Show 1 t. t s r I F I r THE SO F A i i y H. H D D. C Couzens zens' zens MY TY iV COMPANION CO and I were strolling through Bronx Park Parr as he told me about his life in Southern California He lIe talked stalked animatedly interestedly and I 1 listened listened lis lis- with interest on my part for we 1 had hadnot hadnot not met since we had bad been at college m and be he had much to tell of his farm in a n new country and his young wife whom I 1 had never ne' seen Following I suppose the stream of people but at least without a conscious con con- design we had entered one of the buildings and walked along with the hum human tide ide still talking coming to an involuntary pause before a glass case Suddenly Armstrong ceased speaking I glanced at him and saw his jaw had drop dropped 1 and nd his eyes eres were starting with horror He lIe was as clutching the rail before him so tigh tightly that his knuckles seemed about to bre break breakthrough through rough the skin Isis His whole body was rigid with fearful fascination his eyes fixed on the glass before him Following his bis gaze I saw that we were before a n cage of diamond back rattlesnakes One of them was cal calen coiled on en n the shelf in the cage and its hideous u up- up reared treated head was WIlS on a level with our eyes slowly sw swaying ying from side to side With I his gaze gaze still fixed on the reptile Armstro Armstrong stooped slightly slight his hands in a clutching position his body trembling and alert in inexactly inexactly exactly the pose of a football player abo aboto about abou t tto to to tackle an adversary I touched him on the the shoulder and he started violently The There were ere great beads of perspiration en chi his for forhead forehead fore Core head hend and he wiped them away with his hang hand kerchief The crowd was beginning to o jost jostle Come Come on oI Jack said I lets get out of this r w i We e walked by the cages of the Australian Australian Aus Aus- dingoes and seated oUI ourselves elves on a bench Armstrong was still white and I could uld see that he had been badly shaken shake You You seem to have hae an aversion aversi n to snakes Maid aid I. I Im not very fond of them m my ms myself self but but but- Armstrong laughed a little hysterically hysterical J 1 guess Im I'm Im I'm lie he Interrupted apologetically apolo- apolo apolo I actually forgot where I wi was find and all about ever everything thing but that damned damns thing in front of me If I had known know where h re wo we were going you couldn't have gi got gote me me e inside that place with wild horses Hp He lit a cigar ciar and smoked in silence for a n while Rhile One of the dingoes was within a fe few feet feet of the bars Armstrong put out h hhand his J hand md spoke a fe few coaxing coaxin- words and ti the slinking furtive yellow beast came and I Imy to tonj totty tty nj amazement put his muzzle In ArmIt Armstrong's Armstrongs Arm Arm- It strong's strongs hand and licked him bim Why hy sal salI said saidI saidI I I those beasts are arc as wild as wolves I 1 stepped forward reached out my own hand hans and instantly the slant-eyed slant creature sprang back b ck with a snarl and bared its teeth Armstrong Armstrong Arm rm strong laughed quietly You cant can't d do that my boy No Xo use tr trying ing Youre You're city city- bred and that chap will never cotton t tSou to you Sou you You can never make love to a Il dog i ithe In Int Inthe t the e proper way till you learn to believe way down to honest-to-God in your jour our heart hert that l a dog has bas a soul lIe He called one once Wore and as the dingo came carne up r reached reache through the tIle bars and patted it en ca the head i- i You stem seem said I to be be Py playing th the animal ki kingdom today for your long Ions suit So I do that's a fact Im I'm really relly sorrI sorry J I I a acted ted so loco over that snake but th the and dog part of it all belong to on one tory story and if you like Ill I'll explain f I nodded for I was anxious tc to hear I II Us was s good to look at this friend of mine an angood and go good d to listen to with his big bronzed face deep kindly eyes and mellow voice and amI h he teas tras ns moreover er one of the men who seldom speak unless they have something to say He le puffed at gt t his cig cigar r and continued You lot see ee when we moved mo over o Into Imperial Valley Volley Val Yal- ley Nancy Kancy and md I had bad been married about a ar r year year ar and though there was a whole lot t to tod todo d do on the ranch more than there thera ought tg to have been for a woman the place hadn't begun to be settled and it was as pretty prett lonesome lone lone- sore some for her as I couldn't be with her much or of the time and there weren't any kiddies kiddie c coming oming ming along which was a real tragedy theras then ther as wed we'd naturally looked forward to a young Armstrong or two about the place The urse curse of a new big country like that it Is l loneliness especially to the women and I 1 Itell t tell ell n you there were times when I felt like m a beast beast east that first year when I saw the worry worry- l lines Ines nes creeping into the thc little girls girl's face Cace an and ard realized the childless lonesomeness that she wouldn't couldn't have lla owned up to for the worl world If f she hadn't begged and pleaded with me Id I'd d have thrown up the proposition at atone a and 11 gone gone one back to the city but of o of course weve we've got young joung Jack now and the place pays like a alouse a n. ahouse house louse afire an and were we're both glad we stuck 1 It t out niT WELL ELL on one of my trips to Los Angeles I 1 picked up and br brought ball of a fox fox- hom home mome a little round fuzzy terrier pup If a man cares about dogs dog and sad a man isn't much good that doesn't theres there's nothing in the world that will win winright winright right ight up next to him like a puppy especially the time most most but this one was a a. m f fox x terrier I had hail lovable little thing Ive I've ever seen other Bother ther dogs about the place place place-a a greyhound that hat I 1 used to run down coyotes a liver-and- liver doubtful white pointer and a rather but terrier but they were rough custom customers rs andre and we re never all allowed wed them in the house The he though became at once an inti Inti- Intimate intimate little ittle puppy mate late member of the family I 1 had bad an idea when rhea I got her that she f fI he e would interest little relief from the Godforsaken Godforsaken God God- Nancy Fancy and be some forsaken loneliness but I never dreamed bow aw w much that tyke was going to tc nean toh to toUs Us h s both There are arc dogs and dogs you know and andi i their heir characters are as distinctive and individual indi vidual as aro are those of humans The greyhound grey- grey ho hound nd for example had only one business in a life to life to chase co coyotes otes and jack He lIe le cared for nothing else and amI dreamed co otes and rabbits in his sleep There Thee wasn't an ounce of affection or loyalty in lD that hat slim small-brained small head bead of his his If I 1 bad ad caressed him he be would have bave der- der tood my intentions entirely The pointer vas was vas carefully trained to hunt he loved it passion with him Unlike the and ad it was a greyhound he lie was always looking for Cor approval approval ap- ap roval in an ingratiating sort of way appreciated appreciated praise and courted it but his chief J Interest was in bunting hunting and he had mighty little ittle use for me unless I 1 had load my gun with a mans man's dog entirely a me ce The bull was lucky happy chap 1 always s s keen for a poking his nose Into gopher romp or a run runners road generally full boles boJes oles chasing and always a thorough of f nervous energy t Y YI I gentleman Nancy bored him because sh she lacked those to man-to-man qualities the hall hail well met roughness that is the ideal ides of a mans man's dog His Ills delight was to too set hi his teeth teth Into something and worry it by th the hour and J Be he e would bring an old strap or a apiece piece of rope and beg you to hold it wIllIe whit he grabbed on shut his eyes and tugged a athe at atthe atthe the other end nd But the little tittle tyke was altogether dif dif- ferent She had the thing we call charm charn developed to a r remarkable degree Her lIer bod body was as pure white her ller head an evenly market marked rl cd brown and black with brown bees over ove her ller eyes and there was more eloquence ant and appeal in those bees than Ive I've ever seen ii In another dogs dog's face We Ye called her Bee a at first then extended this to Beatrice Batrice Nancy Nanc giving it the Italian twist and finally it simmered simmered sim aim sacred down to I suppose all this thi talk about a little dog sounds trifling ant and silly to you ou but to us way out there tryIng trying try try- ing log to make the desert bloom like the rose with only a Chinese ccok and two sweaty sweats men hired men for company it was another story and amI that pup grew into a place in it our affections second only to what we would have felt for Cor a c. kid of our own I suppose you know a n dog brought up of out of doors with other dogs is one thin thing thine and another raised indoors with humans is quite different soon rid herself of the objectionable fen features ures of most dogs She learned to wipe wip her feet and not track mud into the house anti and an not to bounce the paw over us and leave footprints on our clothes She Sha Sh was dainty and absolutely clean The only affectionate greeting we allowed was one touch on a cheek chesk with the tip of her little lUtIe pink tongue We Ye acted toward herand her ller and spoke to her just as though she had be been n a child grav gravely ly explaining what we want wanted l done an and then if she did not understand understand under under- stand showing her Lel how to do it At first first firsti sh she would listen to us with almost painful intentness the brown b Lees bees es raised and a wistful wistful wistful ful Took ok In her bel eloquent eyes that was really pathetic but before long she sae had a working knowledge of more words and phrases than we could count She did things as a JI matter atter of course once they were wera explained or shown to her without any ny wasted effort or a bark too many or tco too little a and d she ba had the doggy tact tactfulness of never being In the way and doing the ri right ht thin thins thing in the right place She understood our moods and adjusted herself herself herself her her- self to them and heart hart and soul she loved us We Ye were her whole world word and all there was vas in it She never fooled with the ether dogs and her interest In the cook and hired men was merely perfunctory a was WIlS as near human humaJ as rs a dog can cnn le be There was something that looked out of her wistful e eyes ejes es that wasn't dog at all nIl It made roade us ashamed to put her through her paltry tricks Of course we taught her herall herall all nIl the usual fool capers capeis but she ha hated ed them and always went through them unwillingly Believe me dogs as a rule are not nearly so bright as most people think They have far farless farless farless less intelligence and Initiative than they are given ghen credit for This pup of ours having these qualities in an advanced degree made me understand this better Though she hated the paltry tricks we had hind taught her she would play seek hide-and-seek a game that she virtually taught hers herself lf with our collaboration tion by the nour hour She would lie on the bed her head on her paws her bod body twitching twitching twitching twitch twitch- ing and quivering with excitement while Nancy hid herself somewhere close by in order not to make the game game too difficult When hen was called she fhe would tiptoe from one place to another er till she site found her lieI bark and dance ance with joy and bounce back backon on m the bed for Cor another tr try A simple little thing pine you think of course e but at least It showed initiative and understanding and I Iam Iam Imm am mm explaining all this because if I dont don't j you ou J j I s 1 rr 4 E r Ii J I 1 i A T I had tumbled right o out of life face to face with death eath in shocking loathsome loathsome loathsome loath loath- m f some form r wont won't get the point of the story and what 1 I said sah about the soul of a dog Another example of or what hat I mean is this like all female dogs she was excessively selfish and nod jealous She could not bear any attention shown to the other dogs logs or apparently to any living thing Swipes the bulldog had the time incurable hr habit it of chasing chickens usually aided and abetted by the pointer but never molested anything and snubbed all the livestock ab about ut the place as she di did the time other dogs till one summer Nancy ancy rai raised raided ed a brood of tiny bantams which were cre so tame that the instant she showed rd herself out of they would fly in a little cloud like lice a covey of quail onto onto her arms and shoulders and she fed d them from a n basket of wheat in her lap One day returning from a ri ride e we found a dead bantam ne near near r the house then another r and finally the tine whole hole brood all dead and killed with a single Ingle bite through the head I thought n naturally that l v i. i l ll f l w wf n nr r y r r a A p pr T V the othe other dOlts dogs had bad done It till came to greet reet us and her expression was sufficiently eloquent eloquent eloquent elo elo- quent to establish her guilt on the spot Nancy Kancy crie cried anti and scolded her and turned Tier her back looked off at the time distant distant distant dis dis- tant hills with with a bored expression expression sion and blinked She took her 1 licking I stoically without t. t the least sl sign p of repentance That was the only real crime she ho he ever committed and I was d too tool tickled with the performance tool to blame her ller much her much for It but sh she was wise enough to make herself mighty scarce for Cor a while f fI fI sd r I 1 4 1 s. s n I 1 I I. I e F i i. i i r tl f t 7 a till Nancys Nancy's ire blew over anI and she knew herself forg forgiven ven Then she sheun unobtrusively unobtrusively un un- obtrusively ely l stole tole her way back Into her ber established place as favorite and once more s slept sept pt with her he heart head l serenely pillowed on Nancy's Nancys foot i when Nancy aney was reading or sewing r There was a thorough understanding understand understand- f ing among the three of ofus us and youcan you youcan your r can cnn Imagine how much munch the little creature mca meant to Nancy and me when I tell teU you jou that there are very ery few Cew human beings in the world I 1 could care half as much about as ns I 1 Idid dill did that dog Ic I came home one after afternoon oon towa toward l sunset sunset sun sun- set st and found sitting ittin on on n the step waiting for me as as' as usual sual Nan Nancy y told i me that one of the calves had strayed fr fronts from m the tiie corr corral l and disappeared and I set set setoff off to o find nd it it U- before dark taking with me The other dogs were off with the men menat menat menat at the other end of the ranch larking about on some newly plowed land Back of the the I house was a deep draw or wash as W we called it out there and as I could see see nothing noth- noth ing ini of the calf on the level desert about us I I followed up the edge of the wash for ab about ut a quart quarter r of a n mile when suddenly I saw it ahead at the bottom tearing earing away at the leaves of some low shrubs The sides of the wash wash were here about twenty fe feet t deep and quite steep but I immediately started to descend scrambling and sliding till presently presently presently pres pres- |