The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-01-15
AN OLD DOG AND HIS MAN.

| toDacco-chewing habit that married the
1 tr1-weekly spotlessness of his white shirt
front. White shirts he had cherished as
! badges of dignity ever since he had been
! d justice of the peace He had two
daughters, who. so far as ne would per-
| nit kept house for him, but II was com
. mon gossip IN the town that he cared for
no living thing except his dog
! The WilIet girls chung 20 papa, because
they thought il was their duty TO sustain
| him in his old age, but there were times
| when sheir patience was sorely tried and
| their filial piety tested 10 the break king
! point. 1t was bad enough when old Lafe
| nlied the house with card playing, hard
! drinking, coarse men of his own choos-
ing and sat up all night smoking and
| playing poker or high five but when
| Pete Huff, the section boss. wheeled him
home in a wheelbarrow dead drunk in the
mid-afternoon, Samantha vowed she 4
leave him. and Tillie, the younger sister,
! tearfuliy agreed to follow
IN give him one more talking to-
snapped Samantha, ''and then
Talk nOthin,' growied Lafe, slipping
into the kitchen in his stocking feet Eff
1 you gals don't like my style o Twin.
why on airth don't you hike out an git
married? 1 don't see no log chains nor
/ tWo-inch cable aholdin' of YOU"
To do him justice, Lafe threw no OBJ
! stacles in their way. Whether he real
! lied the hopeIessness of his own degra-
/ dation or was anxious TO get rid of them
nobody knew, though most OF his neigh
( bors gave him the worst Of the doubt
! In fact. it was generally agreed, at least
among the women. that the two mean
! est, orneriest things in town were Lafe
/ Willet and his dog Gideon. And Lafe
/ didn't go out of his way TO resent this
/ popular execration of himself. Ii was
! Gideon's peace. Gideon's well-beins, Cid
cons fame that worried Lafe more than
/ all else.
Gideon. he's the fightin est. huntin' est.
! thinlOn' est pusson 1 know" Lafe would
/ explain as the dog sat by in the rail-
! road exchange, watching his friend accu-
mulate enthusiasm. Amt no human
/ ever understood, and I may say wor-
+ SHIPPED, Lafe Willet like thai thar dawg.
/ Is there, Gideon?"
And Gideon's bobbed tail-it had been
/ chewed off by mountain Hon-would
wag in cordial sympathy.
! 1t was early in the summer that Sa-
/ mantha Willet noticed the first change
/ that had shown in LATE since his wife
died. Some folks might have thought it
was a change for the better, but the girls
! jealous heart was stung with an awful
suspicion. Her father came TO break
/ fast wearing a collar-a paper collar, IL
/ is true-but yet a collar. On Sunday he
wore a necktie.
Il amt sayin' a word, Samanthy,'
incurred Mrs. Goodrich, the town gossip,
! who called on the girls one evening that
week, but if old Lafe Willet, if he is
your father, goes and fetches home that
hateful old Wilder Observation-Disclosures for
10 be your stepmother you can come
right over to my house. an there you'll
ind a home where they amt no onery
dawgs, and they Amt no tat an greasy
1 Observation-Disclosures"
Lafe began to dress up bit; he spent
his evenings out; on Saturday and
Wednesday nights, with Gideon at his
heels and a walking stick in his hand,
he would sally forth to WOO the widow
who kept the section-house. The girls
; at homo began to sew with fretful haste
against the day when they must leave
home to earn their own living. They
agreed that the Schwartzenheimer widow
was the straw that would break the
camel's back. And so, as Iafe would
say. they bumped themselves" II was
a bright Sunday in August that he
I brought her to look over our place.
The girls, ever vigilant, slipped ont the
back way. Only Gideon aided his mas
ter TO do the honors of the WiIlet house
hold. From the attic window of the
Goodrich home across the street Saman-
tina ami her sister watched the invasion
of their old home, and when LATE ard
the glaring. red-faced widow marched
away, with Gideon wandering after them,
they scudded back to their desecrated
home, and, with Mrs. Goodrich TO help
them, packed their trunks and dragged
them to sanctuary.
The only incident to mar the wedding
day was the necessity of claiming Gideon
in the woodshed. Lafe would gladly have
had the dog for best man. but the bride
elect declared that she couldn't abide
dogs nohow.'' so the ardent groom, with
many q reassuring caress upon Gideon 5
NANCY hide fettered him to post in
the Clubhouse. Then it was a case of
haste 10 the wedding with Lafe, and
all that day the hero OF this story
languished in unfed and unnoticed
durance. Late In the afternoon he heard
the sound of many mingled voices in the
house, his masters loudest and gayest Of
all. At the sound of tuning fddles he set
mp a lugubrious howl, and when Pete
Huff sang the "Girl From Tennessee
he groaned in enforced misery. The
night seemed endless to poor Gideon.
Hungry. forl0rn. abandoned by the per-
son whom he had honored with a iife's
fidelity and love, he watched the gray
Of morning turn to red of day before a
familiar shape darkened his jail door.
and Lafe, the migrate, stood before him.
Unclaimed, he followed his master into
the obese and oleaginous woman who
had been enthroned in his place.
Hi. git OUT" she screamed, gathering
her changeabIe silk morning wrapper in
her fat arms. -'Lafe that thar onwhole-
some varmint must git out
She seized a broom to enforce the man
date. Gideon looked away to Lafe, who
stood hesitating.
Come on. Gideon" he faltered; I'VE
must please the lady O. the house
And old WiBet opened the door. 1t
hurt him little to see his dog bound
away. but he wasn't prepared for the
denouement. Gideon was on Goodrich's
front porch that day when Lafe walked
past.
Come on, Gideon" whined he CT the
fat widow. But the dog knew him not.
Amt YOU comin'?' roared LATE. rush
ing at his recalcitrant pet. Then Gideon
few at him as he might at any stranger.
and Lafe. white TO the edge OF his red
nose, backed away and skunk down the
street with his chin on his chest and
tears, the first he could remember. in his
hard little eyes.
After that Gideon's one mission in life
was 10 worry Lafe's new wife. He way
laid her ia the main street, he leaped
upon her glazing silks at the most un-
expected moment, he killed her pet cats.
burrowed like a rabbit in her garden
Mrs. Goodrich said Il was Gideon that
started an the trouble between Lafe and
his wife. At any rate. there was trouble
enough within six months. Samantha
and her sister were both married before
the divorce came OF and Gideon had
some TO Corslcana 20 live with his old
friends oldest daughter. he STAYED there
as ions as he could. hut the Old hnm-
was always calling him back and a. last
he disappeared.
Lafe found linn al the door q the Rail