Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1914-02-05

nlOutIleu tdikeu SuDuueuiy anu 'he
most collected laughed nervously as
they denied all nervousness. Sus'
pense, deep. brooding, ominous,
charged the air and p~ervaded all bo'
SONS and business sickened alarming
ly. And then one day there came the
news OF another assault committed in
the broad light and almost under their
very noses. This time through fortu'
nate circumstances there were no vic
tins but rather two heroes, a boy and
a dog.
Jimmy Collins, q t~en.year-old coun'
try youngster, was fishing In a stream
a quarter Of a mile from his home at
mid-forenoon. Accompanying him
was his dog. a large brute, strong
agile and full of courage and affection
for Jimmy. The boy described what
happened about as follows:
We'll, you see l was settin' on the
bank and a-fshin' with grasshoppers
and not thinkin' about nuthin' when
heard old Scout growl. Well, you BET
old Scout was some pup and l never
seer nuthin' what could lick him, and
he would fight a steam enjine II ]
sled him onto It. First I thought an
other dog had come nosin' around and
I looked over my shoulder. Bet
jumped a rod. There, close behind me
and sneakin' up like an Injun with
wings stickin' out bout half way like
a chicken holds his when he Is scrap
pin, l seen this here FLYNN Man what
everybody is so scairt about. Gosh
you otter seen his face! Made me
think of a jack landern. Scairt! You
bet. But l didn't lose my head-not
by a pipeful. There was an old cabin
close by. SO I Just let out a holler fol-
Scout to sic him and then lit out fol-
that shack. l reckon I run Eastern
a jack rabbit and went under 1t like
a prairie dog inter a hole and crawled
under 1t where nobody who wasn't q
little Teller could follow. There was
an awful racket goin' on outside, with
| Scout a-snarlin' and yellin' and the
other Teller kind of croakin' like @
frog, and bimeby I peeked out. They
was a-itin' to beat all thunder, him
and the pup. First Scout would make
a run and jump for him. but the FLYNN
Man was always too quick and Scouts
teeth would click like a trap when he
missed him. Then old Flyer'd make
a grab for the pup and Scout would
dodge him and they would circle
around and start all over again.
reckon it lasted about five minnits
with me a-watchin' and yellin' sic i'm
tear him up, old dog as fast rs l could
holler to Scout. Then all at once
that old devil got Scout by the tail
and gave a flop with his wings. UI
and up they went with the dog not
bein' able to do nuthin' because Of the
way he was held, until they must have
been about a million feet high. Then
old rip lets go of the pup and down
comes Scout to beat the band and
lands ker-plunk, with that old cuss
soarin' down close behind him. Course
1t killed Scout all at once. He never
moved a leg after he landed.
Utl Zig rlylu man COulCo III he
and | backed up like a squirrel in q
hole until | was under the middle OF
the floor. 1t was too low for him to
crawl in under me and so he found
stick and laid down on his stummib
and tried to poke me out. Gee, what
eyes he had! They was as big as my
fist and shone like lanterns. But the
stick wasn't long enough and pretty
soon he give up and walked away.
| could see where he was goin' by his
feet, and he went straight up to the
pup, picked him up and smelt Of him
Then he took him by the leg and
hoped up in the air. l crawled tc
the edge of the cabin and watched
him. He headed straight for the
mountains and never stopped as long
as he was in sight. Then I lit out
for home good and plenty. I hope
you'll get that old devil, for he killed
my pup. Scout was a good dog, all
right"
Trivial as the incident was in its
| consequences, 1t nevertheless cast q
deeper pail over the country. The
bearing away Of the dog settled be
yond all doubt that the murderous
minded creature was strongly carniv
orous, and the name Of the lost daugh'
ter of F.rmer Jones was no longer
spoken even In whispers. And deeper
and still more deep there settled into
the hearts of all mankind a horror,
loathing and hatred Of this unnatural
thing that words were impotent to ex'
press. Had he fallen into their hands
they would have become barbarians
themselves in the ferocity Of their re-
vengs.