The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-09-19
CIIlDERS.


&foih way throuSH tne park the DOy
with the dog stopped and looked
about him. A chill wind had. sprung
mp, and the wide, Embroidered path
wac almost deserted.
"Jiminyi" muttered the boy. "This
dog-stealin' amt what it's cracked up
ter be. I've a good mind now ter
leave the little beast where he isln
1t had been growing on the boy for
an hour-this terror. All the eiatlon
of that first moment of successful
theft had fed. leaving behind lively
fear OF pursuit and punishment. The
incriminating collar with its name
and address had long ago been
thrown away, to be sure; but there
yet remained the dog Cinders," ac-
cording to the collar.
Taln't wuth the risk" muttered
the boy at last; and with another
swift glance about him he tied the
end of the dogs leader to a con-
venient settee, and ran down side
path toward the avenue.
For one amazed instant the dog
stayed motionless, then he strained
at the cord with all his small might,
giving a series of frantic barks and
whines. Two men and a woman
coming up the path, glanced at the
dog, swerved, and passed by on the
farther side. A small boy shied a
stone, then ran; but a backward
glance assuring him that the cord
still held, he turned and SHE'D a
larger one.
The wind from the east grew
sharper, and brought cold, fine rain
The dog, exhausted, frightened and
hopelessly miserable, crept under the
bench for shelter. He was there when
the tall, blue-coated man came down
the path ten minutes later, and so
he escaped the cold gray eyes Of Off,
Ger O'Callahan.
The rain increased with the dark.
BY midnight, hunger, cold and terror
had driven the dog almost wild. Lit
tie by littlo his jerks and pulls loos-
ened the cord about his throat, until
one last frenzied effort disentangled
y the knot and set him free. He
paused, then rushed down the path,
leaving behind him the cord still
too~ChCu W thG DttISG.
At the edge of the park the dog
stopped. The endless blocks, the
lights, the shadows-all were un-
familiar and confusing. Cinders,
born and bred in the Western town
that was his masters home, had
never been in New York until that
morning when he had come with that
same master on visit East, only to
be stolen at the very railroad station
by the boy who had so quickly aban-
doned him. No wonder Cirders eyed
his surroundings in dismay! Up one
street, down another, across a third
trotted the weary little feet, hour
after hour, until at dawn the dog
reached once more the park, and de-
1ectedly dragged his way to the bench
which had SO recently held him
priSoner.
1t was then that there began for
Cinders new existence. An exist
once of anxious days and apprehen-
sive nights; of little food and less
shelter; of small boys with stones,
and big boys with sticks His long,
silky hair grew soiled and matted, his
body lean, and his eyes wide and ter
fortified. Once a blue-coated, he'll
meted man with short club chased
him for some distance, but in the be-
wildering maze of paths he eluded
his pursuer and crouched under a
low-hanging bush until the man,
puffing and swearing, had passed him
by. 1t was a trying experience, but
a necessary one; after that Cinders
hid when blue coat came in sight.
Both the park and the adjacent
Streets Cinders claimed as home, but
after his experience with the blue
coated man he grew more wary; and
when in the park spent most of his
time hiding under shrubs or behi.-,.
trees until night brought darkness
and safety.
AS for food-sometimes a bread
crust designed for a squirrel was
snatched up by his own hungry little
jaws, and once it was the squirrel it.
self that made mis- dinner. Occasion
ally a child with a cooky, or a man
with sandwich, strolled along una
ware of the hungry eyes that peered
out from beneath tangled hair and
watched for stray crumb thrown
aside.
1t was toward the end of the week
that Clnders, skulking under the trees
in the twilight, came face to face with
shabby, hollow-eyed man on one of
the park settees.
"Hullo!" greeted the man.
The dog backed away
well, by Jove! you look a little
more hard up than / do Come here,
sir
The dog did not stir
pretty tough old place, this world
--eh?" said the man. with a weary
smile
Still the dog did not stir.
Hungry"
Two mournful eyes gazed unswerv-
ingly into the mans face. The duct
of the dogs heels stirred family with
the sIight--the very slight motion o.
tail feebly wagged
"Humph!" grunted the man,
thrusting his hands into his pockets
and pulling out a dime and four cop
per cents. He glanced from the coins
to the dog, and from the dog back to
the coins. "Humph!" he grunted
again, rising to his feet. Reckon
you need 'em the most, old fellow. :"