Evening star., 1926-05-09
M|g}a M|g}a #SH
M M

A HUGE car. silent, implacable
n and shiny as a Shell-backed
"A monster. rolled out of it's lair
4 and slowed 10 a stop on the
paved track crossing the
lawn. At its appearance Cmpqua, a
little so-called dog, of type and size
10 back into tomato can ana defy
the world, leaped from crepe de chine
lap and Streaked across the grass.
lie stood beside the car and, head tip
pe(i q little sidewise, eXpectantly eyed
the driver.
The doctor got out, produced car
rying apparatus. and began clamplns
ii on the running board. AS he work
ed he said to the dog: Don't worry.
INN we're not going anywhere to-
day. Besides, if we were, you could
MT CO.
The voices of girls called from the
lawn. The Summer afternoon was
warm. A little breeze loafed among
the roses, occasionally spillinS rev
petals on the ground. Alene. the
Younger daughter. with long Whlte
hands and sure young eyes, came ana
watched the doctor, sitting with a
cushion between her shoulders and
the trunk of a mountain ash that
served its lonely sentence beside the
drive.
Irmp would not be inveigled into
her lap and her long hands. Perfect
IL still he stood. only his bright.
brown eyes moving as he watched
the doctor fussing about the car:
Many times Ump's eyes had followed
the doctor and the shiny monster
down the drive and out-upoh the
strange white road.
Where the road led imp did not
dream. He was incapable Of dream
never had followed it, or any road. to
any destination. Nothing had he fol
lowed but the walks and paths among
the lawns and gardens that led, all or
them, back upon themselves. back 10
The high doorways of the bulky. white
house They were adventures IN
themselves. these paths, especially at
sunrise. when the grass glistened and
fat slugs threaded through 1t. imp
had a habit of Steathily exploring the
paths each morning.
But the road was something else
again. He had a habit, too, of follow.
ing the shiny car, when he could
escape fondling hands and laps. as
far as the pillars of the gate. Here
he could see the road could see
distance along it: could see, If he
stood up with one paw on the pillar,
a vast sea of yellow fields, and beyond
in the infinite beyond-blue hills
heaped like breastworks around the
valley.
He could not even dream of these,
either, since he did not know what
hills were No mans dog was Ump.
lie was a fondling, bred and reared
10 be cuddled in crepe de chine laps
and petted by idle white hands.
Alene's sure eyes. and the doctors
wise ones, could see no hint of the
shaggy monster that stirred in him
as he stood at the gate and glimpsed
The hills while the great car crept
out on the road, bearing the master
-Ump's man-master-away. Always,
when the gate closed, he slowly re-
turned to his duties as toy and
fondling.
This day the gate did not open.
While imp watched the doctor lug
ged strange cases, packages, canvas
para phernalia, out of the house and to
the car He packed and repacked them,
carefully disregarding all the advice
that Alene generously rendered him.
last Of all was a strapped bundle Of
books. Alene laughed about them and
told Ump how funny it was.
Then the doctor squeezed himself
into what was left of the drivers
seat. The car purred a little. Ump
turned toward the gate. The car
moved. But it moved backward. and
vanished inside the garage. In the
middle Of the drive Ump stood. his
ears pointed. puzzling at this suspi-
cious and unheardof maneuver. lie
had been awaiting his glimpse of the