SOME OTHER DOGS. 



DELLA BELLAMY. 



I have known intimately in my life 3 

 dogs. The second is the one whose character- 

 istics pleased me the most. My acquaint- 

 ance with the first dog was when I was 

 but 6 years of age. and was altogether too 

 intimate. He bit me terribly. Scars are on 

 my face to this day, faint, but discernible. 

 As the result of the attack I was confined 

 to my bed 2 weeks. Soon after I was out 

 of danger, and my parents assured by the 

 surgeon that eyesight would not be lost, as 

 was at first feared, some one told me that 

 if the dog by whom I was bitten ever had 

 hydrophobia I would have it also. I be- 

 lieved that yarn a number of years, and 

 lived in daily expectation of leaving my 

 family at a moment's notice. It is useless 

 to say that T felt the need of being always 

 prepared, which partly accounts for my 

 adhering strictly to the truth and leading 

 a different life. In the light of after years 

 I have had reason to be grateful to that 

 dog. The affair cast a shadow on my 

 young life, however. 



My acquaintance with the second dog, a 

 puppy 6 months old, began when I was 

 about 9 years of age. An uncle returned 

 from down the river, where he had been 

 spending some time, and this dog, Choco, 

 followed him home. Though my uncle was 

 much affected by this, he wrote back to the 

 dog's owner, who was an innkeper, the 

 facts concerning the puppy. The man re- 

 plied that if Choco had found some one 

 whom he preferred for a master he would 

 not stand in the puppy's way, nor would 

 he accept any payment for him. My uncle 

 had an idea that possibly Choco left his 

 home through jealousy. He had a twin 

 brother, his exact counterpart, who was 

 petted and made much of also, and my 

 uncle fancied Choco could not stand that. 

 There did not seem to be any reason why 

 this puppy should have been called Choco, 

 unless, perhaps, on account of his color, 

 which was a fine chocolate. He had eyes 

 of the same color, and a white nose. His 

 collar, shirt bosom and stockings were also 

 while, lie was a large, short haired dog, 

 evidently a cross between a smooth coated 

 St. Bernard and a bull terrier; most beau- 

 tifully formed, but not a type. It was a pity 

 he was only a monsfrel, with his intelli- 

 gence and noble qualities. Choco had been 

 with us 2 months before we ever heard 

 him bark. We thought he did not know 

 how. bul my uncle assured us he did and 

 would do so when a fitting occasion ar- 

 rived. There was great excitement in the 

 family when we first heard the deep, mu- 

 sical tones which issued from his canine 



chest. The cow had gone into the horse 

 barn. Choco thought such lawlessness de- 

 served a reprimand. He drove her out 

 without interference from the family, who 

 were standing spellbound because the dog 

 had barked. 



Choco was an aristocratic dog. Peddlers 

 were held in abhorrence, poorly dressed peo- 

 ple likewise. He would follow them, growl- 

 ing ominously, until they were beyond his 

 premises, then turn and go back to the 

 piazza. He was affectionate toward his 

 friends. When one of the family came 

 around the* corner in sight of the house he 

 would run like a whirlwind to meet him 

 and circle around every few steps, leaping 

 and wagging his tail, but was too well bred 

 ever to put his tongue on one's face or 

 hands. Then he would precede his friend 

 to the house joyfully. 



I once sat by the window and saw Choco 

 rush toward the corner to meet some one. 

 I thought it must be the uncle who brought 

 him to us, as the other members of the 

 family were at home. Not so. It was an 

 uncle, but one he had never seep before. 

 He came back with this uncle, making as 

 great demonstrations of affection as he 

 would have made had one of us been gone 

 months and just returned. That was the 

 first_ and only time he ever appeared pleased 

 to see a stranger. 



I never had reason to be afraid of him 

 but once. He had buried a bone and gone 

 a short distance away. I dug it up, keeping 

 my back toward him during the operation, 

 so he could not see what I was doing, re- 

 placed the soil and went away, carrying the 

 bone on the farther side of me. He went 

 to the place as soon as I was gone, patted 

 the dirt down with his nose and walked 

 off without discovering the loss of the 

 treasure. I then called him to me, drew the 

 bone from behind my back and showed it to 

 him. His eyes turned black and fierce. He 

 gave a lunge. I dropped the bone just in 

 time. He took it, put it back where it was, 

 covered it and sat down on the spot. I 

 went toward him, he gave a low, savage 

 growl and I retreated. A few steps for- 

 ward and T fear my mother would have 

 lost her child. 



The next winter after he came to live 

 with us my father went out of the front 

 door one dav to the middle of the road 

 and stenned into a sleigh. A while after- 

 ward Choco came from the barn and 

 tracked father from the porch to the road, 

 where the tracks stopped. Choco ran a few 

 steps in either direction, looked up into 

 the sky and all around, and finallv cotn- 



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