Tito 



But, as a children's pet, she— for it proved 

 to be a female— was not a success. She was 

 distant and distrustful. She ate her food and 

 seemed healthy, but never responded to friendly 

 advances ; never even learned to come out of 

 the box when called. This probably was due 

 to the fact that the kindness of the small chil- 

 dren was offset by the roughness of the men 

 and boys, who did not hesitate to drag her out 

 by the chain when they wished to see her. On 

 these occasions she would suffer in silence, 

 playing possum, shamming dead, for she seemed 

 to know that that was the best thing to do. But 

 as soon as released she would once more retire 

 into the darkest corner of her box, and watch 

 her tormentors with eyes that, at the proper 

 angle, showed a telling glint of green. 



Among the children of the ranchmen was a 

 thirteen-year-old boy. The fact that he grew 

 up to be like his father, a kind, strong, and 

 thoughtful man, did not prevent him being, at 

 this age, a shameless little brute. 



Like all boys in that country, he practised 

 lasso-throwing, with a view to being a cow-boy. 

 Posts and stumps are uninteresting things to 



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