The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1919-05-23

top Of the ladder and opened the door.
We listened with bated breath. Then |
he shouted:
"Blast my headlights. IL 1t amt a |
poor dogl Come alongside mate, |
you're on u lee shore, and in sorry |
plight"
Oh. what relief those words were
to usl
With the candle in one hand and a
dark object under his arm, Bnl re-
turned and deposited in our midst the
sorriest-looking specimen Of a cur dog
you ever set eyes on. 1t was so weak
1t couldn't stand. But that look In its
eyes-just gratitude, plain gratitude.
Its stump of tail was pounding
against my mess tin, and sounded just
like message in the Morse code. Hap
py swore that it was sending S. o. 5.
Weewere like lot of school chill
making suggestions at the same time.
Hungry suggested giving it something
to eat, while key wanted to play on
his internal jew's-harp, claiming 1t was
a musical dog. Hungry's suggestion
met our approval, and there was
general scramble for haversacks. All
we could muster was some hard bread
and a big piece of cheese.
His nibs wouldn't eat bread, and also
refused the cheese but not before sniff
fing at 1t for a couple of minutes. /
was going to throw the cheese away,
but Hungry said he would take it. l
gave 1t to him.
We were In a quandary. 1t was evil
dent that the dog was starving and in
very weak condition. Its coat was
lacerated all over, probably from the
bites Of rats. That stump o; a tail
kept sending S. o. s. against my mess
tin. Every tap went straight to our
hearts. We would get something to
eat for that mutt If we were shot for
it.
Sailor Bill volunteered to burglar
lie the quartermaster'S stores for
can of unsweetened condensed milk.
and left on his perilous venture. He
was gone about twenty minutes. Dur
ing his absence, with the help of q
bandage and a capsule of iodine, we
cleaned the wounds made by the rats.
l have bandaged many a wounded
Tommy, but-never received the amount
Of thanks that that dog gave with it's
eyes.
Then the billet door opened and Sail
or Bill appeared. He looked like the
wreck of the Hesperus, uniform torn,
covered with dirt and flour, and a
beautiful black eye, but he was smil-
ing, and In his hand he carried the
precious can of milk. We asked no
questions, but opened the can. Just as
we were going to pour it out Happy
butted in and said it should be mixed
with water; he ought to know, because
his sister back in Blighty had a baby,
and she always mixed water with its
milk. We could not dispute this EVIL
dence, so water was demanded. We
would not use the water in our water
| bottles, as it was not fresh enough
for our new mate. Happy volunteered
to get some from the well, that is, if
we would promise not to feedh royal
highness until he returned. We prom
Used, because Happy had proved that
he was an authority on the feeding of
| babies. BY this time the rest of the
| section were awake and were crowd
ing around us, asking numerous ques-
| lions and admiring our newly found
| friend. Sailor Bill took this opportun-
ity to tell Of his adventures while in
| quest Of the milk.
II had fair wind, and the passage
was good until 1 came alongside the
quartermaster's shack. then the sea
got rough. When l got aboard l could
hear the wind blowing through the
rigging Of the supercargo (quartermas-
ter sergeant snorlng), so l was safe.
l set my course due north to the ra-
ton hold, and got my graphing irons
on a cask of milk, and came about on
my homeward-bound passage, but
something was amiSs with my wheel,
because / ran nose on into him. caught
him ON the rail. amidships. Then it
was repel boarders, and /. started to
blow big guns. His first shot put out
my starboard light, and l keeled over.
l was in the trough of the sea, but
soon righted, and then it was a stern
chase, with me in the lead. Getting in
to the open sea, l made port tack
and hove to in this cove with the
milk safely in tow
Most of us didn't know what he was
talking about, but surmised that he
had got into mixup with the quarter
master sergeant. This surmise proved
correct.
Just as Bill finished his narration a
loud splash was heard, and Happy
voice came to us. 1t sounded very far
| off:
Help, I'm in the well Hurry up,
l can't swim Then a few unintelli-
gible words intermixed with blub
blub and no more.
We ran to the well and away
down we could hear an awful splash
ing. Sailor Bill yelled down LOOK
| out below: stand from under: buck ct