Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1906-04-16
DAILY. STORY
MY ONLY FRIEND.
lOriginal.1

OPINION uldt tIie uoS fiS Acoici' ~ "
as affection counts. ITO man than any
other animal For me, L consider him
the most Intelligent of aal four foot
cd beasts, but perhaps / am pre1hdiced
in this opinion. fog once owned a dog
that I loved better than L ever loved
man or woman. He was the only COM
panion 1 valued while confined within
the narrow limits of ship, often for
years on one voyage. 1 have always
been prone to shut myself up within
myself and as master could never
bring myself to, associate on familiar
terms with any of my subordinates. L
found Rex on Il wreck when l was
mate of q vessel. He was about TO die
of starv:HhSn, and 1 took him Off and
fed him with my own hands. He was
of the collie breed-the larger kind. L
have saved men and women and chill
dren from wrecks, but never saw such
gratitude expressed in look rs the
starving dog gave me. Rawenous Tor
food, he seemed to know when L gave
it TO him sparingly that l was dong
so for his own good and acquteSced
as little child will submit to similar
treatment from its parents.
AS he recovered and filed out he
was princely animal, and L named
him Rex. For years through storm
and sunshine Rex and l walked the
quarter deck sidetby side and when we
turned in at nigirt turned in together,
often in the same bunk. When on
dangerous COAST or in bad weather L
left my cabin to+go Oh deck Rex would
insist on going with Inc and if l shut
him in the cabin would whine pitifully
till he was permitted to join me- Then
at nv side he would endure rain or
sieet driven against him by IL furious
wind. I tried attflrst TO induce him to
remain in COLL OF rope over which
drew tarpaulin. but he scorned it.
seeming to consider my place of duty
his place of duty.
We classify living beings, but no
classification can be perfect. Men
have been succored and have murder
ed their preservers. and yet we regard
them as living souls, while we class
my Rex as Il brute. He may have
been a brute to others; to me he was
only behind me in physical develop
ment If 1 have Il soul he had one.
for 1 saw it in his eye. az he saw one
in mine Be this as it may, he was all
that L loved.
One night l went to 10y cabin and
sank at once to sleep. l should have
been on, deck, but was worn out with
constant watching on n treacherous
coast in thick weather. l dreamed
that we were sailing up Oh broad
beach. and 1 could hear the sand
grinding under the keel. l heard
sharp bark in my ear and. awakening.
saw by the light of dawn Rex, his fore
paws on the bunk. whining and tell
ing me with his expressive eyes that
somsthng terrible had happened. Get
ting On deck, / found that the ship
had struck a submerged rock and was
fast sinking Ehe men, mindful of
their own lives, had got out the boats
and filed them, and the last boat was
about to pull away. not man in it
daring to wake his captain for fear he
would be left behind. Seeing me com
ing. shame stopped them.
"Get aboard, captain they shouted.
as every living thing off the ship"
I asked.
They assured me that all had left eX
cept Rex and myself. Those in the
bow at which L must enter made room
for me, and I got in, then turned to
help Rex I'm. The boat was overload
ed and the men We're anxious TO be
off, fearing to get caught in the vor-
tex that would follow the ship when
she went down, and the moment was
in they gave way. Rex plunged into
~ Il 10 %I.o
1 wished to take him in, but the men
protested against taking a dog into 4
boat already too heavily burdened.
We were not in sight of land, and I
knew that my Rex. who of all the liv-
ing creatures aboard the ship had
thought of me in the great peril and
but for whom 1 should have been left
to perish. could not swim to safety. I
proposed to the men that if they would
give my place to the dog / would look
for some floating object to which 1
could cling, but to which the dog
could not. But all protested against
having the dog in the boat lest he
prove uncomfortable with me out of
it. / saw the difficulty myself and
gave up the plan.
lex swan directly Denlnu us, never
taking his eye from me for a mo-
ment He was fast getting tired, but
gave no sign that he wished to be
taken aboard. With his Intelligence 1
have always believed that he took in
the situation and was resigned to 1t.
read this In his wistful eye and that
his regret at parting with me over
came his dread of death. After awhile,
when the men ceased pulling for rest
and consultation, Rex swan up beside
the boat. The men in trying to drive
him away endangered our equilibrium.
All protested, and one with a revolver
threatened to shoot him.
1 have given many heartrending or
ders, but none that was SO hard for
mo tho ono 7 noxxv ,.oaooco-x-