Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-08-19

WIS puIsucu w tuo thteheouou NtooS-
ter. He dreamed that he saw Mr..
Jones coming into the kitchen carry
ing that terrible chloroform in his
arms. II was fearful affair COM
posed of ropes aud knives and wires.
What should he dor He knew; he
had.never turned tail yet, and he never
would; he would fight the thing. He
would die game as he had seen many
q trapped coon do in the brave old
days. Thereupon the grizzly bristles
along his spine rose straight up, his
lips curled back from his few yellow
teeth, and, growing and barking aud
swapping, he few at the monster.
''For the lands sakes," said Mrs,
Jones voice from the bedroom,
whatever oils that dog? Get up
quick, father, and let him out; some-
thing must be at the chickens"
Before Ginger was fairly awake ho
found himself out in the chill Dir,
with the farmers "Sick 'eml Sick
'em, Gingerl' ringing in his ears. He
shivered and whined for n moment;
then all at once thought struck him
He'd "sic" himself! He would run
away from the fate which awaited him
on the morrow. Why hadn't he thought
Of that before9 Warmed into supple
ness by glow of hope, and barking
for Joy, he loped across the yard and
started mp the road.
Before ha had gone very far he dis
covered that something was running
ahead of him. What it was his dim
old eyes could not discern; but evil
IDENTIFY fear OF him was the cause Of its
fight. The thought that anything on
earth was afraid Of him aroused the
old hunting spirit and he leaped for.
ward in eager pursuit He could feel
that be was gaining on the heeting
object; lie could hear labored breath.
ing ahead Of him, and was sure that
in the next two or three bounds he
would fasten his teeth in whatever 1t
was.
But just then the pursued swerved
to one side aud leaped onto black
object that stood beside the fence.
Ginger heard the hiss Of q whip
through the air aud crack as il
struck; then the thudity.thud Of IRON
shod hoofs on the frozen ground. He
had lost his prey, and somehow he
couldn't seem to breath-and the
black road was lifting upland the
stars were coming down--and--
"See that ear culver; L believe he's
alive" said voice that sounded like
Mrs. Jones.
81 hope so. I wouldn't take $50
for that dog" said another voice.
"Give him little hot milk and put q
warm blanket over him. / thought he
was dead, sure, when found him in
the road. Hadn't he grit, though, to
follow that thief full mile? The
scoundrel had the buggy out Of the
barn and gray Bess all harnessed, and
would have got away with her in five
minutes more. They stole Ed Walkers
horse and carriage and Jim Bates
black saddle mare last night. I'd adj
wise Bates and Walker to invest In q
dog"
'.Poor old Ginger" said the first
voice, while somebody's hand patted
his dragged coat. ''He must have
heard them open the barn door. Only
think how we had planned to put him
out Of the way today. He shall never
be chloroformed now II he loses all his
teeth and / have to feed him with o
SPOON"
Could il be possible he had heard
Alright? Was that Mrs. Jones speak-
ing, or was it an angels voice he
heard? Was he on earth or had he
been translated to.a coy nook in some
beautiful dog heaven? He cautiously
opened little slit in one eye aud
peeped out. No, it wasn't heaven, but
II was the next thing to IL; il was the
dear familiar kitchen. He could see
the bottom OF the bird cage and
corner OF the clock, and he recognized
the dotted blue calico sleeve that was
Huttering over him. He closed his
eye, wagged his feeble tail in approval,
then settled back into blissful
slumber.
By evening be was almost himself
again, was able to give little skip Of
delight when he found minced meat
aud soft crumbiei cake on his plate,
and at bedtime he bresthed long
sigh Of contentment when he curled
himself up on feather cushion that
had been tucked rndef his carpet bed.
But they never can understand why
he sueaks of In shamed way when
ever any one refers to his acute hear
ing, or why be trembles when chloro-
e q = 4 n..x...1