belief Unto the
brush to drive off bear, who was
supposed to be haunting the campfire.
He returned In few minutes with the
bear, driving it into the unarmed circle
and scattering the whole party. After
this the theory of his being hunting
dog was abandoned. Yet it was said
on the usual uncorroborated evidence
that he had ''put up" quail, and his
Qualities as a retriever were for long
time accepted, until during shooting
expedition for wild ducks it was dis
covered that the one he had brought
back had never been shot, and the party
was obliged to compound damages with
i an adjacent settler His foudnesS for