The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1908-10-31

running his legs like lightning If you
happy, mad with delight If you were
sleepy, would browse, too.
In bed at night. though, he but a
mixed blessing. Undenfabiy a companion and
a charm against burglars, nevertheless
bedfellow INDUCED in certain thoughtlessnesses
which you could gladly have dispensed with, For
instance. his initial dream always about
and he would chase them not only with agonized
whispered oarks but with frantic running motion of
his hina legs, which members. being invariably
pIastered against your tender young stomach, all
but v1v1sected you. Waking. very much ashamed OF
himself. he would wetly dab apologize kiss up
your cheek and drop to sleep again Lulled.
you slept too; then the next thing you knew you
were on the floor, for Pat, getting hot had braced
his feet against the wall and showed you into space.
That d11cuty adjusted, along toward the middle OF
the night Pat used make point of remember
ing ancient burr between his toes, and.
sitting heavily upon portion of your
anatomy he would shuttle and snafne and humble
those toes for hours at time keeping you from
due and desired sumber. And always at four
O'Clock in the morning he heard robbers and would
bark himself off his feet tumble the entire
length of stairs. from top bottom yelping
the time and too excited to know that he had fall
glad OF the miracle of being at the front door
under which he could sniff and whine to his hearts
content Next, he would come bounding back in
high glee to let you in the joke, too, standing
ecstaticalIy over you to tell you it was only the
usual milkman after ALL
Not but what Pats idiocy could be a blessing at
times You remember of the muscular
spasm fatally resembling grin, which elected
attack your miserable face when you being
scoIded and actually frightened stiff? This
spasm was good for box on the ear nine days in
the week in the anti-Pat period; but after he ar
rived he always had the celestial kindness to a
cat, approximately, at the very
pretext for anguished smile and preserving you
from being stigmatized brazen criminal who
took amusement in his own vileness.
And then when you out of the danger belt
and off for the uninha bited safety of a vacant
lot, what actual relief gowed from his honest
The snuggle of his cold into your palm
the signal OF release for all your black and bitter
fances, and with whoop and jump you answer
ed to his pressing invitation to throw dull
away. How long did you have him? You cannot
possibly say. Those boyhood days stretched like
fairy tale from one long adventure to another and
time was measured not by hours but by experiences
which came four million to minute. You can
remember Pat and snowballs Pat and spring pic
MICS Pat and school, Pat and vacation: consequent
1y had him for the length of a good round life
time, and you felt that he belonged to existence
inevitably night and day. You drew your breath
without effort and without effort there Pat
always bounding beside you; you analysed no fur.
Their and took him everlastingly for granted.
Then one day-wilI you forget itg-you went
schoolward far your garden gate and woke up
to the fact that you were alone. There
painting scuf1e in your wake, admonshing yelps
from decreasing distance, no commotion in the
near underbrush, to signify that the rest of you
was hurrying to catch up. You recalled with a
cold sinking of your heart that Pat had not am
pushed under the breakfast table that morning So
you whistled and called and wandered, worried.
back toward the house a little. Then he skunk
languidly out from under the bed, his head hang
ing, his legs dragging. but loyal stump a
essaying to wag, striving to say: Never mind me-
old fellow; I'm not very mt this morning. Just go
along without for once, won't you old chap7"
You patted him and shook hands with him, heart
ening him that he crawIed to the gate only
down there, his nose in the grass, his eyebrows
moving anxiousy, his brave bit of tail blufing it
right royalty.
That intermnabIe day at school is horror that
that will go with you the grave. Missed lessons
and accommodating punishments. usually the domi-
nant factors in your sum of daily suffering, faded
into trivaIites anxiously did you keep listening
for the sound of joyous bark. Four o'clock the
hour of repreve for the in heart. meant moth
ing for you. You always had stay at least ha IL
an hour and write Il have whispered" two hundred
times; and then you had to stay another half hour
and put in the h.
But once released how you few down the road,
Yet the very fear which spurred you on seemed
to pull you back. Generally your first mad dash
was one bee line from the school door to your pam
try shelf where you hungrily bolted down every
thing which might be Iegitimately called yours and
gnawed illegitmately around the edges of such
things were intended for temperance on the
fa2a1ly table. But to-day you had thought of
food. You dreaded to reach home, for all the
haste you made to get there. And there was no
comrade in the garden. You knew the right
then. even without searching further. and IL your
face betrayed the haggardness of your heart you
must have been a pitiful little sight
Yes, Pat where you thought he would be- I'M
der the shed, and he dead.
Now, you hao seen dead things often enough be-
fore, had come them in field and wood and
had investigated them with interest the more dead
the thing, the more intricate your interest: but
things had never had any attributes for you in life