The daily morning Alaskan., 1900-12-21
THE TRAINED DOG,

Early in the seventies. said a lawyer,
| was practicing down south in a small
town of about a couple of thousand in
habitants. ! and friend Of me- own age
were fond of going TO a pool in the creek
near by early in the morning to have a
swim. One day just about daybreak we
were strolling along the side Of the creek
when there was q stir in the brush, and
the next moment a big black dog sprang
out, crossed our path and plunged into
the water In less than half a minute a
tall, gauut man came crashing through
the scrub, with a gun in his hand and
blood in his eye. He halted on the edge
Of the creek raised his gun and fired at
the dog, which had almost reached the
other side. The shot was failure. for
the dog bounded up the bank. shook him
self and disappeared.
1.-THE gol darned thing!" cried the man,
resting his gun on the ground and shak-
ing his fist toward the spot where the
dog had vanished. Then he turned his
eyes toward us and took stock of us.
For n month";" he said, I've been
missin, most of a mornin, one plump
chicken after another and couldn't for
the life of me make il out. Ie see, jest
about daylight l turn the chickens out to
feed around. Well in a month six Of
'em have gone-that's at the rate of a
chicken and half a week-and always
the plumpest Of the lot At last l deter
mined to keep a good watch. So this
mornin, soon's | let 'em out, ! watched,
with a gun, and caught that dog runnin
off with chicken in his jaws. Now, I'm
goin right away to see Squire Rigney.
He's been a-losin his chickens the same
way. but he would have it 1t was hawks"
The man disappeared in the bush We
lounged along by the creek, laughing
over the incident When we reached the
pool. we found the water low, so we
went on a little farther toward the river.
We came to ford, the cart ruts dlsclos-
ing the fact. CHANGING along the road
way through the brush on the other side,
we saw the dog come sncaking out OF
cover We lay low, and the beast coolly
crossed the ford. A negro came out OF
the scrub and joined the dog. The negro
carried a canvas sack, at which the dog
every once and again shifted. We struck
into the brush and intercepted the negro
The dog shrunk into a hiding place.
"Mawnin, sah," the negro said, taking
off his cap and making humble gri-
mace.
What have you in that bag?" ! asked
in severe tone.
bag, sab? he said. "Oh, sab, on'y
a little o sumin for nah missus, sab"
"There's little something alive inside
for | see it moving" | said.
With that the man dropped the bag
and dashed into the bush, followed by
the hound. In the bag we found a fine
fat chicken, with the SLAYER of the dog
on its back, where the beast had grabbed
It. After our swim We returned, and
when we reached the spot where the dog
first appeared we entered the scrub and
pushed forward, expecting TO find the
house of the owner Of the chicken at nc
great distance. We hadn't gone more
than 300 yards when we came upon the
man, lying on his back, bleeding in til,
breast and unconscious. We hurried
away and In a few minutes reached :
well kept homestead, with evidences OF
thrift and prosperity around ii, To
shorten the story, this was the man.
home, and we got a door, returned TO thu
wounded man and bore him to the hous
His wife and children were distracte
as the doctor who was summoned sa
that the man couldn't live
At the inquest | and my friend wei
present and told all you have heard
though we recounted the facts with NOR,
detail and circumstance.
1t was clear that the man had not nc
cidentaly shot himself, for his was
single barreled shotgun, whereas tn,
wound in the mans breast was made 10y
a leaden bullet of large Caliber, as wa
shown when it was extracted. The ne
gro was easily traced. He lived with hi'
wife in a hut near the bank Of the river
1t was not known that he owned n dog
but ii was found that the dog which fig
ured as the chicken thief was owned by
the man for whom the negro worked anC
that it was always with the negro except
when he drove it away. There was NJ
doubt that the man had trained the beast
to steal chickens and TO bring them aliv,
to him. There was nothing whatever t.
connect the negro with the killing OF
James Hinney--that | remember, wa,
the mans name-and the mystery of hi,
taking off was undiscovered for some
years.
One day | received a message from
Squire Rigney's wife saying that he was
dying and wanted TO make a will.
went to his home and drew up the instru
ment, by which he left one-half of his
property to the widow of James Finney
/ finished writing the will, and just al
the time the doctor and a nephew OF his
drove to the house 1t was very oppor
tune. for was thus enabled to see that
the will was duly executed. l was about
TO leave when the squire motioned me tc
stay. After the doctor and his nephew
left the squire beckoned me close to hin
and said:
II killed Finney. | was lookin out fol
chicken thieves. l thought II was birds
ye know, and, seen somethin move il
the thick bush, l let fly. | was too big &
coward to go forward and tell the truth
But now I've done all l can to make VI
for what | did by accident and squared
things up."-Brooklyn Citizen.
A competent lady bookeeper, who's,