Lower coast gazette., 1913-09-20

thing living on which to vent his W
sense Of quit. Again he threw a stone
at SAKE Gotha.
Get out! Go back where you be-
ong!"
The pup lodged, and stood waiting.
Strangely dense his man was! The
young man did not look at him again,
but fell to sorting samples of ore. Ger
ton tiny pieces he gloated over as he
found them, and he put them in a sack
that he hid behind the door.
Now SAKE Gotha never meant to do
it, but he was young, and his distem-
per made him very i'll, and he had not
slept all night. When he saw his man
safely absorbed in his work, he curled
UP in the shade of a rock and went off
into the heavy sleep of a sick dog.
When he awoke, his mar was gone!
SAKE Gotha ran round and round and
through the adobe. The house was
thick with scents of him, but whittier
he had gone was not to be told, for
desert sands hold no scents. On the
doorstep lay an old vest Of the mans.
The dog sat down on this, and lifted
his voice in a howl of anguish. There
was only n thing to do, of course
wait for the mans return.
All day SAKE Gotha waited. He drank
deeply from the barrel Of water, but
he went without food, although the
remains of the young mans breakfast
lay on the table. 1t was not in SAKE
Gotha's breed to steal. All day and all
night he waited. Now and again, he
lifted his great voice in grief. With
his face to that north which he had
forbidden himself to seek, yer though
he was but a dog, he might have been
youth mourning it's perennial discovery
that duty and desire do not always go
hand in hand. SAKE Gotha might have
been all the courage, all the loneliness,
all the grief of youth, disillusioned.
The morning of the second day, a
man rode up the trail. He was not
SAKE Gotha's man. He dismounted,
and called, "Hey, Evans!"
SAKE Gotha, a little unsteady on his
legs, sat on his launches and grOwled.
where's your boss, pup" asked the
man. II didn't know he had a dog"
SAKE Gotha growled.
"Humph!" said the mar. "Oh steal
ing ore gain, I suppose"
The stranger prowled around the
outside of the hut, and then came to
the door.
"Get out of the way, dog! I'm going
to find out where this rich claim is
that he's finding free gold in. He's
q thief. anyhow, not 10 report II to
his company"
AS he put his foot on the doorstep,
SAKE Gotha snapped at him. The
stranger jumped back. "You brute
hound!"- he cried. "What do you mean!
If I had a gun, I'd shoot you!"
SAKE Gotha's anger gave him
strength to rise. He stood lurching;
his lips were drawn back owe his
fangs, his ears were fiat to his head.
The stranger walked back a few steps.
"He must weigh nearly a hundred
pounds!!" he muttered. "Come on, old
pup! Here, have some of my snack!
Here's a piece of corned beef! Come
on, old fellow!"
Cajolery and threats were alike fu'
tile. SAKE Gotha was guarding for his
man. After a while the dogs dumb
fury maddened the stranger. He be-
gan to hurl rocks at the pup. At first
the shots we're harmless; then a jag
ged piece Of ore caught the dog on the
cheek and laid it open, and another
slashed his back. With the snarl of q
tiger, SAKE Gotha made a leap
from the door at the strangers
throat. The man screamed and
jumped for his horse SO hastily thai
SAKE Gotha caught only the shoulder
of his coat and ripped the back out o.
1.-THE garment. Before the pup coult
gather his weakened body for another
charge, the stranger was mounted. HI
whipped his snorting horse down tn,
trail, and disappeared.
SAKE Gotha feebly worried at the
torn coat, then dragged himself bach
to the door and lay down on the vest
too weak to lick his wounds. The res
of the morning he lay quiet. At moor
he suddenly opened his eyes. His ear
pricked forward, and his tail bea
feebly on the door. His mar rode up
He had a sack of fresh supplies thrown
across his saddle. He turned his hors,
into the corral, then came toward thu
hut. The vicious mood seemed still
to be with him.
.You still here?' he growled.
Then he caught sight of the piece o
cloth. picked it up. and looked at tn,