Evening star., 1936-06-24
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
BY MARGARET GERMOND.

brain work, physical performance and
loyal companionship that may we'll be
the envy of most of the members Of
the human branch of the animal king
dom. Not because the majority of the
race lacks the capacity for heroic sacri-
flee when the occasion demands 1t, but
perhaps because the ills and misfortunes
which beSet mankind and his world have
become too commonplace to permit the
development of sensitiveness to the point
of complete forgetfulness of self in his
service for others. In every good dog
story there is something that touches
responsive chord in the hearts of men
and makes for a better understanding
of the essential qualities of sympathy
and faith from which all hope for
happiness springs. For the dog has much
to teach the higher order of the planets
inhabitants. 1t may be that in the
canine group there is a subconscious
knowledge of this fact, and that in 1t
lies the reason for the adoption by the
dog, alone of the entire animal kingdom,
OF man as master and friend.
BeoWulf is an Alsatian, trained to do
German frontier guard duty against drug
smugglers. He has a noteworthy record
OF service with Victor Mourad, the
guardSman who is his master But on a
cold night in January a Smuggler gets
the better of Mourad and Beowulf, who
has been trained to capture and not to
slay, holds his prisoner for hours but
gives up when constantly repeated calls
to his master fail to bring a response.
Anxiety for Mourad leads him to in
vestigate. and finding his master dead
he keeps watch until the change of
guards brings help. No one knows how
Mourad met his death, and Beowulf
cannot tell what happened. 1t is plain,
however, that the dog failed to keep the
criminal a prisoner, and without know
ing why he thus failed his service on
guard duty comes to an end.
An Englishman, knowing little about
anything and less about dogs, buys
BeoWulf for no reason except that he
Is handsome beast, and ships him to
England Homesick and heartsick for
his master, and schooled to avoid the
friendly overtures of strangers, the dog
is not easily adaptable and the English
man is entirely unfit to be the owner
of any dog. much less the sensitive
Beowulf. In addition to his alienation
from everything with which he is
familiar, his isolation becomes complete
when his new master changes his name
70 Sandy"
The Englishman takes the dog on a
walking trip through the sheep country
and there, by good fortune, man and
dog make the acquaintance of Alan
Stuart. the parson at Stonethwaite Alan
becomes interested in the dog and tries
to give Beowulf's owner some knowledge
Of the sensitive nature and the remark
able skill of the Alsatian breed. Lever
son. however. is not interested in the
dogs fine qualities. and has no appre-
citation of the fact that Beowulf's knowl-
edge of the spoken word is limited to
German.
Having been trained to attack or kill
only upon order, BeoWulf is not
menace in the sheep country. but Lever
son, II sporting mood, orders him to
go after small animal. The dog nat
urally obeys, but the consequences cause
his master to turn yellow and flee.
Deserted and homeless. Beowulf does the
only thing possible for a dog to do. He
shuns humans, takes to the crags and
woods. and at night kills for food. He
is seen and recognized as the English
mans dog and for weeks he is sought
by herders. The killing continues and
posses are formed to catch and slay the
dog. Alan Stuart joining in the hunt.
1t is Alan who finally gets good aim
at Beowulf and shoots The dog topples
over the crags and his would-be slayer
climbs down to make sure that he is
dead. Alan loves dogs, however, and
Beowulf is not dead but badly injured
He takes him home, summons medical
attention, nurses and feeds him and
finally wins the dogs confidence and
affection. He then teaches Beowulf
English and they become companions
and hunters. The dog develops new
capacities at a remarkable rate and his
devotion to his new master is absolute.
Then Alan has an accident which leaves
him totally blind. He believes that
Beowulf can be educated to serve him
and he tries to do the Job himself. But
the dogs earlier training has been to
walk beside his master and not to lead
him, and also, he cannot understand
why the light has gone from Alan's eyes
or why he moves so uncertainty. Know
ing that something is terribly wrong,
beOWul1 JIlcS lO De DuL IL
is not easy to know what it is that Alan
wants him to do.
Eventually the blind man seeks to
have Beowulf entered in the training
school in France. The dog is shipped
and his training begun, but he has no
heart for his new work and no love
for his trainer. This time he must
master French. He learns quickly and
obeys without protest, but his spirit is
dead. His schooling finished, he is re-
ported to Alan as being ready, but not
altogether satisfactory. But what the
trainers did not know was that the dog
was not unwilling but heartsick.
Alan and Beowulf return to the par
sonage and their beloved English coun-
tryside and the story of their strolls
and hikes. and the heroic performances
in the saving of life which only blind
man and trained dog could possibly
accomplish make story that warns
the blood and captivates the spirit. 1t
climaXes in a night of drama on
blizzard mountain. when
both man and dog face death as an
unavoidable accident turns near success
into near-tragedy.
But what comes of this accident and
what the extraordinary performance of
BeoWulf was on this night of drama is
for the reader alone to appreciate and
to remember. No one who becomes
acquainted with Beowulf can lay the
h00k aside without having apnI1irad