Evening star., 1918-05-19

even put a muzzle on him. Neverthe-
less he is terribly armed. this fellow.
Look at his teeth"
But he ought to be less formidable
than our mastiffs or our sheep dogs.
Eyes. l think so. Our dogs are true
fighting dogs. Here they are of a
milder strain"
"Is he a good Watchdog"
mo. The first days. to test him, I
made him sleep in my bedroom. He
didn't growl even when the orderly
entered"
Then why do you KEEP him?"
"Ah! To divert my mind. When I
am tired of him 1t will be different.
Shall We go. Get up. Wotan. We're
Off"
The dog stretched himself and got
up. He had a strange gait. wearied.
inelastic and dragging. Without any
reason. at the cross roads. before an
open house. he stopped. raised his
head. shifted the wind, his ears erect,
one paw lifted like a hunting. dog
again. Little by little he learned to
know his master and to come when
whistled for. And as he followed do
cileIy enough the lieutenant stopped
of his docility and his gentleness. he
had less the air of a companion than
of a guardian. never playing and
never responding to caresses.
He is sad" said the lieutenant.
noting that a meals he refused sugar
and scraps Of meat.
He Is very stupid" answered Lieut..
Baron Won Pietz. struggling his
shoulders.
Time passed. Wotan had recovered
but he did not recover his gayety.
The Saxon regiment changed quarters
frequently. Wotan trotting on the
flank OF the column. Sometimes. when
wVfv ha
nervous and restless and whimpered
during the night.
In the course Of marches and coun-
ter marches they returned to the re-
him up. Everything was changed.
The trees of the forest were bare of
leaves. The fields showed dull brown
under a leaden sky. One could hardly
recognize the former roads. trampled
by the horses and broken by heavy
wagons and cannon. Winter approach
ed. heralded by chilling rains.
BY the side of the fire in the lieu
tenants chamber 1t was cozy and
comfortable. But the dog disappeared
fall. They hunted for him all day. and
they didn't find him until the next
day, at the foot Of the very tree where
the officer had run across him in the
The regiment was shifted again.
That night. when they marched. Wo-
tan responded with 8 plaintive call to
the cattle that lowed and the invisible
aSss ha rhea enrssa the he daseS ms
across the fields and returned in ex-
cited leaps to take his place in the
ranks. He was no 1onger the spirit
less beast Of other days. He uttered
cries OF delight. he Jumped gayly in
the air, and when the men halted he
barked. impatient to go ahead
Truly" said the Lieutenant. "he is
not an ordinary animal. I shall finish
by making something out OF him."
Winter had arrived. It showed. Wo-
tan ran before the officer from door to
door. stopping, waiting for him, leav-
ing him with sudden turns and then
tenant chose for his quarters a hand
some house. standing back in a gar
den. 1t had a pointed roof and was
surrounded by wooden balconies
Close behind him Wotan ran from
room to room. galloping up the stair
ways, drying on the carpets his coat
covered with snowfakes.
They lighted a fire. But he refused
to lie alongside the wooden logs and
ran across the garden. inspecting it In
every aSok aSo ana .bs sh.d
hundred miscellaneous objects were
stored; q dog house in which some
straw was rotting. During the day
he never entered the house. In the
evenings. when the officer whistled fcs
him to give him his dinner. he did not
respond. The orderly wanted to chase
him away. Then for the first time he
showed his teeth.
''Let him alone! When he gets hun
CRY he will come" said the baron:
Night came on. The moon shone
down on the white surface of the gar
den. Wotan resumed his rounds. trot-
ting indefatigably from bush to bush.
A deep silence hung over the country.