A child was standing on a street-corner. He leaned with one shoulder
against a high board fence and swayed the other to and fro, the while
kicking carelessly at the gravel.
Sunshine beat upon the cobbles, and a lazy summer wind raised yellow
dust which trailed in clouds down the avenue. Clattering trucks moved
After a time, a little dark-brown dog came trotting with an intent air
down the sidewalk. A short rope was dragging from his neck. Occasionally
he trod upon the end of it and stumbled.
He stopped opposite the child, and the two regarded each other. The dog
hesitated for a moment, but presently he made some little advances with
his tail. The child put out his hand and called him. In an apologetic
manner the dog came close, and the two had an interchange of friendly
pattings and waggles. The dog became more enthusiastic with each moment
of the interview, until with his gleeful caperings he threatened to
overturn the child. Whereupon the child lifted his hand and struck the
dog a blow upon the head.
This thing seemed to overpower and astonish the little dark-brown dog,
and wounded him to the heart. He sank down in despair at the child's
feet. When the blow was repeated, together with an admonition in
childish sentences, he turned over upon his back, and held his paws in a
peculiar manner. At the same time with his ears and his eyes he offered
a small prayer to the child.
He looked so comical on his back, and holding his paws peculiarly, that
the child was greatly amused and gave him little taps repeatedly, to
keep him so. But the little dark-brown dog took this chastisement in the
most serious way and no doubt considered that he had committed some
grave crime, for he wriggled contritely and showed his repentance in
every way that was in his power. He pleaded with the child and
petitioned him, and offered more prayers.
At last the child grew weary of this amusement and turned toward home.
The dog was praying at the time. He lay on his back and turned his eyes
upon the retreating form.
Presently he struggled to his feet and started after the child. The
latter wandered in a perfunctory way toward his home, stopping at times
to investigate various matters. During one of these pauses he discovered
the little dark-brown dog who was following him with the air of a
footpad.
The child beat his pursuer with a small stick he had found. The dog lay
down and prayed until the child had finished, and resumed his journey.
Then he scrambled erect and took up the pursuit again.
On the way to his home the child turned many times and beat the dog,
proclaiming with childish gestures that he held him in contempt as an
unimportant dog, with no value save for a moment. For being this quality
of animal the dog apologized and eloquently expressed regret, but he
continued stealthily to follow the child. His manner grew so very guilty
that he slunk like an assassin.
When the child reached his doorstep, the dog was industriously ambling a
few yards in the rear. He became so agitated with shame when he again
confronted the child that he forgot the dragging rope. He tripped upon
it and fell forward.
The child sat down on the step and the two had another interview. During
it the dog greatly exerted himself to please the child. He performed a
few gambols with such abandon that the child suddenly saw him to be a
valuable thing. He made a swift, avaricious charge and seized the rope.
He dragged his captive into a hall and up many long stairways in a dark
tenement. The dog made willing efforts, but he could not hobble very
skilfully up the stairs because he was very small and soft, and at last
the pace of the engrossed child grew so energetic that the dog became
panic-stricken. In his mind he was being dragged toward a grim unknown.
His eyes grew wild with the terror of it. He began to wiggle his head
frantically and to brace his legs.
The child redoubled his exertions. They had a battle on the stairs. The
child was victorious because he was completely absorbed in his purpose,
and because the dog was very small. He dragged his acquirement to the
door of his home, and finally with triumph across the threshold.
No one was in. The child sat down on the floor and made overtures to the
dog. These the dog instantly accepted. He beamed with affection upon his
new friend. In a short time they were firm and abiding comrades.
When the child's family appeared, they made a great row. The dog was
examined and commented upon and called names. Scorn was leveled at him
from all eyes, so that he became much embarrassed and drooped like a
scorched plant. But the child went sturdily to the center of the floor,
and, at the top of his voice, championed the dog. It happened that he
was roaring protestations, with his arms clasped about the dog's neck,
when the father of the family came in from work.
The parent demanded to know what the blazes they were making the kid
howl for. It was explained in many words that the infernal kid wanted to
introduce a disreputable dog into the family.
A family council was held. On this depended the dog's fate, but he in no
way heeded, being busily engaged in chewing the end of the child's
dress.
The affair was quickly ended. The father of the family, it appears, was
in a particularly savage temper that evening, and when he perceived that
it would amaze and anger everybody if such a dog were allowed to remain,
he decided that it should be so. The child, crying softly, took his
friend off to a retired part of the room to hobnob with him, while the
father quelled a fierce rebellion of his wife. So it came to pass that
the dog was a member of the household.
He and the child were associated together at all times save when the
child slept. The child became a guardian and a friend. If the large folk
kicked the dog and threw things at him, the child made loud and violent
objections. Once when the child had run, protesting loudly, with tears
raining down his face and his arms outstretched, to protect his friend,
he had been struck in the head with a very large saucepan from the hand
of his father, enraged at some seeming lack of courtesy in the dog. Ever
after, the family were careful how they threw things at the dog.
Moreover, the latter grew very skilful in avoiding missiles and feet. In
a small room containing a stove, a table, a bureau and some chairs, he
would display strategic ability of a high order, dodging, feinting and
scuttling about among the furniture. He could force three or four people
armed with brooms, sticks and handfuls of coal, to use all their
ingenuity to get in a blow. And even when they did, it was seldom that
they could do him a serious injury or leave any imprint.
But when the child was present these scenes did not occur. It came to be
recognized that if the dog was molested, the child would burst into
sobs, and as the child, when started, was very riotous and practically
unquenchable, the dog had therein a safeguard.
However, the child could not always be near. At night, when he was
asleep, his dark-brown friend would raise from some black corner a wild,
wailful cry, a song of infinite loneliness and despair, that would go
shuddering and sobbing among the buildings of the block and cause people
to swear. At these times the singer would often be chased all over the
kitchen and hit with a great variety of articles.
Sometimes, too, the child himself used to beat the dog, although it is
not known that he ever had what truly could be called a just cause. The
dog always accepted these thrashings with an air of admitted guilt. He
was too much of a dog to try to look to be a martyr or to plot revenge.
He received the blows with deep humility, and furthermore he forgave his
friend the moment the child had finished, and was ready to caress the
child's hand with his little red tongue.
When misfortune came upon the child, and his troubles overwhelmed him,
he would often crawl under the table and lay his small distressed head
on the dog's back. The dog was ever sympathetic. It is not to be
supposed that at such times he took occasion to refer to the unjust
beatings his friend, when provoked, had administered to him.
He did not achieve any notable degree of intimacy with the other members
of the family. He had no confidence in them, and the fear that he would
express at their casual approach often exasperated them exceedingly.
They used to gain a certain satisfaction in underfeeding him, but
finally his friend the child grew to watch the matter with some care,
and when he forgot it, the dog was often successful in secret for
himself.
So the dog prospered. He developed a large bark, which came wondrously
from such a small rug of a dog. He ceased to howl persistently at night.
Sometimes, indeed, in his sleep, he would utter little yells, as from
pain, but that occurred, no doubt, when in his dreams he encountered
huge flaming dogs who threatened him direfully.
His devotion to the child grew until it was a sublime thing. He wagged
at his approach; he sank down in despair at his departure. He could
detect the sound of the child's step among all the noises of the
neighborhood. It was like a calling voice to him.
The scene of their companionship was a kingdom governed by this terrible
potentate, the child; but neither criticism nor rebellion ever lived for
an instant in the heart of the one subject. Down in the mystic, hidden
fields of his little dog-soul bloomed flowers of love and fidelity and
perfect faith.
The child was in the habit of going on many expeditions to observe
strange things in the vicinity. On these occasions his friend usually
jogged aimfully along behind. Perhaps, though, he went ahead. This
necessitated his turning around every quarter-minute to make sure the
child was coming. He was filled with a large idea of the importance of
these journeys. He would carry himself with such an air! He was proud to
be the retainer of so great a monarch.
One day, however, the father of the family got quite exceptionally
drunk. He came home and held carnival with the cooking utensils, the
furniture and his wife. He was in the midst of this recreation when the
child, followed by the dark-brown dog, entered the room. They were
returning from their voyages.
The child's practised eye instantly noted his father's state. He dived
under the table, where experience had taught him was a rather safe
place. The dog, lacking skill in such matters, was, of course, unaware
of the true condition of affairs. He looked with interested eyes at his
friend's sudden dive. He interpreted it to mean: Joyous gambol. He
started to patter across the floor to join him. He was the picture of a
little dark-brown dog en route to a friend.
The head of the family saw him at this moment. He gave a huge howl of
joy, and knocked the dog down with a heavy coffee-pot. The dog, yelling
in supreme astonishment and fear, writhed to his feet and ran for cover.
The man kicked out with a ponderous foot. It caused the dog to swerve as
if caught in a tide. A second blow of the coffee-pot laid him upon the
floor.
Here the child, uttering loud cries, came valiantly forth like a knight.
The father of the family paid no attention to these calls of the child,
but advanced with glee upon the dog. Upon being knocked down twice in
swift succession, the latter apparently gave up all hope of escape. He
rolled over on his back and held his paws in a peculiar manner. At the
same time with his eyes and his ears he offered up a small prayer.
But the father was in a mood for having fun, and it occurred to him that
it would be a fine thing to throw the dog out of the window. So he
reached down and, grabbing the animal by a leg, lifted him, squirming,
up. He swung him two or three times hilariously about his head, and then
flung him with great accuracy through the window.
The soaring dog created a surprise in the block. A woman watering plants
in an opposite window gave an involuntary shout and dropped a flower-
pot. A man in another window leaned perilously out to watch the flight
of the dog. A woman who had been hanging out clothes in a yard began to
caper wildly. Her mouth was filled with clothes-pins, but her arms gave
vent to a sort of exclamation. In appearance she was like a gagged
prisoner. Children ran whooping.
The dark-brown body crashed in a heap on the roof of a shed five stories
below. From thence it rolled to the pavement of an alleyway.
The child in the room far above burst into a long, dirge-like cry, and
toddled hastily out of the room. It took him a long time to reach the
alley, because his size compelled him to go downstairs backward, one
step at a time, and holding with both hands to the step above.
When they came for him later, they found him seated by the body of his
dark-brown friend.
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