Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-04-01
CINDERS

Half way through the park the boy
with the dog stopped and looked around
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 good mind now ter leave
the little beast where he ISL
It 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 incrimi-
mating collar with its name and address
had long ago been thrown away, to be
sure; but there yet remained the dog
-"Cinders," according 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
ran down a side path toward the ave
nue..
For one amazed instant the dog stay
sd motIonless, then he strained at the
cord with all his small might, giving
series Of frantic banks and whines. Two
men and a woman, coming up the path,
glanced at the dog, swerved, and pass
ed by on the farther side. A small boy
SHE'D q stone, then ran; but a back
ward glance assuring him that the cord
al he ~. nd nj zI,f To- rors
one.
The wind from the east grew sharp
er, and brought a fine, cold rain. The
dog, exhausted, frightened and hope
lessly 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 es-
capped the cold gray eyes OF Officer
O'CalIahan.
The rain increased with the dark. By
midnight, hunger, cold and terror had
driven the dog almost wild. Little by
little his jerks and pulls loosened 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 unfamiliar and
confusing. Clnders, 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 railroaS
station by the boy who had so quickly
abandoned him. No wonder Cinders
eyed his surroundings in dismay! Up
one street, down another, across a third
trotted the weary little feet, hour at
ter hour, until at dawn the dog reach
ed once more the park, and dejectedly
dragged his way TO the bench which
had so recently held him a prisoner.
1t was then that there began for Gin
ders a new existence An existence of
anxious days and apprehensive 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
wild and terror-filled. Once a blue
coated, helmeted man with short club
chased him for some distance, but In
the bewfldering maze OF paths he elud-
ed his pursuer and crouched under
Iow-hangIng bush until the man, puffing
and swearing, had passed him by. 1t
was a trying experience, but a neces-
Sary one; after that Cinders hid when
q blue coat came In sight.
Both the park and the adjacent
streets Cinders claimed as home, but
after his experience with the blue-coat-
ed man he grew more wary; and when
In the park spent most OF his time hid
Ing under shrubs or behind trees until
night brought darkness and safety.
As for fOOd-sometimes a bread-crust
designed for a squirrel was snatched
UP by-lrls own hungry little Jaws, and
once 1t was the squirrel itself that
made his dinner. Occasionally a child
with a cooky, or a man with sand
witch. strolIed along unaware Of the
hungry eyes that peered out from be-
orneath tangled hair and watched for a
stray crumb thrown aside.
1t was toward the end OF the week
that Cinders. skulking under the trees