The herald., 1913-01-09
A DOGS
REVENGE
By EDWIN c. MOORE

strument-"Oh, my God" the grow
Of a dog, then his bark.
have heard that bark for years an,
know it well. 1t comes from Bruiu
the RObinSonS' dog There are NOR,
sOunds-confuSed. unintelligible exccp
so far as they Indicate strife-Bruin'
barking, a mans harsh voice aut
shrieks. A door is slammed and all il
quiet.
| drop the receiver, run downstairs
catch up pitchfork as J pass the barn
and hurry down the hill try to 90 M
the incline as fast as ] came down tn,
slope, but | can't do it. Nevertheless,
when l reach the red farmhouse
vault the fence and 20 through tn,
wide open door into the hall. | heal
the whining of a dog. follow it and
| open bedroom door. Mrs. Robinson is
lying on the floor gasping. Bruin i,
bleeding from many cuts. Neverthe
less he rejOices at the arrival of succOr
wagging his tail, jumping up on me
and running back and forth between
me and his mistress.
The first thing to DO is to bring a
| doctor | find the telephone receiver
| lying on a table beside the instrument.
l call up the central Office and for n
| physician from the town over the hill
TO the southwark, then lifted Mrs. Rob
| insOn from the bed, then call on the
| neighbors for help. 1t is fully twenty
minutes before the first one arrives
Thank heavens, it is a woman. A few
minutes later man comes. | wait no
longer. l am burning with a thirst to
strike the perpetrator of this outrage
l do not stop to learn if property has
been taken by which l may identify
him.
"FoOl!' l exclaim. "You should
have killed the dog. Come, Brur'
Going downstairs three steps at
time, l turn in at the barn, put bri-
die on horse and, not waiting to sad
die him, with the pitchfork as my
only weapon, sally forth. Bru has
gone on with his nose to the ground
He's not bloodhound, but is hunter,
and that is nearly as good. | question
II the man has twenty minutes start.
On the way Bru raised his head and
gave a low growl, but lowered his
nose again and on overtaking a man
walking passed him without notice.
The man looked at me curiously. Then
1t occurred to me that l must be a
caricature Of knight Grant, without
saddle and pitchfork instead Of
lance.
Bru ran, l trotting a little beside
him. Having noticed the blood he had
lost, l wondered how he had the
strength 10 go on. | feared he would
give out before we could overtake the
fugitive. He smelt revenge as well as
the villain. and doubtless this kept |
him up. If ever a dog had the in
stinct that a man may feel for venge-
ance it was Bru.
Presently he left the road and |
crawling through a fence. entered a
thicket. | could not follow mounted. |
so throwing the reins over a post |
proceeded on foot. | believed that we |
were nearing the end. for the man |
would not go far through the tangled |
underwood. He had doubtless gone in
there to hide.
A growl from Bru and the sound of |
breaking bushes. both where he was
and ahead of him. Beating aside the
brush strained every muscle to get on.
was not far behind the dog and the
dog was not far behind sound of
breaking underbrush. He was giving
sharp, quick banks. He burst into an
open space, after him.
A man on the other side Of the open
ing had turned and was leveling pis-
tol at the dog. But Bru, giving furious
leaps, was hard mark to hit The
first ball did not touch him, and there
was no time for another. Bru sprang
for the mans throat. With his left
hand he attempted to push off the dog.
with the other he was trying to draw
a knife. He had got it out and was
about to make a lunge at the dogs
body, just under the foreleg. when I,
who am more expert with a pitchfork
han any other weapon, caught his arm
between the two prongs. This gave
Bru full swing, and he buried his teeth
n the mans neck. Both rolled over on
he ground and the knife fell from the
mans grip.
take him off,
The pistol as we'll as the knife was
IN the ground and, being handy with
ny own weapon, thought might risk
the man Of Bru. But l mis-
ook my ability to do so. called to
he dog without producing any effect.
hen began to belabor him with the
landle of the pitchfork-all to no pur-
'ose. While had heard his mistress
creams he had seen her in the villains
lutches. My desire was for human
evenge-the dogs that Of the brute
happened by a brute's blind love. /
ould not bring myself to exercise ali
ny power in belaboring him, and no
rdinary blows would avail. I tried to
ull him off. but he chung tenaciously.
1t last the man must have tainted, for
Re lay still. Then Bru suddenly keeled
yer.
l set up a shout. but II was unneces-
airy. Persons passing on the road
card the scuffie and came up as the
ontest ended
Mrs Robinson Rru and tba rpould ho |