The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1897-05-21
UNTO DEATH.
BY MARIE LOUISE POOL.

~ lbA4- II. bIbN II Altit SIT 1T the very
edge of the tumblc-down breakwater.
lie WAS looking steadily seIvar,I. lie
WAS evidently old. and he WAS Scared
bN many fights; but his sunken mouth,
from which he had lost. many teeth.
showed that he would not fight again
victuriously.
lie WAS cuunt from n lifetime of in
sufficient food. but yet he had the air
OF a dog who is loved.
Sometimes ne turned from his gaze
AT the sea and glanced behind him al
the child who Was sitting in wheel
barrow a few feet away. Every time ne
glanced thus he slightly waggcd his
stump OF tail, and the child smiled or
she said in a soft voice:
Good Boss"
And then Boss waggcd harder; but
he could not give much attention To his
companion. for his whole heart was
with that bent old woman who was up
to her waist in the water by the outer
most ledge. 1t was there that the Irish
moss grew. and at low tide the woman
could gather it. She thrust. her arm
down to the shoulder each time for her
handful of moss. She was wet, sodden
Wet. save IOi Il SllldIi pldct dCIDSS ilti
back.
She had a mans straw hat fastened
by a small rope tightly under her chin
Her face looked hundred years old, it
was in truth 7O-old. scanned. and leath-
cry: and it was a face you loved to look
at.
Every few moments she raised her
head and put her dripping hand up over
her eyes as she turned toward I he land;
she was at first dazzled by the glare of
the water. When she looked up thus
the little girl in the wheelbarrow al
ways waved her hat; then a dim. beau
tiful smile would come i'm the faded eyes
It's Jest a doin' of her lots of good" ="
she would say aloud. I'm awful glad
/ wheeled her down. ! wish now Ia
brought her down oftener this sum
mer."
Twice as She looked shOreward she
called out shrilly:
Boss, you take care of her; won't
you. Ross?"
Then Boss pricked up his ears and
shook his tail, and the girl laughed and
said she guessed she'n' Boss could git
along first-rate.
W q re use Z 10 u am 1--WE. boss
When she said this the dog got up,
came to her side. gave her a swift lick
across the face, then hurried back and
sat down ON the edge of the planlls
again.
Once the woman ont in the water
slipped and fell splashing. and Boss
jumped up. whining in riteous quiver.
and would not Toe comforted even when
the child said. soothingly:
Never mind. old fellow"
But when the woman floundered to
her feet again and cried: ''Nll right"
the dog sat down. Still he frequently
gave little " hire under his IScath. He
was thinking that this W, the first
summer when he had not gone out moss
ing with his dearest friend. and ne could
not understand why he was 80 .-tifT and
clumsy that hc was unable to run over
the slippery rocks and keep close to her.
nosing Tho moss she picked up. pokin@
over HOLSTERS and crabs. and seeing that
nothing happened to her. Something
was the matter with his legs. and with
the whole of him. somehow. and he
could not get over the rocks. Was il
the same thing that kept him from
9ltstN INK itihtls-N = llsf ltt illtu NItlli
lust aS well as ever. He noticed that
the young dog who lived down the road
could crack bores without any trouble.
1t was all very mysterious.
When he lay in the sun near where the
moss was drying. doing and swapping
at the flies. he often looked as If he were
thinking of all these things.
And what did the girls grandmother
mean only yesterday when she stroked
his head and said:
Poor old Boss, You're gittin' old.
les 5 be- 'Twon't be no kind of place
round this house 'thout Boss" He had
nuzzled his head under her hand when
she had spoken thus, but he didn't un-
derstand.
How pleasant this bright day was,
with its sunny. gentle east wind-a wind
that brought sweet, salt smells from the
ocean.
The child shifted the embracing odor
and stretched out her hands, smiling
happily.
To be sure, she could not walk, but
granny often wheeled her to the break
water. where she could see the moss
gathered.
1t was a low course OF tides, ana now
the water had gone far out, so that one
could get to the lodges where the moss
grew.
Granny had no boat as most OF the
,,assrrs had-thera were some boats
,oy farther along, and little Molly could
sec the men put their lpng-handled
rol,es down and draw them up full. She
l.,,.,,- that those men made more money
tban her grandmother. but then she