3§: 



RECREATION 



U. S. REVENUE CUTTER BEAR IN AN ICE PACK 



that all is fair in love and war, and surely I 

 was in love. I was trotting along on this 

 particular day, tired, hungry and disappoint- 

 ed, for I had found nothing either for my- 

 self or for her, when, suddenly, I heard a 

 cry, followed by a crash, and there, right in 

 front of me, lay a messenger boy, a tray and 

 a lot of broken dishes all mixed up together ; 

 but I also saw a big, thick luscious steak 

 which I proceded to grab, and away I ran, 

 never stopping to ask permission or even 

 to see if the poor boy was hurt. My! but 

 that steak was good, how we did enjoy it, 

 the first real meat either of us had had for 

 many a day. 



Dear, dear, how I ramble on. I started 

 out to tell about the fight — but I'm coming 

 to it, the memory of that day brings back so 

 many little things I had almost forgotten — 

 but how well do I remember the day my 

 partner took me with her to a place behind 

 some boards, where she proudly showed me 

 three squirming little puppies, and gave me 

 to understand they were ours! Oh, how 

 proud I was, and what a thrill went through 

 me when I heard their little voices. Why, 

 I felt as though I had the strength of a lion 

 to work for them, and work I did to find 

 food for their mother ; for she could not go 

 far to hunt for herself, and many a kick and 

 many a blow I received, for I grew bolder 

 and lost no opportunity to nab a choice bit 

 from a butcher's cart, or even to overhaul 

 the lunch baskets of the workmen in the 

 lumber yard. 



One day when I came back I found we 

 had company, not very welcome company, 

 either, so far as I was concerned; he was a 

 mean-looking fellow with a good deal of the 



bulldog in him, and when I came up he 

 showed his teeth in a very ungentlemanly 

 manner. By my actions I told him plainly 

 that he was not welcome, but he seemed to 

 have come to stay, and stay he did. Then I 

 tried to be polite, for it occurred to me he 

 might be some relative to my little wife, as I 

 believe a mongrel is related to all dogs ; but 

 finally, after several days had passed I made 

 up my mind that relation or no relation, he 

 must go. I did not propose having him 

 hang around any longer, and told him so! 

 Then the fight began. 



Ye gods, how we did fight ! over and over 

 we rolled, the dust blinding my eyes and 

 choking me ; several times I felt my strength 

 giving way, for I was but a young dog, but 

 the fighting blood of my race, pure and un- 

 tainted, was in my veins, and I took hold 

 with a firmer grip. I do believe I might 

 have whipped him had not my partner ! my 

 wife! she that I had worked so hard for, 

 had taken blows and curses for, had she not 

 turned against me. At first I thought she 

 had joined the fight to help me, and I had 

 renewed courage, but when I found she was 

 actually fighting me, I lost all heart. I gave 

 up, and down I went with both of them on 

 top. 



In a few minutes this story never would 

 have been written, had it not been for a kind- 

 hearted fisherman who, returning from his 

 day's work, was passing through the lumber 

 yard, heard the noise and came up just in 

 time. He kicked and beat them off and 

 picked me up a great deal more dead than 

 alive, bleeding from many wounds, broken 

 in spirit, ready to die; he stroked me ten- 

 derly, saying: "Poor little fellow, poor little 

 fellow!" bending over me his great kind 

 face, brown from exposure to the sun and 

 nearly covered with a thick, bushy beard. 

 His blue eyes won my confidence at once 

 and I licked the hand that stroked me. 



I knew he wore heavy boots and coarse 

 trousers such as I hated, for, heretofore, 

 they only meant kicks and bruises to me; 

 for those cruel men who worked along the 

 waterfront wore such clothes, and I always 

 associated them with meanness and cruelty. 

 Even yet I have an almost irresistible desire 

 to snap at the leg covered in that way — but 

 here was an exception. I knew this man 

 could be trusted, so I closed my eyes, laid 



