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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 19, 1903)
-'-. THE OREGON DAILY JOUIINAX, PORTLAND. SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 19, 1903. ' 6 GOOD STORIES FOR CHILDREN Ky WALT -McDOUGALL. They Became Dogs and Teir yTvo ": Pet Dogs Became G hi Id r e n The Awful Fate of Two Studious Children Who Offended Their Teacher TP"IIEPE were tw0 children,Andrew and Maud, I ,., ,iQl tha Beardsloy household, and two dogs, i ' -; Bruce and Sandy, but this story is mainly V about the dog. Tbey came to the house - ' , dn.thq same day, two fuzzy little puppies,1 mild-eyed and. sleepy, but awoke at once to play iwitbthe children and begin their warfare upoata-. ble-povers,. pillows,' book-covers and shoes "whenever there was a chance.. . : They were both of a size when they came, , but Bruce' was a setter and grew tall, lanky, and long, i .while' Sandy, who waff a beagle hound, with ears that-touched the ground, seemed to grow 1 more slowly, and so Bruce soon was a giant beside' his little, short-legged companion. Both were mischiev ous and playful beyond all measure," yet innocent eyedand demure, and it was hard -to believe some- , times,-, when one looked into those brown eyes,' that . tne..,owners of them, could do' such awful- things.' But when questioned 'about some, misdeed those Vsyes looked guilty and those- tails sank and .a hang-dog ir took the place of the confident and assertive demeanor of the puppies, and you could immediate ly detect the guilty one I . After all, they were generally guilty, for when "there was an opportunity for mischief neither al lowed it to pass, so both shared usually in the guilt and ita punishment, also. , They were both dogs of pedigree and therefore were cared for and pampered far more, than falls to the lot of ordinary dogs. While they were small they were never allowed to go out of sight of soma . member of the Beardsley family. They slept all over the house, on the beds, on divans, skirts of Idressea, in satin-upholstered chairs, on coats laid down on chairs, everywhere and anywhere, and both fancied that everything in that household waa arranged for their comfort or diversion. , ". When punished for .tearing out hair from a sofa lining or chewing up a handsome book they felt in jured and abused, and when caught in the act of lifting a roast of beef from the kitchen table and aoundly whipped therefor neither of them felt sorry for the theft, but only for the detection. 80," also, when either of them had eatenthe soap 'or sampled some other indigestible and sickening morsel and was tenderly nursed he imagined that V hard fate had selected him as victim instead of laying his ills to his own greed or foolishness. Bruce was perhaps the most amenable to discipline, for Sandy, although he was fully as good-natured as the setter, was apt to sulk after punishment a little and resent all approaches for a few. minutes.; Bruce had also the most unappeasable appetite for waste-baskets, patent leather shoes, ribbons and lehair - or sofa linings, while Sandy preferred to tear open packages and see what was inside. Both were inordinately fond of groveling in a mud puddle and then rushing into the bouse and rubbing the mud against dresses or table-covers, and of bringing in the most noisome of bones and hiding them-in out-of-the-way places to gnaw upon between 12 and 1 at night. They usually tried to hide them in the beds. - -- Sometime Bruce would worry the chickens be longing to a neighbor when they appeared on the street, for that, is a bird-dog's instinct, but ne was always punished for it, and that seemed to him the crudest injustice of all, for the temptation was al- most' irresistible. He was forever bringing home studied arithmetic, geography, history, grammar, the queerest things, too, that he found on the street physics, physiology, anatomy, French, German,' at whenever he was permitted to ga abroad old gar- in, Grek, elocution, drawing, geometry, geology, as ments found in a vacant lot, rags, old shoesj pieces tronomy and English literature, besides taking dane of ragged doormats, hats , thrown away by their . ing lessons twice a week. From diligently studying owners and any rubbish of the sort, lor ne was EV natural retriever and thought he was doing a service by recovering these lost articles. When kept. in. the back yard they amused them selves by digging deep holes, almost tunnels, in the ground in search of hidden objects which they never found, and alternately howling to get indoors, and when once in scratching at the same door to get Out! r - f Bruce, being in training for hunting in, the fn- lure, was naturally .more obedient;; he came when called, although frequently he took his time in com ing, but Sandy never came until he was quite ready, land that is a peculiarity of the hound. He would calmly sit down and look at his master with an in- "ocenf-ga-B s If TWOTderi happen to him if he obeyed, and then as calmly run off 1 Nothing seemed to move him except the din toer bell, and then he came in a hurry. Of course, both dogs had the usual supply of fleas to, annoy, them, but fleas are jeally necessary to dogs; at least, to puppies, else they would spend all their time, in mischief , and as for old dogs they are use ful in keeping them reminded that they are dogs and not emperors or kings. When the. two were not eating or gnawing upon B bone or something more valuable to other peo ple they were sleeping generally close together ,on ithe divan, yet they both put in a good deal of time romping, too. Such was the affection existing be tween them that neither lost his temper for a mo ment, no matter how much some of the playful bitea turt, although a yelp often showed pain, and nei ther of them hesitated for a second in backing the other up in a feigned attack on a strange dog. This never came to anything, of course, for both of them wore far too young to know anything about fighting, .and when the strange dog growled and showed his white teeth as he advanced toward them it was funny to see them -rush for home with eyes start ing and tails between their legs, yelping with ter ror A , The first cat they encountered was afraid, of course, and backed up against a wall, which gave 5aese two cowards a vast courage, and they attacked W platoons, but a set of sharp claws drawn prompt ly across each damp nose brought out two aston ished yells, and they fled. After that they never approached too near to anything in the cat line except a tiny kitten. , There never was a pair of dogs who were so well cared for, although I must confess that neither of " them appreciated their good luck In the matter of being. bathed every week they were very much like ome children I have known and resisted sturdily ach and every attempt, so that each bath was a continued struggle, although they always felt par- tinilarly i risky af terward, . , They had the privilege orleepinir almost every- . ; -lf rant'-tMng-.f 'd6ga-jifdafVnd:rtailf mealaVppeciaoU-'tai.fiiied them with terror and curiosity ' xrxa ooke4 especially fox "jfieai with, much' care mingled. : A number - of wonderful animals,-witL ' FLIGHT as those of the rest of the Beardsley family, and at the slightest sign of illness they were taken to the dog doctor and attended to instantly. Hand some collars adorned them and sometimes the chil dren decorated them with great bows, of ribbon. ; They had nothing to do but eat, play and sleep, although, of course, without being aware' of it, they were being taught to obey and soon would be trained to -hunt, or would have been, had not the strange thing happened that altered their whole fu . ture. Both were happy, but both considered that they were very unfortunate in being obliged' to do things which they disliked and in not being allowed to Have their own way, and, strange to say, Andrew and Maud Beardsley also complained of the same sad fate, Andrew, being several years older, considered him self the more unfortunate, but as Maud had to prac- . tice on the piano two hours daily, the fact that he had more studies than she was thus balanced. He ne naa Decome so near-signtea mat ne was com- pelled to wear strong glasses constantly. He was a talL slim boy and had headache very frequently, but he was first in all of his classes. Maud, besides learning music and dancing, studied only eight or nine subjects as yet,' and she wai not near-sighted, ' but as she was not as clever as her brother she found it far more difficult to master the many studies put upon her and she was never very far ' from the foot of the class. Neither of them had any time for play, of course, for had. they taken time for that they would have had to neglect some important study and thus fall behind at school, and their parents were so proud of their accomplishments that they rarely thought - 'of the hours spent in study. In fact, Andrew often considered, that his father thought far more of the dogs and paid much more attention to their health. 'thanedld5f thal"dTTuscEIdren7 and this may have been quite true. When one of the dogs yelped in his -sleep' or twitched his legs Mr. Beardsley would look very grave and wonder whether it was worms or not that were troubling the puppy, and if a dog's eyes watered he consulted "Diseases of the Dog"' to see if he was getting distemper, but when the children were sneezing their heads off he never noticed it at all 1 Well, as time passed ' on, the dogs went abroad ' more frequently, for they had now learned to re main near at home, but once in a while they strayed away for perhaps a block or twor when out would chase some member of the family to hale them back again, for the dread of losing them was great upon all. -: ' j j J5 little by little, for Sandy, like all hounds, was naturally a roamer and led Bruce, in such matters, they extended their wandering farther and farther 'from home until sometimes they were a half-mile away before they were caught, and many a back yard and garbage barrel they thus became inti mately acquainted with, and also with more than -one pail hi water or soapsuds, hurled at them by some indignant housekeeper, whose garbage pail they overturned or whosp kitchen they had auda ciously invaded in broad daylight One morning the dogs wandered far in the out skirts of the city and came upon a number of men, who were busily and hastily erecting an enormous tent. Bruce immediately- hurried to the spot, for i& smelled meat cooking and his nose soon detected from where the delicious fragrance came. Before either of them Could, form a plan for obtaining some of the meat the cook saw them, and a brick came sailing toward them, hur.led by a well-practiced hand. It struck the ground beside Sandy, who- left with a yelp, followed by his comrade instantly, iv k:i.. w k Now, it was a circus tent that was being erected, and on the; Other side they suddenlv-eame noon awi "rcj oaw uuuij uujcr vi iviyb lie tlx VJ, OF THE TERRORIZED CIRCUS ELEPHANTS tails at both ends of their bodies, were drawn up in a circle with a man in the centre. They were motionless when the dogs approached, but instantly at the word of command they took hold of each others' tails with their front tails and began to move around the circle. Such a sight para lyzed the two dogs. They began to bark and the sound threw the elephants, for that's what they were, as probably you guessed at once, into a sort of panic, as elephants do not like strange dogs, and in a moment they all ran away at full speed, over turning everything in their path. There is nothing a dog loves so dearly as seeing something fleeing from him, especially if it is very large, and both Bruce and Sandy were filled wfth a joy so intense that for a moment they simply forgot how to bark! They then hurried after the fleeing elephants, although both were so tickled that it was very difficult to run fast, yet they soon over took the great animals and were barking madly at their heels, which, of course, caused them to go faster. People hurried out of their houses, awak ened by the shrill trumpeting of elephants, a sound unhaard before in that city. The lions and tigers in the menagerie tent set up an awful, deofenng roar, recognizing the familiar alarm of the tropic forest, and all the loose dogs in the place came out and promptly joined in the beautiful pursuit of ele phants. Horses, which are dreadfully afraid of ele phants, seeing the beasts approach, broke away from their fastenings and tore through the streets wildly, overturning the people who came running up the side streets to see what was happening, dashing even into stores, breaking windows and creating havoc everywhere. The frightened ele phants, however, when they had reached the open fields, over which they galloped,tearing down fences as if they were made of straws, soon distanced all but one or two of -the fleetest dogs and when they reached a small hickory wood they formed a circle and stood heads outward, and, of course, as soon as they stopped, the dogs ran away at once I S , J3nicaland Sandy, reflecting for, a moment, real ized that they had created the commotion of their lives," and really considered that few dogs, even old ones, had ever done so much damage and caused such terror in any land, for thirty-nine horses had run away, elevefli children been run over,' ten old men and women seriously hurt, six dogs'shot, a hun- dred windows broken, trees upturned and sixteen elephants lost, for they thought nobody could ever capture the enormous animals again. They trotted home tired and happy,v with wide grinning jaws and gleaming eyes, and sneaked de murely into, the back yard, pretending that they had not even heard of the disastrous happenings. .When the, children returned later and, .told their parents what had occurred the dogs listened as if it were all news to them, but Sandy couldn't help winking once as Andrew stated that it was all started by two big St. Bernard dogs ! Just a week later Bruce killed a chicken. Sandy helped chase the fowl, but had no hand in the slaughter, for-he was not of a breed that usually catches things, although sometimes, it is true, bea gles will capture slow-running rabbits. Bruce stood over the dead chicken, which was a large, fat hen, and looked at Sandy, then he said: , "That was fine sport I The greatest yet!" He nib bled softly at the hen. "But what do you think you'll get for that!" whispered Sandy. "I think you'll be killed P Bruce looked guilty and apprehensive. Then they both sneaked away, but Mr. Beardsley had seen the crime committed and he was ready for Bruce when, after slinking around behind the house, 'he re turned, looking very innocent and demure, as if butter would not melt in that greail mouthJ Mr. Beardsley had. picked up the chicken and he" now called Bruce to him and, after, showing it td tie dog, gave him' the most protracted walloping he had ever had, after, which he tied the hen to his collar. Oh, but he was a shame-faced animal then! ir . He sat perfectly still for awhile, then rising, : tried to shake -off the unpleasant burden which his very soul loathed now, but it was fast to him. r Then he alunk mto the back yard and tat there disconsolate, and even Sandy forsook bimy for could; not bear to look a hu conuadeVshma, " Suddenly a soft clucking was heard and, looking out of my window, which overlooked the Beardsley yard, I saw a wonderful sight While Bruce sat there in disgrace there walked slowly into the yard some twenty hens with accusing eyes fixed on him. They stared solemnly and silently at t&eir dead sister, and then with one voice began again to cluck, but louder than before. It sounded as if they were charging him with the crime, and, you may not believe it, but 'the dog could not face those accusing eyes and turned his gaze away. & Now, one of the teachers of the children was an old man named Quirk, who was a deep student of the occult, which means all sorts of things like astrology, alchemy palmistry,. mind-reading, clair voyance and hypnotism, besides a lot more that are less innocent, such as witchcraft and magic, but very few people suspected him of knowing more , than the things he taught at school, because he wore such shabby clothes. . He knew how to make the wind blow as he pleased, how to call all sorts of birds and animals to- him when he wished, how to change people into birds, beasts, stones and other things, and he was able by. merely saying something that sounded like "AINA, MAINA, MONA, MACKE".to accomplish the most wonderful things. So, as you may perceive, without my stating it, he was a good man to keep friendly with and yet such are the accidents of life, both the dogs and the Beardsley children happened to fall foul of him, the very worst one they could have discov ered in all the city, and bring upon themselves the disaster which caused me to sit down and write this touching tale. - On the morning, and it was a Saturday morning, . the , only day in which the Beardsley children al- . lowed themselves an hour or two of leisure and play, that it all happened. Mr. Quirk had been, up since early dawn compounding a wonderful mixture that smelt simply dreadful, , composed of herbs, medicines', dried snakes, toads, bugs, Tubber, feath ers, Tones, rags, lizards, ImaUs, oil, soot, pitch, newts' eyes, ants' eggs, worms, seaweed and a dozen other ingredients, tile secret of which he kept to himself, all boiled together in an immense caul dron, around which he had constantly walked chant ing 'a weird medley in Arabic, Choctaw, Finnish, Thibetan and Polynesian, which sounded so dread ful, as well as so occult, in that dim, mysterious hour between night and day, which astrologers all select for their necromantic operations, that had you heard him you would have shivered with fear. & .. " . . . He was tired and cross, as well as hungry, as he ' came down the street past the Beardsley house, the tails of his long black coat flapping in' the wind ' 'like the wings of an old crow, to which, his blacky eyes and long sjiarp nose gave mm a startling re semblance. He was also nervous as well; aV cross, a"hd so, " when Bruce and Sandy, ; watching, as usual, upon the porch for an opportunity to annoy somebody, perceived him approaching and. dashed down.at him with loud and deafening barks,' he was so startled that in his alarm he tried to climb a small tree in front of the tfbuse Andrew.and Maud were sitting on the porch, and the sight of their old teacher wildly endeavoring to dren and ascertain if they are not, very, very pecu climb a small maple tree while the "dogs circled clisi I am sure you will be convinced that no other around him, was too much for- their gfavit and V explanation wiU ehableydu to comprehend the won v they burst forth into loud laughter, instead J of S'derfuldifferenosplairdy to be seen inallfour. ---instantly calling Sandy and Bruce to them. - ; , I; If Mr- Quirk releases them , I ; will . v then have The tree was too small f qr Mr. Quirk- to climb another story; to tell yon, for the experience of two and Bruce, 'emboldened by The man's fright, ;grabbed" 'children who ahaye been turned !i&o? dogs will be him by the coattaila, while Sandy seized his old 4 well worth telling. But the ciiii(ren who were dogsr 6ilk hat,"which had fallen to the ground, and ran before can tell me nothing,"for, strange to say, thej : up on-the porch with it, whereat the children cannot talk.' Mr.. Quirk' must have made some mis laughed louder than eVer, forgetting in their amuse ment, just as if they had been common, vulgar urchins, the respect they owed to their aged teacher. . Now, 'had they been, aware thatMr. Quirk' was an adept, almost a sorcerer, in spite of his humble demeanor and seedy appearance, they would have restrained their glee nor dared to ridicule him even under such comical circumstances,'. for their laugh-' Ux aroused Mn Quirk to a rage which was greater than his fright had been, and suddenly, dropping hie feet to the ground, he administered a weU-di-reqted kick in the stomach to Bruce, which hurled him yelping 'ten feet away, and coming up on the porch, he demanded that Andrew take his hat sway -from Sandy, who was rapidly, putting it out of shape by banging it savsgelyagainst the rail and tearing at the brim. ' - , . v ' , . ; Andrew, at once realizing how impolite they had both been, immediately took the hat from th dog and handed it to his teacher, but he could not re strain his laughter, and . I think this made Mr. Quirk more angry than ever. He seized the bat and went down the steps with a terrible frown on his face, which boded no good to'eitLer dogs or chil , dren. Had they known what wv the terrible revenge . the adept would wreak upon, them for their .ridi cule they would have wept bitterly instead of laugh ing loud and long whenever they thought' of the old scarecrow frantically trying to climb thst two- . ; ' inch maple tree.'" . - But they never dreamed thst he could harm them! or punish them beyond some harder tasks in school, and when at dinner' they told the story .to' Mr. Beardsley, . although he tried , to look stern and grave, his mouth twitched suspiciously as ha re proved them. Mr. Quirk hurried back to his laboratory, totally forgetting that he had eaten no breakfast, but so wild with rage and mortification at having been a spectacle for children that he was no longer hun gry, ne set to work at once upon a patent spell, and all daylong he toiled at this task. ; First he prepared a mystio powder, consisting of a silvery, substance made from the scales of sea ' robins and the shells of a certain snail found only . in the Island of Cyprus, to which he added the eyes of beetles, feeds of the owl-berry, grains of hurri - cane-root and gum from the strabismus tree, after which he moistened the pile with angleworm oil and moulded it all into two shapes, on that of a child and the other that of a dog, and set them In the hot sun to dry for several hours, and all the time he chanted that mysterious lay that was taught to the ancient alchemists by the Phoenician voyagers. It sounds something like this, although I am afraid I have not spelled all of the words' right: . - "O KIMAZU BEX ALII SWAZIO PORAHl i KAZAM A-BAZZAH BAZIPPI . j J SWA8S MAGORUM BISMALIG A T.T. A H, " OLLA PODRJDAMA.GIPP!" These seem very simple, if ' not actually ' billy ' words, but no one knows what tremendous power they have over occult forces. I sin informed that nouing can resist them, especially when the word ''BISMALLAQ A T.LA TP is -pronounced with the right aocant, and you may be sure that old Mr, Qpirk knew exactly how to pronounce it. 7He waited until nearly night and just when- the sun was going down he went to the window snd, looking out at the western sky and raising Ws, skin ny hands, he muttered : "The spell is perfected! Now, when, those fated children again compare their lot with that of the dogs, let the charm, oh, Zamiel, take instant ef fect!" -.. . Then he took a match and lighted a taper, and slowly pressed the two figures which he had made into one shapeless mass, after which he applied the burning taper to it, and with a sort of fizzy sparkle . something like a "siseer" firecracker, it began to ignite, and after awhile burned slowly, the smoke, pungent and stifling, finally driving the adept out of his laboratory into the fresh, cool night air. : "That will burn almost all night !" he muttered J "now I'll go and eat!" At midnght Andrew awoke and asked Maud if she was asleep, "No, I am wide awake!" replied the girl; "I was thinking of Monday's lessons." - & "Dear me!" sighed Andrew, as he turned over and then, hearing Bruce bark, he added : ' "Those dogs are awake, but they're only think ing of having fun! How much better off they are than us!" "Yes, indeed,? replied Maud; "and they never have-to wash or dress either P " -7 "Still, when they die, 4hey can't go to heaven, I guess," added Andrew, end then he shivered, for something was happening to him! He heard Maud utter a queer, startled cry.and the next minute he found himself changed into something with four feet standing up in bed. He saw a dog in the room and instantly recognized Sandy, and tried to call him, but uttered a sort of yelp instead of words. Sandy seemed dazed, but in another minute both realized what had occurred. They had been changed into Bruce and Sandy, and this was all the mora evident because they now heard children knocking for admittance into the house. ;' So lit. Quirk was avenged and the children, were now dogs, and the dogs children ! The parents do not know what has happened, although they marvel at a queer change 'in their offspring, who Beem less inclined to - study,?; lessK capable of - continued en- deavor and far more playful than before, while such intelligent and well-behaved trained dogs wert never seen anywhere. ' 'w 't'f - -Vi '. . Whether they are pleased, with the change no one" can tell,' nor can' it be learned how long the adept intends to keep.them thus metamorphosed, as tbey cell such a transformation, but there they are, and . if you don't credit my statement gd tVthe Beards ley house and 'talk both to the dogsandthe chil take in his cnarm, ior,. aitnougn it worked as far 1 exchanging their, forms went, it failed to give them voIces.or leave human speech in the dogs, so, until they talk, we will never know what they think oa , how they feel. .. Perhaps the adept deprived them all of sneechT in order to prevent the betrayal of the change he U had made,. but. it is very hard to see how. he couU haye been suspected, -. WALT StfoDOtTGALL, 1 -