El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-19
A Wild Experiment
BY F St. Mars.

r EGGY was a lurcher. That is 10
say, he owned a collie for a
mother and greyhound for a IA
Their He was. therefore. a dog Of no
account mongreL Most respectable
people do not know what a lurcher is.
because these cross-breeds are usually
the dogs Of -poachers. and, the animal
rejecting the master. are not res
pectable dogs either
Leggy's master was poacher, a par
ticularly knowing individual who lived
on what his dogs brought him. which
was a varied assortment. and might
consist Of anything salable. from one
Of his neighbor's fowls to a rich
landowners hare or pheasant As you
,Till readily understand. therefore,
Leggy and his master slept all day and
conducted their business at night only.
Now. it is not considered respectable
to have lurcher dog about your house.
il marks" you at once Therefore
Leggy was trained to sneak out Of the
back door and make himself scarce
whenever a visitor called, ana stayed
long time, and Leggy, having nothing
particular to do, and finding it cold
incoming about in the wind after being
turned out from a hot kitchen. lOafed
off into neighbOring field. And here
Fate put in his path Spot, the famous
hare Of those parts, which no dog had
ever been able to catch, though many
had tried.
Leggy almost fell over her in her
form" and before he had got over his
surprise the hare had bounced up like
a great rubber ban, and was half
dozen yards away. Then, almost with
out his knowing it. the chase began.
The hare started six yards ahead and
stayed there; stayed there mile after
mile; stayed there till they had hunted I
themselves out OF all known landmarks,
and had come to a new and wild coun-
try. stayed there till the pair Of them
were reduced to a trot, and from that TO
q walk, until finally, two exhausted TO
move further, both lay down and gasp
ed. My! that was a hunt!
After a bit the hare got up and stag
gered on a few yards. So did Leggy-
He was too done up to reach his quarry
quite And so they lay for half an
hour, mOtiOnless. Then at last the hare
got up and looked at the dog, and the
dog got up and looked at her She
had no need to face him, having eyes
specially made to see behind.
Then she went off at top speed, and (
Leggy flashed behind, a long, lean, grey
beast, flattened out at full gallop. But
this time the hare maGo straight for
river and leapt in head first; and there
she made her mistake, for the dog, be- /
ing able to leap further than she could, I
sprang clean out in one grand, flying
bound, and killed her with a single snap I
in mid stream.
Leggy never took her home, though, I
as he would have done in the ordinary
case. A water bailiff, hearing the Z
double splash, hurried up along the /
bank, thinking he had caught others [
after his trout, and Leggy had only just /
time to scramble out on the opposite /
side and bolt for it, with his head down I
and tail between his legs, while a (
charge Of No, shot whisued and /
ripped all round him among the willow 1
stems.
Ten minutes later Leggy caught /
rabbit and killed it, as was his wont, in I
a single lunging snap behind the neck, /
and then he fed, and while he fed the /
sun sank all red and wonderful behind /
the woods, and night stole up from the l
east. As it came, the fascination of the /
wild crept upon him, too, worse than {
ever Some htng-everyth ing-seemed /
to be calling to him. He turned and /
made to stink off in the direction Of I
home, and instantly the call was louder 1
than ever.
He heard it in the "To-who-o-oo- /
o-oi" of the wood owls hunting cry; he I
heard It in the excited chatter of a 4
party of weasels beating a patch Of /
gorse for rabbits, like a pack OF 1
hounds; he heard it in the long, dry
snarl Of a passing poaching cat; and /
last of all, just as the moon came up, /
ne u5dEu IL III lIiS suOALi stidIp DdIh OF \
an old dog fox running the trail Of a 4
hare That last sound settled It, He |
spun about, and slouched off into the /
lowering woods, alert, furtive, fierce
a wild creature too.
Tt was in the dense blackness of the I
wood that he picked up the scent Of the 4
fox Up till then foxes and he had kept
aloof when they net. each mindful Of /
his own business and of the fact that /
both were no better than vermin in the
gamekeepers eyes.
At this juncture, however, LeEgy felt
the need of cOmpanionship. and since
a fox was the nearest beast to dog
that he would be likely to find in the I
wild. and since also he had nothing par
dcular to do, he half-heartedly follow
ed the scent.
Now, in acting thus Leggy showed |
how really he was only a tame animal I
and not wild at all Foxes do not Lore
Leggy ought to have known