07.02.16. A Boy And His Dog

16. A BOY AND HIS DOG

Todd had a dog at home, a big black fellow, a spaniel who was considered quite vicious and inclined to bite strangers at night. As the boy walked through the leaves that had fallen in the road, the old dog heard him and came charging toward him. Todd knew his viciousness, and wondered just what he should do. When the dog was several yards away, Todd spoke his name and immediately the big fellow stopped. He spoke to him again and with a joyous bark the old dog bounded to meet him. He would jump up and try to lick his face, then circle around him and run toward the house and back to meet him again. He did not see the pale, twisted features and ragged clothing; he only saw the boy who had played with him in his puppy days and who had scampered with him over the hills after the rabbit and the squirrel, and in his dog fashion, welcomed him back home. To most people there would be nothing touching in such actions from a dumb brute but to Todd, who had gone for months without hearing a kind word, or seeing a friend, who had gone for three weeks without sleeping in a bed, and for many hours without food, the welcome of a dog meant much and he put his arm around the old fellow and wept on his neck. Then he told him to be quiet, for on the hill just ahead he could see the outhne of the little two room log house, "Home."

There he must meet father and mother and give to them a reason for his condition and with the story he had made up firmly fixed in his mind, he walked up the road to the house.