Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-10-04

Half way through the park the boy
with the dog stopped and looked
about him. A chill wind had sprung
up, and the wide, embroidered path
was almost deserted.
JIMMY" 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 isl"
1t had been growing on the boy for
an hour-this terror. All the citation
OF that first moment of successful
theft had fed, leaving behind lively
fear of pursuit and punishment. The
discriminating 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.
Tain't with 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 a 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 banks 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 SHE'D 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 little his jerks and pulls loos-
ened the cord about his throat, until
one last frenzied effort disentangled
the knot and set him free. He
paused, then rushed down the path,
leaving behind him the cord still
fastened to the settee.
At the edge of the park the dog
stopped. The endless blocks, the
lights, the shadows-all were I'M
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 Ci2ders 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-
jectedly dragged his way to the bench
1t was then that there began for
Cinders a new existence. An exist
ence 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 blue-coated. he'll
melted 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,
putting and swearing. had passed him
by. 1t was trying experience, but
8 necessary one; after that Cihders
hid when a 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 behiL-r 1
trees until night brought darkness
and safety.
As for food sometimes a bread
crust designed for squirrel was
snatched up by his own hungry little