TUB SUNDAY HER: OMAHA. OUTOHKU 1, 1922.
Blaster he MW tha tasarled and of
tha rope of lb window ruiluln. a
&-p and magnificent rd, waing
vt-r mi luihtly before him. I la
steadied himself ta watch thin: ha
moved forward a fi'W pitiva townnt
moved a few aee toward It
ml steadied himself bkuIii, Ho
than mstit down n til front ,
hi eyes staring at It with utter ab
sorption, and thera proceeded from
Somewhere Inside hla body Strang
liolto llk a ketllii Jut on tlio bull.
H ilvnnc"d closer, raised a mw,
and punhvd It i-vr n slightly. Then
what hi u had longed fur, but
eiircely dured lo eM-et, occurred.
Tha t"x swung. II lilt It again.
It iiwunir mora violently. With ax
cited rumbling h was at It an J
upon lt( catching It between hi
toeth, worrying it, pulling It, letting-
It go attain, tumbling. In hi
eagerness, on hi head, pulling him
self up aguin, rolllntc once, when he
missed It altogether, over on to hi
hark, anil thi' ii suddenly pausing,
sitting down on hi haunches anil
looking up at Todhunter with eye
that wero bright with happiness,
a body qulveilnx with incitement.
From that moment ho muy ta said
to have been firmly established In
the Todhunter household.
II waa christened with the mm
tnonplac naiito of Dob, because
Todhunter, with all hla knowledge
and erudition, could think of noth
ing better, lie devoted himself com
pletely to hla master, following hlin
about whenever he wo in the
houM, refusing to have hla meal
anywhere but In Todhunter' pres
ence, and Bleeping on the end of
Todliuntor'a Iwd. Ha very quickly
acclimatized himself to the waya of
the house, was no trouble to any
body, and tha rook would have en
snared him body and aould and
turned him Into the merest kitchen
dog (an ambition that every cook In
the world most unfortunately po
losses) hid not liln loyal soul been
capable of only one attachment at
a time.
Then eamo the great day which
wan to change Todhunter' lift.
There arrived an afternoon, fine,
warm and beautiful, when Tod
hunter thought ho would like a
stroll In the pnrk. The doir. an was
hi habit, presented himself In the
hall, wagging hla tail In a frenzy,
his eyea rained passionately to hla
master's face, bis whole body one
throbbing' appeal. Torthunter yield
ed, took the lead wh'ch Mordant
had pure-hawed, and strode off, the
dog at hla heels. Then went up Into
the Inner circle, passed the botan
ical gardens, through the little gate,
over the railings, on to the gnat
aweep of green that faces the Zoo.
Today this green was covered
with families,' babies and cricketers.
It was early In June and everybody
who could was playing a ball game
of ono sort or another, from the
very elegant teams in white flannel
Who were playing like aristocrats,
with a large crowd watching them,
to four small boys who had a sth-k
and an old tattered ball and spent
their time delightedly screaming the
one at the other.
Now how should Todhunter have
known that to this particular dog
anything in tho shape of a ball was
like drink to a drunkard, opium to
a Chinaman and a hat shop to a
woman? Indeed, more than thesi.
A ball flying In the air was his own
soul projecting Into the ether, some
thing that lie could no more hopo
to resist than a cat can resist a.
mouse. And here was suddenly tha
whole space of tho earth, the bluo
of the air, tho very winds of heaven
Itself, filled with flying balls, bails
of every kind, color and sizo. rising,
rolling, leaping, the very final para
dise which he had always dreamed
and never hoped to see. At once he
was off, his tail up, his legs scuttling
hi hind him, his nose in tho air.
First, he made for two nursemaids
and some babies, but here the hall
was too large for him to secure it
with his teeth, so he merely wagged
his tail at them and scuttled across
to three littlo girls who had a tennis
hall that they were throwing very
Inaccurately the one to the other.
The moment he had it In his
Mouth he was off again and all
three little girls set up n howl that
could surely have been heard from
one end of the park to the other,
nnd that brought two stout, per
spiring women hastily to the res
cue. Todhunter reached them Just
oa they were looking angrily around
for some ono to abuse. "I do beg
your pardon," be began, quite
breathless with his hurry (he was,
of course, not in the very bent con
dition), - my little dog ... 1
assure you I didn't Intend . . .
nobody knew. , . .
They w era mollified by hi ob
vluua agitation. The dog ui res
cued and brought back, tha tennis
hall, punctured la several places,
dragged from Its niouth, some
money offered to pay for tha bull
and haughtily r"Jcted. and by th
time tl.i waa Just coming to an
honorable but somewhat awkward
conclusion, the dog tu off again,
this tint plunging Into tha uiid Iks
f tha elegant crkatt fttatrh, her
twa snan war running fur, the
tivaa batwaaa tha wkksta. Tt
Muniar had )uat ttina t aoa tha iV
run asyly with (has, bolt Inlu tha
wickeu an I kanak aff tka fcUre
delightfully nion a stout and in
dlgimnt umIre, and then run after
the cricket bull Which hud been
flunif too far by onu fielder, rush
at It as though It wr a live ihinn,
push It with bis feet nnd then go
for tha lent of tl.! Ili-lder who
picked It up,
Thera followed then an em hunt
ing half hour, enchanting, that
Wri, for the onlookers, but not e
uctly so for the unfortunate man
In a top but and a tall coat who,
trying to catch the dog. Inevitably
just missed htm and v.ns, aa all the
delighted observer agreed, a most
ludicrous and helpless tlgura. Kvery
one watched, applauded, shouted,
laughed, and Incited the anlmiU to
further exploit. Tha dog had
never known such a half hour be
fore and will pretty certainly never
know such a half hour nwln. When
at butt he was rnii.-ht by a stout
woman attended by a lurge crowd
of children, nursemaids and small
lioys, Tidhunter was a wreck of
heat and agitation.
Toor little thing." said the wo
man, concernedly. "Must have a
little bit of fun at times."
All the crowd offered comments
with that frnnknei) and humor that
mi especially belongs to the cockney
A great deal of advice wns offered.
"Put lm on tha lead. Khovo 'is
'ead In a bag. Taka '1m 'ome and
tlo 'Jm up. 'Ave a 1ath. mlsdr,
yer 'ot. Btlck yer top 'at over 'lui,"
and so on.
There followed then the agitating
huNlnes of trying to fasten the
lead on to his collar. The climp was
a new one and very stiff. The dog
wriggled Into every shape and size,
and finally the really remarkable
vision was offered to an admiring
world of the author of "The Lake
Poet and Natural Symliollsm,"
kneeling In the mlddlo of Itcgents
park, hi hat off. his tie waving lit
tha wind, his face crimson, trying
to attach a very small dog and a
long piece of leather whllo a con
tinually Increasing crowd laughed,
admired, and expostulated.
Tho soena might have continued
for a long time had not a soft
voice been heard to say. "Perhaps
I can do It for you." and Todhunter,
looking up, beheld two of the love
liest eyea and one of tho prettiest
mouths In the world, set in a pat
tern of pink and whlto against the
bluest of skies. A young lady bent
towards him. For a moment his
hatid touched hers. In another
second the lead was adjusted; for
tha general public tho game was
over, but for Todhunter It' had only
Just begun.
Mordant greeted his master's re
turn that afternoon with that air
of strangled surprise that was so
eieclally bis own. lie suggested a
bath and changing Into evening
clothes a little earlier than usual.
"You look warm, sir," was all he
actually aald.
Todhunter, lying in his bath and
looking up at the, celling, won
conscious of the strangest mixture
of feeling, a mixture like .. some
spiritual indigestion, as though his
aoul had been indulging in a meal
of the feelings, crab, duckling, and
Ice pudding, all at ono and the
same time. The dog, who followed
him everywhere, was sitting on the
bath mat looking up to heaven,
patiently waiting for the moment
when his master, who had mys
teriously dropped Into a largo
white hole, would onco again mys
teriously rise. Ho was preparing
his own little celebration of barks,
gurgles, and Muller exercises for
that notable occasion. Todhunter
tried, his face just so happily ex
tending above the water, to
straighten out his thoughts and dis
cover his line of action. For once
they would not straighten, being
perpetually crossed and confused by
the recollection of those beautiful
eyes, that lovely mouth, and the
softness of that white hand.
Ho half rose, peered over the
edgo of the bath into the eyes of
the dog, wondered what had hap
pened to him, thought it must bo
the dog, stretched out a hand to
pat him, decided that it wasn't the
dog after all, found himself to his
amazement longing for the next aft
ernoon when he could walk in the
park once again, and stung to sud
den madness by his perception of
this weakness, Jumped out of his
bath, scattering water to right and
left, causing the dog to bark fer
ociously. Tha next day came. It waa fine
and beautiful, and ha found him
self to hla horror actually plotting
to launch the dog towards un
suspecting strangers In order that
some scene might be created that
would envoka tha goddess from the
surrounding bushes, ftha was not
evoked. Five babies were upat,
three tennis balls ruined, two
elderly gentlemen made almost
apoplactlo from temper, oue old lady
delighted with what she called "the
little darling's playful ways," one
policeman Insulted so seriously that
be had to be pWatad with a gift,
but no goddess.
It was that avealnr. la solitude
la hi awn house, that showed Tod
hunts what ha had raally hacom.
lis. a fettled and avlldiltad bacha
Vr, wha had escaped tha danavmua
ac. had eVct.Wd suit finally that
wtaas war nothing to aim, row
i
ho sat In his large, chilly library
nnd sighed and even groaned and
flung tho po-t laureate's eruillc
work on Hilton' Prosody from on
end of tho library la the other. Ma
behaved, I urn sorry to say. like a
liutudlln sentimentalist over the
dog. Ha folidhd Jiini. caressed him,
tickled hi ears, muttered absurd
tlilni! Into hi mouth, and finally
let him lft"i on hi lap, sitting
there nturli.g In front of Mill till
every Un In hi ldy ached, but
ho would not wuka the animal,
that littlo messenger of Jove, that
little evoker of the godless, that
i-nnlrie symbol of Cupid.
It wus undoubtedly tho dog' best
evening. There never wim, there
never will be again, such a senti
mentalist a that dog. It was not
tho dog' fault. He had twen created
a sentimentalist. The one thl - In
life that ha wanted wo to be loved
and caressed and It was tho one
thing In life that hitherto he had
not obtained. I'nllke most dog,
his stomach was nothing to hi
heart, and ho would desert any
bona for a caress. Not that with
nil this he was entirely soft. He
bad the fighting quality, be had his
dislikes nnd showed them, but when
he loved, he loved with all hi heart.
On that great evening he Just gave
himself up completely to his master,
and how was ha to tell that It was
not of h'm that h's master wa
th'nk'ng, but of something qu'ta
different, somth'ng far more dan.
gerousT It wa well that he made
tha most of that even'ng so far a
Todhunter was concerned. It was
tha dog's Inst, because on the next
duy, soother lovely afternoon of sun
and color and scented leaves, tha
goddes wa evoked, stepped forth
from the hushes, gave a I'ttla
startled sni'lo of rrcognlt'on when
Tcrthunter ra'sed h's hat. said.
"Why, there's the dear l'ttla dog,"
entered Into eonversat'on about
dogs In general and of what part'eu
lar breed th' dog In the major'ty
was, passed from that to remarks
about tho weather, how badly ra'n
was needed, from thence to how tho
weather always broke when she
took her hol'doy, and It was a shame
because she loved t'-nn'a so, and
from that to why In general th'ngs
were never qu'te as you would have
them to be, and she supposed that It
was because ft wouldn't be good for
people's characters if they were, and
from that a'la'n to character and
d'sc'pl'ne, and fnallv the last, stop
toward how you couldn't help l'k'ng
some people at f'rst s'ght, and she
really d'dn't know why It was so,
nnd she supptwi'd it was fool'sh to
go so often on f'rst Irnpress'ons as
she d'd, but that one way and an
other she had never been deceived,
. although her mother kept on sav'ng
to her, "Look out. Dulcle, you'll be
taken In one day," but up to now
eht hadn't been.
By Ill's t'mo they were half across
tho grass and almost directly under
observat'on from a very long legged,
meluncholy look'ng an'mM on to" of
the Mapp'n terraces, whoso thor
oughly poHS'm'st'c outlook should
have been a warning to both of
them, but was not
Todhunter, It may frankly be sa'd,
was unaware whether he were walk
ing on h's head or h's heels,
. whether he was In London or T'm
buctoo, whether hi heart, wh'ch
was beat'ng l'ke a hammer, res'ded
In h's calves or somewhere just
above h's left ear. H only knew
that rhc was wear'ng gome wonder
ful color that was l'ke cherr'os, but
wasn't cherr'es exactly, nnd that
when she sm'b'd the wcrM took a
sudden si n 'nto snace nnd wa only
haul"d back from d'sappcar'nr ul
togfrthcr by the strongest exercise
of judgment on his part.
Here two things add to tho de
velopment of my story. One was
the entrance of Mallory, the
bachelor friend of Todhunter. The
other was tho beginning of the
tragedy of the dog.
It is d'lllcult, of course, to know
exactly what goes on In a dog's
mind, but we may suppose, without
venturing into the realms of
psychoanalysis or treading on Dr.
Jung's German toes, that that evo
nlng made glorious by the caresses
of his muH'er had roused In him
highest hope of a splendid and
slobbery future. In truth It waa
at that very moment that his de
cline in his master's affections be
gan. How could he II that l follow
ing hia natural p ayful Instinct on
that wonderful ball flying afternoon
ho. had laid a pit for his own de
struction? How could he tell that
It waa not himself that his master
needed but love and an escape from
loneliness? He liked the young
woman, who was now forever ap
pearing at most unexpected time
and In most unwarranted plam-a.
but hi liking for her In no sort of
way touched hia devotion to hi
maater, and hla master now
enid to have no longer any time
for him at all. Ha was furaver be
In cast down Into tha kitchen,
told to play with tha cat, urged to
ward beitft which wra then sud
denly withdrawn fiom hliu. gvatirg
aneanstad, MHit uneitwt tdly ba
Iwraa tha tart fat ff Munhinl and
tl ntUl larger fit of tha rk. II
spent hi time sitting at tha bot
tom of tha kitchen siulr looking
upward, Impliij niuinnt that
hi master. Ilka Jove, w...d sud
denly appear, lie went out once for
a walk In tho park with hi master
and the young lu ly, but elicited no
sullies front them, drew no attention
by hi playful antic, and was In-d.4-d
such a failure that during the
last part of tho time ha walked at
hi master' heel In something of
the sunio crawling way thut ha had
dona the tlmt day of nil.
Ho could not understand it. Tho
little Joke thut had beet) so readily
accepted only tho week tefor were
now not noticed at nil, and once
when with true unselfish disinter
esteilnes ha sprang up on tha young
lady ami tried to cmhmce her, ho
wo violently rebuked by hi mas
ter,' who told hlin not to ha a
nuisance and ordered Mordant to
take him down to the basemen,.
He wa very unhappy.
Tho person who wns unhappy was
Michael Mallory, For yr.tr and
year Mallory and T'ihunlcr hud
len bftchelors together. .V.allory,
having, after being1 twi" rejected,
flung women over tha wall as be
ing unworthy of further attention,
took It for granted Todhunter had
dona tho stune. Thl sudden un
pen ranee of a young woman In a
cherry colored dress with her silly
slmtierlng smile and her way of
looking at hltn when ha was pres
ent as though she wished ha would
go away and would tell him so as
soon a site was mora safely en
trenched In Todhunter' affection
Infuriated him.
Mallory wa lonely a ha had
never Iteen lonely beforo. II nut
in tha library with very much the
Mime look on hi round chubby face
that tho dog was wearing down In
the basement. If Todhunter de
serted htm ho did not know what
he would do. He tried to plot a
little, hinted that from what he'd
heard the young woman's relation
woro not all that they might be,
that there was a brother In Bouth
Africa, ha believed, wlui had done
something onco that ho shouldn't;
that ho didn't know why, but he
fancied that the ymng lady was not
quite so loyal to Toil hunter a she
ought to be; that sho laughed, he
fancied, behind Todhunter' back.
Finally, with a deep breath like
one coming up from a deep dive
far below the salty sea, he ejacu
lated, "Anyway, Jim, it' good, to
think that you're too old for such
Billy things as matrimony." Fur
prixlnf?. Indeed, then, to ee Tod
hunter's anger, hi eyebrow shoot
out as though, like Mr. Tate's mus
tache, they were fixed tn with elas
tic! "What do you mean?" he
cried. "Too old? I'm not too old
at all. I'll show you whether I'm
too old,"' which he did by propos
ing that same evening and being
Instantly, even greedily, accepted.
If the dog's fate before the en
gagement had been a sad ona, It
was nothing to what It wa after
wards. He was now entirely
neglected. It wa decided that the
wedding should bo soon and that
it should bo rather a smart wed
ding. Miss Dulcie l'inkerton, the
young lady, had reached Just that'
cge when her women friends were
beginning to say, "Poor Uulcle,
she'll never bo married now," so
that she was determined to Invito
them all and to have tho finest
ceremony possible, Todhunter was
in that desperate stato whan ho
agreed to everything. Ho was to
wako up just a year too late to
wonder why he did tho things he
did.
The dog sat In the basement and
so desperate did things become that
his meal was occasionally forgotten
and he was forced to eat tho cat's.
H's heart was broken. Ho would
havo preferred lnt:nitely to return
to the days of the t.'n can and tho
jeer.'ng boyn, when lis had no il
lus'on as to love, v. hen he knew ex
actly where ha was.
Three or four days before tho
wedding he evolved a littlo plot. H
hung about the stairs, outmaneu
vered Mordant, who was now, of
course, a very busy and self-important
man, slipped into h's mas
ter's bedroom, Jumped on to h!s old
accustomed place and curled at the
foot of h's muster's bed. Here, with
bcut'ng heart, he waited. At a late
hour h's master entered, and for a
wh le stood In front of the look'ng
glass, slowly tak'ng off hi tlo and
unbutton ng hfscollar, and murmur
ing. 1 ke tho hero of one of Mr. Hos
settl's poems, over and over again,
"Dulcle, Dulcle, Dolc e. Dat l ng, dar
I ng." When at lost h delirium
for a moment y'elded to the neces
sity of rban'ng hi teeth, he turned
round towuid the bed and saw the
dog.
"tlod heavens, what are you doing
her?" h cried. Tho dog squinted
at h'm out of the corner of both
eye, thumped h tal feebly and
gave a hew-h'nt wrhigla of III
l'y. "fan t have jrott here," aa'd
Totthuiiti r, "tur prvnwr pWa la
tha kitchen."
H went tn t!i door, epenvd It and
railed "Mordant." Tlwt d (nlf cd
rrrature waa just tUn advsiie n,
poiolrroUkly to 1J. "i-. bar.
' M iiJ .m, thai d-i g-'t in l"i
at. n, J list taka h.in downstair,
Will you? Horry to bother yoti."
Tho dog iiiiolo onn di-np tuto i f
fort of appeal, gctt.ng upon his
baiiiuhe snd hedging a In hla
u.i 1. 1 r. happier d.iy lie hud bo n
tutiiiht to do. All that occurred was
that Mordant, grunt. ng, catiuhl Inin
by his sk n and dragged hlin down
stairs, threw li m Into the cat's Iki.
kt and so left h ni. Tha dog sighed
himself to sleep.
The wedding wa over. Ih guests
were at tho house, Todhiiuicr nnd
hi Dulcle had stood in tlw mid.ilw
of the room receiving ciiiIIch super
Hi lnl congratulations from stiperrlli
ou guests, Tho inoiui ut hsd coma
whin tho happy loan must g'.i up
and change his clothes for the jour
ney. Outside In tha hall theie
were were two figures. In the mid
dle of tho hall, stout, chubby, and
miserable, wsa Mallory, (Muring
desolntely In, front of him. In tho
middle of the talrcHc, looking nlf
surd with a piece of lihtstn round
hi neck, wa tha dog, aluo staring
In front of hlin. hoping against hopo
for a kind word, a pal of the band,
something from someloly, "Hulln,
Jim," said Mallory. "Hullo, old
man," said Todhunter, "I must
hurry up and get changed. Wo'r
off In a quarter of an hour."
Mallory waited for Todhunter to
say something of the mora tender
sort, but II la the first duty of tha
Duli-i-a of this world tn salughter
tha pre matrimonial frlunds. Hha
had already hinted to her dear
James that Mr. Mallory was really
the sweetest of men but ha wa just
a wee bit tlresomo with hi silly old
stories over and over ago In and she
wasn't sure whether he wero quit
ho loyal to her dear James aa her
dear James thought him.
Mallory caught the ey.i of lha
dog. "I say, Jim," ho suddenly said.
"Hullo, what I It?" said Tedhiinler,
turning at the foot of the stair.
"Wasn't it through that dog,"
Mallory said, "that wou ni-t your
Wife?"
"Why, yes. It was," said Tod
hunter, but showing very plainly
Indeed that he wanted to escape.
"Not a biul idea that," said Mal
lory reflectively. "Act as a kind
of Introducer, you know. After all,"
he put his finger In his mouth, A
childish habit to which he was ad
dicted, "it's never too late to
mend. ... I say, Jim, would you
let me have tho dog?"
Todhunter, half way up tho stairs,
passing the dog without looking at
It, turned round. "Have the dog?
Why, of course. Whatever do you
want It for? I thought you didn't
like dogs."
"O, I don't know." Mullory shift
ed from foot to foot. "Just an Idea
that occurred to me. Take him out
for walks In the park, you know.
That sort of thing. Tou'll let m
havo him?"
"Why, certainly V cried Tod
hunter, disappearing. Mallory went
up to the dog and stroked Jt, f;lt
the wholo of his heart warm to tha
responsive wrlgglo that tho dog
gave.
"Come along, old man," Bald Mal
lory. "You belong to me now. You
may do me a good turn ono day.
Who knows?" They left the house
together.
Copyright, l2t.
The Guide Post
To
Good Books for Children.
Choose one of these books to read
each week. Perhaps you had better
cut th a list out each timo and take
it with you to your city library.
It is prepared for the Happyland
boys and g'rls by M'ss Ales M.
Jordan, superv'sor of children's
work, Boston public library. This
week tdio suggests
Hahlwln, James, "Thirty More Fa
mous Stories "
Kw'ng, J. H., "Story of a Short
L'fc."
Hayes, Isaac, "Cast Away In the
Cold."
l'yle. K., and L. S. Porter, "Theo
dora." Htc'n, Kvaleen, "A Little Shep
herd of Provence."
W ggln, K. V.. and X. A. Smith,
"Talking Heasts."
Ifclng Kind.
If you were busy being kind,
Iieforo you knew It you would find
You'd soon forget to think 'twas
true
That someone was unkind to you.
hkhixx'a kukkpman.
ltuby Sh'pley of Centralis, 111.,
often plays she Is a 1'ttln fairy
when she gets lonesome, for there
sro no other 1'ttlfl girls with whom
she can play
f ii.l lie Tin nd of South Portland,
Me., hates to sea people whip
horse and hurt dumb nn'mnl and
th'nks the Happy THlm pledge la
lovely.
Myrtle Vorst of 8t. tleiiavleve
Mo,, mad aaverul b'rd house last
summer, amciur .thyri arnri.j
room mrtrI1K
Jusrph AJVfnu,. f rh
Own, Mo. , f . . u, t ionip (lark
si biM'l an.1.. .. .,, ,r t hu b like
"'lll
CWirKf,f
V
MT CI
