The Washington herald., 1914-03-29


stumbled across a disgraceful affair.
Think of it, Doldrums in such fix.
Cursesi Curses! CursesP
He stuck his head down into the hole
and was rewarded with a shower Of
moist earth.
How rude" he muttered to himself
as he batted his eyes and then rubbed
them with his forepaws. "She is no
lady"
He stood near the entrance 10 the
rapidly growing tunnel and pondered
his plight solemnly and stupidly.
"Ah," he finally decided. There is
only one thing for a Doldrums to do
and Champion Doldrums shall do it.
The miscreant must die. shall be
obliged to kill him. 1t is good form to
kill him. In fact. it would be very bad
form not to kill him"
He waited patiently and was soon re-
warded by a whimper of delight from
Rose Imperial. The tunnel was fin
ished and the way to the fields clear.
The good beast, stricken with nostalgia,
squeezed through the hole she had dug
and was off and away for home like a
streak of white lightning.
1t was beastly work, crawling through
such a place, but Doldrums followed
and shot after his fleeing mate at full
speed.
This is what comes from mating out
of ones class" he thought. But the
scoundrel she is hasting to will regret
it."
The sun had set and the stars shone
brilliantly above the level fields Of
greensward and buttercups.
Il shall not be responsible for what
happens during my brainstorm," Dol
drums told himself as he saw a white
spot in the distance beyond his fleeing
spouse.
The white spot was Bungo Reiiley.
He sat watching the two speeding dogs
coming his way, watching them eagerly
and with heart that beat like trip
hammer. 1t looked to Uncle Bung as
if there would be something doing in
his own particular line.
Roses mother, father, and brother
had scented trouble and were poking
their clean noses against the wire net
ting of their runway and whimpering.
They got the scent of Rose and barked
their delight She yelped her pleasure
as she approached at full speed. But
Uncle Bung had no time for greetings.
His salute was the war cry OF his tribe !:
"Ahal AhaI Aha! Ha-ha-ha-hap r
Doldrums came up, his little eyes
splitting fires of rage.
Rose disappeared toward the gate of
the kennels.
There were no preliminaries, no sec
onds, no referee-just the good, hard
sward and two bull terriers hungry for
battle. O'Brien was ten dollars in the
hole in the vulgar whisky poker game
in the stable loft and couldn't have
heard boiler explosion.
Champion Doldrums, with the conf
dence born of aristocracy and with its
frequent unwisdom, hurled himself at
Bungo, who stood squared for the shock.
The great champion had the better in
weight by about four or five pounds,
and he was in noble condition, despite
his years OF luxury and ease. But he
was as an all-around college athlete in
the ring to settle difference with Mr..
James Joseph Jeffries or a Mr.. Jack
Johnson.
As Doldrums launched himself at his
enemy, Bungo crouched fiat on the
ground and the champion went sprawl
ing behind him.
Bungo wheeled and in a second would
have had Doldrums by the throat but
the champion was a rank amateur and
presented his launches TO his enemy
until he could collect what wits he had
as a fighter. As everyone knows, no
dog with an ounce OF sense spends his
time in fighting his enemy from the
rear. The throat and forelegs are the
natural objectives, just as human fight
ers make the wind or the point of the
jaw their first targets.
In disgust, astonishment, and anger
Bungo jumped on the back of his antag-
onist and nipping him by the back of
the neck hurled him around.
Old man Diavolo and his son were
chanting the tribes war cry against the
wire netting as they tore at it in fond
but vain hopes of mixing in.
Look out for your throat, Bung." ad-
vised his brother, Champion Diavolo H.
Hes got a long and mean jaw, old
man."
Bungo had no time to hearken to ad-
vice. What was worrying him was the
big, spiked collar around the neck of
his antagonist. To get a grip under it
was his job if he was to do a real, fin
ished bit of canine murder. He knew
that it would require art with a capital
A to crowd down that collar with his