The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-12-11

partner of the hour to the barn, where little later he carried goodly supply Of food and water to him. Now, old chap" he said, as he watched the dog eat, you must have a name. w nat shall we call you. anyway? O, l have IL, I'll call you Dandy, for you're sueh
 That evening when charlie's. father came home "Dandy's' case was laid pe- fore him. With all his powers Of per suasion Charlie argued in favor or s Ine stray dog; but MT. Andrews would not consent to keep him on the place, NO, son." he said. shaking his head oe- cisively "IVe made 1t rule ever since I was dog-bitten to never have one one about. One can never tell when dog will turn vicious This one must pc [, bad fellow or, he'd never nave ood aglI roass nss ter; good master makes good nome.
 "And a bad master makes pad home. and dog with, spirltLllhe+ splIl, :. human belng-resents i'll treatment,
 said Charlie in defense of his cantne tne protege. "If you'll only get acqualnleni with Dandy, the new dog, papa, you tl II know that there's no viciousness ,t itiaii tass Why, he's half as big as colt-he
 1t may all be as you say, agreed MT. Andrews, but l shall feel that II IS wiser to be on the safe side. No dog, no bites I am sorry to deny you this playfellow, but I must do so. Where IS this dog2"
 Hes in the barn, where Mamma per hlinseu hnr1e IT ilie ia so cold-so cold'-(and Charlie emphasized the words) l think it would be inhuman to turn HI nlIl out tonight. He can do no possln,l,ee .,,e harm bar a shut up. I hope. papa, you will allow him to stay there tonight.
 "Certainly," promised MT. Andrews
 '1et him sleep in the. hay tonight, give him something to eat, too; but tomor- TOW, row morning you must take him to town. as you go to school. and drop him there" u. ..,., and Charlie went 10 bed suffering a keen disappointment.
 If such a thing as affinity can exist between human and animal surely such n bond holds together the mutual affec- tions of boy and dog.
 And in the manager on the nay lay old Dandy wellfed am ana S shSlterdgu dn1nd blnR ing his eyes at Dexter. the me pussX horse that occupied the second stall from him. As the night wore away handy began to feel at home in the cofnfortabie barn, and the dog-nature within him prompted him, to reel 0 cer- tain guardianship over the stapie aine ,ara ane Dexter. It was this instinct which pre-, vented him from sleeping soundly, ana when. along toward morning, a souha ts of someone trying the padlQehk h on lraI., ,lle 1 door reused him from his rest ne spfahs up and began barking loudly. ,
 His noise awakened MT. Andrews. who, leaping from his bed, ran 10 window overlooking the barn and saw 1 hv the light of the stars and the snow t,yo men proving about the barn door 1 in an instant he knew that thelr lnten- l tion was to steal Dexter, the finest driV- l ing horse in that part of the country. 1 MT Andrews hurriedly drew on hB clothes, took his revolver, Tor ne knew if was well to be armed against the horse thieves and started to the barn. Dur ing inc short time it took him to dress. oi3 Dandy had kept up an incessant slowr,ns s,,nnce of inc wouid-be thieves, who took themselves off hastily just as MT. Andrews opened the rear. door Of his house and stepped out on the porch. It b9d been his hope to discover who the r9iscreants were, but he felt relieved to know that though he had been foiled in nithout Accomplishing their wicked .pur- nose. That dog saved Dexter" he said mentally, as he erawied s,S pack pack inso Charlie's new-found friend is worth his The next morning as soon as MT. An drews and Charlie were ere , out or ped eda1. ana gate the amount of damage done to the barndoor lock, and to track the thieves through the snow If possible. They found the paddock completely broken away, and had it not been for Dandy's inter ference Dexter would now have been some place else than In his comfortable stall munching his breakfast.
 'aThat old fellows worth while. think, papa" said Charlie, batting the dog on the head.
 He certainly was worth while last night" admitted MT. Andrews But Iye I,9 no doubt he has an owner who VIII claim him, or to whom he. will go soon. He has doubtless strayed away from home. But. look at these tracks, they lead toward the river Let's see whether thev cross or turn toward town"
 They set off. Dandy following, to trace the route taken by the thieves the night before. The tracks jed directly to a clump of bushes on the river bank. There they seemed lost. 'Ah. just as supposed" said MT. Andrews. They came from the herdlands of the county west. See-here are their tracks down on the ice of the river I had no Idea that the water had frozen over sui dcientIy to bear LID a mans weight" AS