Coeur d'Alene evening press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1907-1929, 1909-05-04
.ssesesoeseeOeseoeosooeeeoe
glove Shep. and Shep lOvesAIe +:
BY r. A. mitchell.


Ihere was Abe and Sam and Ned and
myself, all Of whom lived within a
mile OF each other and were insepara-
BILE While we we're out Of school we
were together and when I'm 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 a dog or a 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 sentence In II that
l have never forgotten. l delight to
nurse 1t In my heart as an epIcure viii
roll rare wine on the tongue. 1t was
this: Il know a dog by the name Of
Shep. ! love Shep. and Shep loves
me-" Could there be anything more
touching? Alas. how rare. how brief.
is real affection Of a human being
for an inferior animal! It can never
be as real as in childhood.
We boys all lived along a 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 a free ride he gave u.s. 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. a veteran OF the Mexican
war. He had been shot all to pieces.
being minus an eye. an ear. 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 1t 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 a man with his
wooden leg. There Is no one like a
boy for making real things out Of
dreams, and all we had to do was to
fancy these things. tell them to each
other and they had happened.
Colonel Ringgold was the owner of
the dog Shep. shep was a collie. and
the collie is a very intelligent dog.
Shep stood, as 1 remember him, about
two feet high, his color being a mix
ture of white and brown During the
night Shep was expected to be lin" by
8 O'Clock, but during the day he was
free to romp with us boys. / think he
loved Ned best. That was because
Ned loved him best, for Ned, you know.
was the boy who wrote the compost
ton mentioning Shep so affectionately.
We were all very careful that Shep
should not get into trouble, first, be-
cause we loved him and, second, be-
cause we feared that his owner would
blot us from the face of the earth IL
any harm came to the dog while in
our company. Many a bigger dog we
beat Of when he was driving our CON-
rade to the wall
One afternoon when we were all to-
gether teaching Shep to jump a rope
we saw the colonel coming toward us,
walking with the limp Occasioned by
his wooden leg. Every boys heart
sank into his boots. Had the whole
United States army come down on US
we could not have been more terrified.
What caused us the chief alarm was
the thought that he was coming to or
der US In future to leave Shep out of
our fraternity. can see the old man
now making his way across a corn
field, trying to walk erect, his stern
countenance making up for his dilapi-
dated body. We would have all run.
but we were paralyZed.
What do you boys mean by stealing
my dog" he asked in his stentorian
voice.
l scarcely distinguished what he
said / thought It something like:
Column forward: guide right
Charger Every boy was too fright.
ened to answer.
Some one Is keeping him nights"
added the colonel. whoever Is doing
It shall be put In the-I mean de-
serves to be punished" Again there
was silence. ended by a little trem-
bling voice. 1t was Ned's-
I'm the one who has been keeping
Shep." be said Il have locked him
In, and he has come up and slept on
my bed"
'You locked him In Don't you
know that he Is not your dogT
.Yes, sir, knew that"
''WeIl. don't you ever do such a
thing again. ! want my dog In the
house nights. Eight O'Clock Is taps
for him-S O'Clock precisely. not Eve
minutes after s or Eve minutes be