The San Francisco call., 1909-10-02
THE PUPPY'S PROGRESS

little sideways run. Then the little girl
made a great fuss over him, and this
excited him so that he jumped up on
her lap and got her gown all muddy,
which she did not seem to mind al
though her mother objected some. So
reluctantly the little girl put the puppy
down and after several unsuccessful at
tempts to get up on her lap again ne
ran of to make other friends UnIuck-
lily he was not as yet a good Judge or
character And so, although he had
learned in this, his first day out In the
world. that it was not always wise 20
follow the example of large dogs, anu
that little boys were to be dlstrusteo.
he had no idea as yet that there were
also old men who were not quite so
nice as they should be. 80 when the
old man with one eye deceitfully called
the puppy up to him. the puppy ran up
gladly and wagged his tail. an opera
tion which made his whole body Wlssle
sympathetically. Then the wicked old
man took him up in his arms and
walked over to the extremely naughty
little boys and handed him over 70
them. And the little boys promptly
threw the puppy into the water agalhs
and the bad old man stood there ana
chuckled as if there were somethlnS
funny in the sight OF a frightened puppy
struggling to keep his poor IittlS HOS0
above water
Fortunately for the puppy the little
girl and her mother saw 1t all anu
they did not wait this time. but hur-
ried right over to the bank or the
river and told the little boys what they
thought of them But the little boys
only grinned as IL it were joke. al .
though the old man seemed to think
it Just as well to walk of as IL he had
nothing to do with the affair.
You wicked, cruel little boy; pun
that little dog out of the water THIS
minute cried the little girl IN Ems
lish, which. of course. had no enect
upon the little boys except to make
them laugh. il was such very funny
sound But the little girls mother
said something in French about
gendarme. Then the little boys eX-
changed glanceS of consultation and
after moment one of them went down
the ladder. to which the puppy was now
cIinging with trembling paws. But the
puppy had had his trust in little BOYS
too cruelty shaken by this time and ne
only suspected more mischter, so When
the little boy put out his hand 70 take
him he growIed as fiercely as he knew
how. And since the little boy was not
very brave-for little boys who torment
cats and dogs are never brave-zhe was
quite alarmed when the puppy dis
played his milk teeth, and ran up the
ladder again.
Meanwhile a fiat bottomed boat came
slowly down the stream toward them.
In il sat a farmers wife who had
rowed over to the village on some
errands. accompanied by a maid serv-
ant and a large absent minded brown
dog, who looked as if he had never had
a trouble in his life-
AS the boat came up close to the
ladder to which the shivering puppy
was clinging the little girls mother
told the whole story TO the farmers
wife, who listened sympathetically.
Can not you take him home with
you?" asked the little girls mother
''for in a few hours we must go away
on the train and I am afraid these
wicked little boys will torment him TO
DEATH
The Breton woman looked at the
puppy and said he was nice little
dog and that she would take him home
with her, and she told her maid TO pull
him into the boat. But by this time
the puppy had begun to feel that the
hand of every man was against him, so
he grOwled again threateningly and
the maid was afraid to touch him.
Then the farmers wife. who thought
rather slowly. although she was kind
hearted woman, couldn't think or any
way to get the puppy into the boat, and
said that she was afraid they would
have to leave him after all
But, madam, IL is not possible to
leave him like thatw exclaimed the
French by this time. He will die
The woman shook her head then and
seemed very much affected at the
thought of the puppy's death. but did
not seem to know how il was to be
avoided Then the little girl-who had
been brought up to play very much
like a little boy ran down the ladder
herself, put out her hands without any
fear, and picked up the puppy, which
did not utter single growl. but even.
she insisted afterwards looked up at
her and tried to smile. Then she put
him in the boat. and. OF course. the
first thing he did was to shake himself.
which the farmers wife thought was
very funny. Then she patted the seat
beside her. and the puppy jumped
on il and began to wag his tail again.
Then the woman said again that he
was a nice little dog, and after re-
peated goodbys in the pretty Breton
fashion they rowed away
The little girl remembered for long
time how the puppy looked as he stood
in the stern of the boat with a wistful
face turned toward the shore. Once he
made as if he would jump into the
water, but evidently the recollection OF
his recent painful experience restrained
him. He was a little doubtful about the
last sudden change of scene. He was
glad to get out Of the water, and he
was more than glad TO get away from
the little boys. He was favorably i'm
pressed with the farmers wife But
he distrusted leaving the place he had
known.
And the little girl and her mother
stood on the shore until the funny. nat
bottOmed boat, with the whitecapped
Breton woman. the brown dog (which
had paid very little attention to the
whole affair." and the anxious puppy
had drifted TAR from sight.
DO you think when he grows up he
VIII have to draw a cart?" asked the
little girl. She felt little bit like
crying.
No, think he will learn to drive the
sheep" her mother cOnsOled her. .and
the farmer and his wife Will be very
good TO him and proud of him. But for
some time ! think he will like little
girls better than little boys until he
learns that all little boys are not cruel"
But / am inclined to think that the
puppy Will forget all about that cruel
treatment in day or two. For. as I
said before. puppies nave short memo
ries and so around the world believing
that every one is kind and charming
and ready TO play with them. And I
am sure that the little boys and girls
who read this will not want TO do any