A RANCHMAN'S RECOLLECTIONS 



me, ate with me, and for five months was my sole 

 chum and confidential friend. I told him all my hopes 

 and fears, my victories and failures; he would grin 

 and wag his tail as much as to say, 'You are all right, 

 and I believe in you.' Grub was getting scarce, that 

 is, fresh meat, and I decided with Prunes at my heels 

 to go out and kill a jack rabbit. We had not gone 

 more than 200 yards from the house when I got my 

 first rabbit, and then, walking along rapidly, as dusk 

 was coming on, I saw what I took to be another rab- 

 bit about forty feet away, and fired. I heard a howl 

 of pain and anguish, and Prunes was done for, and 

 I was alone. I lifted him in my arms, carried him 

 to the cabin, laid him down, sat down beside him, and 

 cried. How still it was ! I have been lonely before 

 and since, but that night was the longest, most lone- 

 some and the dreariest that I have ever spent. I 

 dug a grave by the doorstep the next morning, but 

 I just couldn't stay. I loved him, he loved me, and 

 trusted me, and I had killed him. I have been offered 

 lots of fine dogs since, but have never accepted one. 

 I guess my heart is out there in the sagebrush with 

 Prunes." 



[184] 



