The Somerset reporter., 1897-08-12
THE DOGS OF WAR.

On the left of the pup lines of Greek
infantry lay on the high, bare hills,
firing without intermission. Gray smoke
went UP and backward from all these
lines. Sometimes wounded men came
from there and passed the pup as he sat
rejecting III the roadway. Directly in
his front mountain battery of the
Greeks was roaring, and the horses and
mules of the command were browsing
the grass in a sheltered place not far
from the pup. Some soldiers lay in an
upturned furrow of brown trenches
If the pup had studied the vast green
plain on his right he would have seen
black lines and lines still fainter than
black, and these lines were all Turks.
Frequently a crescendo of boots and
hurting noises was in the air above
him, and the shells crashed as they
struck. Moreover, there was sometimes
a curious singing of great insects. But
for all these things the pup did not
care
He was little pup. not larger than
kitten, but he was fat and fairly
smothered in long white wool, marked
here and there with black, and he had
every indifference of a fat pup. Two
soldiers came that way on their return
to the front, and, Selling him, paused.
One stopped and offered him gently a
bit of hard biscuit but he had been
used to other food, and, with the inso-
lence of babyhood, he sCorned the gen
erosity of these men who had stopped
under fire to give him assistance They
laughed then and stroked his long hair
and went away to their business.
The pups interest was always the
thing directly under his nose. He was
really i'll the battle of Yelestino, but
what he wanted to do was to waddle in
his curious way among the stones of the
roadway and smell at them and fall
over them whenever he forgot that he
was top heavy. Although he was not
larger than cake of soap he had some
thing elephantine in his movement His
little legs were still very weak, and he
sprawled and straddled over the road
in way that one would expect of
baby elephant. Once a cavalryman with
orders galloped past him, and hoof of
the gray charger missed him by little,
but he didn't care for that either. He
was busy with his geological survey.
The Examiner correspondent came
along from the firing line at that time
and stopped when he saw the dog. The
dog had been trying to scratch his near
ear with his off hind leg, but he stopped
when he saw The Examiner correspond
ent They looked at each other in re-
Elective silence. The pup had crafty
eye, and he put his head OH one side
and surveyed the correspondent with
much attention to detail Another she'll
came close then, and your correspondent
said, Come on, pup" He took the pup
in his arms.
The dog was naturally named Veles-
tino at once. There was a thought i'll
the correspondent mind of calling him
Loot. But then he was not really loot.
He was simply Greek pup deserted by
his relatives and friends in most try
ing hour, who had accepted the assist
anoe of correspondent of The Exam
liner. His home had probably been in
one of the stone huts that stood here
and there along the road, now all lone
ly. His owners had probably scuttled
out at word of the coming of the Turks,
But he didn't care about this either.
He simply lolled on the correspondence
arm and blinked fatty at the passing
landscape.
When the correspondent arrived where
his horses awaited him, he gave the
pnp Velestino into the hands of his
Greek boy and stood and admonished
him sternly for five minutes about the
individuality of losing that pup. The
boy grinned and took Velestino in his
arms
Later the pup got under particularly
heavy artillery fire While the CORE
spondent's party was crossing bit of
plain the Turks opened fire on near
by house. One would have thought
they had opened on the pup, because
they came nearer to the pup than they
did to the house. There was some ex-
element. The stragglers in the road
sourried everywhere. The correspond
emit had bit Of trouble with his horse,
which had been hurt in the back by
some kind of fragment, and when it
was all over he looked around for the
pup, the two servants and the other
horses, and there was none.
Late that night in Nolo n knock
came to the correspondent door, and
as he called out it opened and the
Greek boy appeared, with bow and
grin.
where is the pup" said the CORE
spondent instantly.
The Greek boy had brought a large
piece of shell which he said had almost
killed him, and he exhibited it proudly.
Where is the pup?'
The boy said he was sure he was go
ing to be killed when he beard the she'll,
and he now considered his escape to be
a miracle The correspondent arose i'm
pressively to his feet. where is the
pup"
Well-poor Velestino, poor CORE
spondent they were united only to be
Immediately parted. The boy said that
he had brought the pup to Volo and
had given it to a man to hold while he
unsaddled hs horse. The man ran away
with Velestino.
There were dispatches to be sent, ana
the wires were muddled in way that
was simply scandalous. The correspond
ent' left for Athens, rejecting from
time to time upon the virtues of his
lost MN