The suburban citizen., 1900-06-16


ing it had been accomplished, and the
little fellow ruled the household from
master to maid.
1t happened in this way: Dombey,
with eight brothers and sisters, was
born in sunny pen one morning in
the early springtime. He closely re-
sembled his brothers and sisters in
size, in his clean cut toes, in his deli
cate, sharp pointed ears, in his pretty
pink nose, in his short, curly, wiggling
tail, and last, but not least, in his
ability to squeal-perhaps the loudest
and longest of them ALL But there
was one distinct mark Of difference
between him and the others-while
they were snowy white, Dombey was
jet black, with a beautiful white star
on his forehead.
From the very first his mother
looked upon him with disdain. Then
the disdain grew to dislike, and the
dislike to a hatred which almost
caused poor Dombeys death. No one
knew the reason. They surmised,
however, that on account of his SOM
bre coat he appeared to his mother an
angel of darkness rather than Of light.
When he was only three days old
he was taken into the house and laid
in baske ct which stood in corner of
the old fashioned kitchen, near the
fireplace. Then his paradise began.
He was fed with sweet milk out of
tiny bottle. He was washed and
rubbed and brushed every morning.
His ears grew very soft and silky un-
der this constant care, and everybody
loved to rub them and fondle them.
Domney took kindly to all the pet
Ting he received. Why shouldn't he?
The germs of love are planted in the
heart of every little animal, whatever
his station in life. And Dombey did
more. He tried to show the family
that he appreciated the love and care
bestowed upon him, and this end in
view, when he played under the apple
trees, in the orchard, he would bring
the best apple he could find and lay it
as an Offering at the feet of his mis-
tress. He always waited, too, for her
to pick it up, and rub his ears, and
tell him what a good little pig he wasl
Then his curly tail would wiggle with
Joy and he would start out again to
play.
One member of the family had been
made unhappy by Dombey's coming
that was Nero, the great black New
foundland, whose home the farm had
been for two years. During all these
months Nero had been the most inn
portant parsonage of the household,
and he did not take kindly at all to
the little pig. He even felt certain
amount of contempt for his mistress
that she should be interested in so
plebeian an object as a pig, and
black pig at that. Who before had
ever heard of any one ever making a
household pet of pigl He certainly
never had, and no dog he knew had
ever told him of such a happening.
He soon found that his own food
was served to him regularly. His
favorite dishes, too, were not for
gotten. He was still allowed to en-
Joy his afternoon nap by the fireplace
in the kitchen. Best Of all, his mis-
tress gave him the usual attention
and caresses. Then he began to take
kindly notice Of the little pig, and as
Dombey grew larger he and Nero be-
came fast friends.
They bathed together in the Frog
Pond behind the barn every morning.
They chased the hens when they were
foolish enough to stray from shelter.
They played with apples under the
trees in the orchard. When the fall
came they worked mischief by getting
into the turnip patch and pulling up
Tow after row of plants. Dombey
would only eat them when the size
pleased his palate.
The turnip patch adioined the
orchard where the apple trees grew.
No matter how often the hired men
latched up the wire fence. Dombey