The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1909-05-06
:ILOye Shep. and Step Loves Ne
BY z. A. mitchell.
A Story Of = 10y and a Doc.


copyright, 1900 by American Press Assoc
ciation.1
love to think of those happy days
now far agcne when we were boys.
There was Abe and Sam and Ned and
myself, ali Of whom lived within a
mile of each other and we're insepara-
BILE. While we were out Of school we
were together and when In school we
were thinking Of one another. When
we were told to write compositions on
subjects Of our own choice we wrote
about what we loved, most usually Ell
Their cat or dog or horse or a
lamb or our swimming hole or the cir
Gus. We were only from six to nine,
and our good teacher did not expect US
to soar higher.
remember one of the essays was
upon the subject of dog called Shep-
herd, the name being abbreviated to
Shep. There was q sentence in it that
| have never forgotten. | delight to
nurse 1t in my heart as an epicure will
roll rare wine on the tongue. 1t was
this: It know dog by the name of
Shep. love Shep. and Shep loves
me-" Could there be anything more
touching? Alas, how rare. how brief.
is a real affection Of human being
for an inferior animal. 1t can never
be as real as in childhood.
We boys all lived along road that
led toward a city. An omnibus passed
every morning to take people to town,
and l can hear today the bugle notes
that served for a signal ringing out
clearly as Josh drove by, picking up
the passengers. We all knew Josh,
and many free ride he gave us. One
Of the regular passengers used to stand
at his gate every morning when the
stage was late with his watch in his
hand. Josh used to call him Colonel
Minute, but his name was Colonel
Ringgold. veteran of the Mexican
war. He had been shot all to pieces
being minus an eye. an ear. a leg and
an arm. | do believe that the only
spur that forced Josh to keep any sort
of time was the thought Of the colonel
watch in hand, standing at the gate
his single eye darting between it and
the driver.
We boys were In great terror of Colo
mel Ringgold. We told each other aw
full stories about him which we invent
ed ourselves. but which in time be
came real to us. One was that his
house was fortified with an unlimited
number Of guns. pistols. sabers. and
the like. 1t was averred by one boy
that he had killed man with his
wooden leg. There Is no one like .
boy for making real things out o.
dreams. and all we had to do was t.
fancy these things. tell them to eacl
other and they had happened.
Colonel Ringgold was the owner o
the dog Shep. Shep was collie, ant
the collie is very intelligent dog
Shep stood. as remember him. abou
two feet high. his color being mix
ture of white and brown. During th
night Shep was expected to be in b.
s o'clock. but during the day he wa
free TO romp with US boys. | think b
loved Ned best. That was becaus
Ned loved him best. for Ned. you know
was the boy who wrote the compost
ton mentioning Shep SO affectionatel,
We were all very careful that Shel
should not get into trouble. first. be
cause we loved him and. second. be
cause we f~ared that his owner woul'
blot US from the face Of the earth
any harm came TO the dog while Ii
our company. Many bigger dog W
beat Of when he was driving our CON
rade 10 the wall.
One afternoon when we were all IL
gether teaching Shep to jump a rop
we saw the colonel coming toward u
walking with the limp occasioned b.
his wooden Lee. Every boys hear
sank into his boots. Had the who'll
United States army come down on u
we could not have been more terrified
What caused Us the chief alarm wa
the thought that he was coming 10 OF
der US in future TO leave Shep out o
our fraternity. ! can see the old mai
now making bis way across corn
field. trying to walk erect. his stcri
countenance making up for his dilapl
dated body. We would have all run
but We were paralyzed.
"what do you boys mean by stealth
my dogi" be asked In his stentoril
voice.
scarcely distinguished what Ii
said. thought Il something llsg
Column forward: guide rich
Charge Every boy was too fright
ened TO answer.
Some ore i keeping him nights.
added the roloncl. whoever Il dom
II shall be put III the-i mean d,
serves TO be punished" Again thrr
was silence. ended by a little treil
bling voice. IL was Ncd's
"I'm the one who has been kecpin
Shep.r he said. II have locked BIZ
in. and he has come up and slept o
my bed"
"You locked him In. Don't so
know that he is not your dog?'
"Yes. sir. knew that"
well. don't you ever do such