Show A VICTIM I TO DUTY i iI ffi tOMMUSjJ ndralt that I am iJ J somewhat ashamed to re 1 a late I tho beginning of our II a J mutual attachment To speak frankly there Is lit f tIc room for proper selfrespect or dignity dig-nity In the confession Hint ono fell In lore at first sight wild a miserable I looklng creature discovered shivering beneath a portcochcre I a black and t stormy night It may bo evangelical but It hardly savors of pride for a man to share Ills existence with a poor i iioinelcsa and abandoned wretch who begged for a nights shelter and came from nobody knew where I But a mans affections cannot always be set upon the high and mighty of this earth nor can Ills esteem be given k solely to those who have succeeded in obtaining a argo share of Us good W4 things Those nttacnments which are most talked of are very often tho least pleasant and It must bo admitted that a lack of fortune is not necessarily neces-sarily a disparagement and for the most part the cruel tricks of fate takeaway take-away nothing of parental merit Besides I was regarded for my good t deed It it was one by so rare and unbounded un-bounded an admiration and gratitude that it deserves to bo mentioned To begin at the beginning then I was on my way home from the club where I had Just lost at play a sum 1 Pt 1 largo enough to destroy all thoughts of merriment On such occasions the world invariably becomes black and gloomy my fellowmen appear greater fools than they actually Are women li I are but painted Imitations of beauty and nil cab drivers n pest to be ruth lessly treated f I All my best sentiments arc clouded over for the time being and In my r wrath and despair I usually endeavor II n to make some one else as unhappy as Jf I am myself Accordingly I remember m remem-ber upon this particular occasion two beggars bad hastily and tremblingly I < 11 i withdrew from my footsteps as I talked tragically tomeward 1 Suddenly as I turned a poorly light m ed corner I heard a low whine at my 1 f elite I haughtily turned my head tho h other way Two steps further came a 1 i4i R second cry from the other side this m + I time and more persistently and in 1 iclatont f t The devil fly away with youl I thought Irritably I suppose I cant i decently < < leave the poor beggar to dlo just because I have lost a few piles of gold pieces t I paused feeling In my pockets fort for-t tho few scattered coins that had survived sur-vived the evenings shipwreck ThoUght + + Tho-Ught from the daring street lamp illuminated I il-luminated a single spot in the darkness dark-ness and Instead of the beggar I had expected I sawa little shivering black dog whoso long curly ears fell nearly to the ground and whose tall wagging pitifully betrayed tho owners misery better than any words 1 I I was furious To be sure tho dog Is the friend of man in general and I I any the friend of tho dog In particular ti I But to be stopped on such a night when I was nobodys friend cither In 9 general or particular and Just for a dog was too much I started to walk on when I felt his iii 1 = tongue warm and moist lick my band Doubtless he wished to thank me for having done so much as to pause and i glare at him for an Instant It was generous of me truly I I stopped again Ills tall was wagging wag-ging more and more earnestly and his dark eyes looked imploringly Into mine P t minICorne he was saying in his dogs language which I understand perfect ly come now dont be hard hearted Look I am freezing cold and starving to death I havent a master nor the + smallest sign of a bone nor anywhere to sleep Take mQ home with you Ill p follow you and obey you and love you for Im n very good sort of dog Oh Im sure that now youve seen how miserable I am you cant go on and leave me to die Honest now can I you c 1 lie was right I couldnt It didnt take very long toe me to tell him so either I stooped and patted his curly head and the dog un derstanding my language as well as I had read his Jumped into my arms with his wet cold foot uttering short little barks which were all he had strength for Come along old man I said you belong to me now He didnt make me repeat it twice but rubbed his muzzle against my leg and trotted beside me happily Arent you rather hungry I inquired in-quired presently looking at him Gracious yes abominably so answered an-swered the tall wagging furiously r Come on then well go and have come supper I suggested Ho accepted my proposition with alacrity and we stopped at a restaurant restau-rant where I procured an excellent soup full of all sorts of doggish delicacies deli-cacies and put it down before my new friend He was evidently satisfied for he ate with an appetite which I secret ly envied him j fn i While ho ate I examined him He was of a good breed certainly for his limbs were well formed and shapely Stolen from somebodys kennel I surmised sur-mised I decided that I would name him Ncdjeh whlcu seemed to suit his dark beauty and I informed him of his new cognomen It took him some time to get used to it but Pon I couldnt expect ex-pect everything The next morning after a night spent on a comfortable pillow Nedjeh was as much at home In my bachelor quarters quar-ters as It ho had been born there lIe examined all tho corners searched the closets watched my orderly polish my boots with every sign of approval and lastly turned his attention to me and my bed lIe rcjulnrly took possession of mo and made himself completely at home After his own toilet bad been made and the traces of his former misery removed I presented him to the mess where with perfect selfpossession he accepted the pollings anil attentions of my fellow olllcers 1 Ho would make an excellent military mili-tary dog said the Colonel always an eminently practical man Very true said the Lieutenant Colonel who invariably agreed with his superior as was proper Let mo have him Wllhelin slid my chum n captain In my own regiment regi-ment Ill teach him the tricks of tho trade Iled be a fine mascot And indeed it was not long before the intelligent animal had learned his lesson well He could gIve the alarm signal tho approach of tho enemy discover dis-cover sentinels and spies and carry written messages delivering them to the proper parson Tho Colonel was delighted with him and he soon became be-came tho pet of tho regiment There was one thing however that Ncdjeh learned to hate very thoroughly thorough-ly oven in a painted picture and that was tho French uniform In order to inspire JIm with a lasting sentiment senti-ment of this nature my friend the captain after fastening the dog in tho stable had dressed up as a French eofilcer and then pretended to strike meThe The experiment was a complete success suc-cess so much so that we had to interrupt inter-rupt it for fear of an accident for Ncdjeh was straining at his rope and growling After that he evinced n great hatred for anything that recalled the uniform Alas it was this very sentiment that brought about his death One day In July I was walking with my friends on tho outskirts of the city admiring tho rich crops that would soon be harvested Nedjeh was with me on a leash From time to time he looked at me with a bored expression and yawned widely his white teeth gleaming in his mouth Seeing that I was bound to continue my walk he followed at my heels wit a resigned droop to his cars We stopped where a company of men wcro practicing marksmanship and presently I felt a hard tug at the leash Ncdjeh his eyes gleaming his hair bristling was standing on his hind lees barkIng madlv In vain I tried to soothe him patting and calling him pet names he only continued con-tinued to bark hoarsely and chokingly as he strained at his collar At last he gave one long snap at the leash which broke Ncdjeh tumbled over In the dust but recovering dashed off at a wild run I Here here Nedjeh come back I commanded but his ears were sealed At some distance in the field wero tho painted of a man standing kneeling and lying down which served as targets for the men to shoot at One of these was painted in tho hated colors of the French uniform With n furious growl Ncdjeh rushed upon this latter biting it and tearing it to pieces Tho astonished soldier laid down his gun and the onlookers dcllchtcd with the Kneetnolo nnnlnml ed boisterously Bravo for the dog Down with the Frenchman Go ahead Fldo cat him up they cried I hastened to catch hold again of the leash but by the time I did so all that remained of the unfortunate model was a scattered pile of wooden splinters torn and bitten Nedjeh had satisfied his hatred and panting he awaited my approach with a triumphant I triumph-ant air And although I was obliged to pay for the destroyed target I could not find any excuse for scolding my dog who had done nothing but what ho had been taught to consider his duty Now comes the sad epilogue of my story which I hcv dedicate to all my readers who are fond of dogs I should havo wished to conclude in a less funeral strain and portray Nedjeh as continuing the courso of his exploits in a real encounter wlin the enemy wherein where-in he would be covered with glory But alas the poor animal died though not upon the field of battle yet none the less a victim Ho was made to pay with his life for a too complete obedience obedi-ence to the lessons he hd received Ho died during the nigh poisoned bj tho colors he had absorhiil whllo devouring de-vouring the painted Frenchman All my care was powerless to save him and even the veterinary was obliged to confess himself battled Ioor little dog We lamented him you may be sure and we burled him in a corner of the mess garden in a quiet sheltered spot and over his grave we put the inscription NEDJEH The dog of the Regiment A victim tfl his duty Translated from the German for the NeW York Sun |