The Mena weekly star. (Mena, Ark.) 1904-1977, 1919-08-14
ONLY A DOG.

GIcelcy 0Ol. --DeSp&illhS u wv
again seeing their little house dog,
which had been missing for sever
al days. Mr.. and Mrs j. q. Bowers
drove out to Linn Grove Cemetery
TO place flowers on the grave Oh
their baby, who died few months
ago. There on the tiny mound they
found the dog asleep and almost
exhausted from grief and hunger.
News Dispatch
Yet. It was only dog keeping the
love vigil under the stars IN Linn
Grove Cemetery.
The Bowers family, no doubt, had
been criticised for keeping it around
tn g house. Indignant highbrows,
quite possibly, had written letters to
the Greeley papers to protest that
there We're too many worthless ours
in this town" There was nothing in
viting about 1t, perhaps, to look at.
1t barked at the milkman. and made
life a burden for the iceman. Occa-
sionally It chased the neighbor's cat
up tree, and when it found nobody
to annoy, and the baby was asleep, II
amused itself by scratching its ears
in public. Members of the women
clubs wondered what the Bowers
family meant by layishing such al.
lection on such a dog.
But the Bowers baby and the Bow
ers dog didn't mind what the high
brows said or what the club women
thought. They rolled on the floor TO-
gether, and the baby roughed the dog S
wool, pulled its ears and twisted its
tail. If the iceman or the milkman
had tried that familiarity there would
have been trouble But the iceman
and the milkman and the club women
and the highbrows, who hate dogs,
couldn't understand the loyalty that
bound the Bowers dog to the Bowers
baby. 1t was only a dog" to them.
And when the Bowers baby died
there was sympathy for all the family.
Neighbors called to offer coincidence
and to do all they could to heal the
sorely wounded hearts. Nobody how.
ever, thought of the baby's playfellow,
the Bowers dog. No one gave
thought to him as he wandered
through the house alone looking for
the companion that had roughed his
wool and pulled his ears; listening
for the voice that had commanded
him to obedience, even though it had
talked in baby prattle. No one paid
attention to the wistful, wondering
look in the eyes Of the Bowers dog as
he went from one to another, seeking
in dumb, dog fashion an explanation
of the mystery of mysteries that had
robbed him OF mis- playmate. He was
only a dog
When the Bowers baby was taken
from the house by strange hands
they never would have touched the
baby in other days, with the dog
standing guard-and the silent, solemn
procession left the Bowers home for
that sad journey to Linn Grove Gene
terry, nobody bestowed so much as a
look or care upon the Bowers dog
Why should they2 He was only a
dog
And the procession from Linn
Grove Cemetery wendell home again.
The Bowers family and the relatives
and the sympathizing friends and the
minister. The little Bowers baby was
left there in a new made grave-but
not alone. When the last human
friend had left the little mound there
came a Waterman to keep vigil, a
Waterman prompted by a love and
loyalty that passes human ken. IT
was the Bowers dog.
In his way the dog had solved the
mystery. They found him there,
three days later, exhausted, the dis
patch reads, from grief and hunger,
but faithful still, keeping watch over
the dead.
( Let the scientists tell us that, being
only dog, the Waterman at the grave
knew no such sensation as grief.
Being a dog he could not have
been moved by a sense of affection
and let scientists go hang.
For there is the Bowers dog.