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GOOD STORIESIFOR GHILDREN By
Walt MeDoueall
t
HOW A LITTLE
DOG FOILED A
BOLD ROBBER
AND RESTORED
A LONG-LOST
MOTHER TO HER
T TTC JfT? .Vk j- -Tr r-&rf
nuivic jsr &f j&f unlijh,,.
MY
1 Y NAME is Tatters, audi am
a little silvery-coated Skye.
was born in a diamond
mine in iar-away oomu
America, and only came here about
three years ago, although aa my Man
is an American, I feel as if this had
always been my home.
; My first memories are of my Man
and Bessie his daughter, who is now
twelve years old, but who was only
ten when the thing happened about
which' I will tell you.- 1 was called
Tatters because of my shaggy coat, I
suppose, but my Man said that on
account of my hair they ought to call
me Elbert Hubbard, I don't under
stand this yet. :
. However, hair or not, I am considr
ered by.all good judges to be the
handsomest Skye, as well as the clev
erest, ever seen in these parts. No
trouble had been spared to- teach mo
all that a dog caA learn, arid the ad- '
miration that is expressed wheu I Bp- ' ' ,
pear in public with my broadcloth
coat tells nie plainly that I have causo
to be proud, - ; ; .
To tell the truth, however, all that sort of thing
makes me sick,' For my part, that long, ailky hair,
so c artfully combed and brushed until it shines like
a silver tea-pot, fills me with disgufct, and that is
why, whenever I have a chance, I roll in something
nasty and sticky. Of course, I get a bath as punish
ment afterward, but I have at least an hour or two
of bliss.
There's something delicious in getting nice and
dirty and exhaling that lovely smelly smell, although
Bessie pretends that it sieker.3 her, and she shud
ders when I bring into the house nice decayed bones,
redolent with an aroma that fills me with lovely
shivering of glee; refuses to allow me to kiss her
for hours, and, in fact, acts so silly that I am
ashamed of her. Girls are certainly funny things,
and very different from boys, who have little non
sense, about them. I know a buy who hates to take a
bath as much asXdo myself. He's Bessie's cousin,
and a good fellow, who sicks me at chickens and
cats. Bessie always scolds me for even winkingat
them.
,My Man is, I imagine, about the best Man. ever
made. He obeys me in nearly everything, and we
rarely disagree nowadays over anything, although
when I was younger he s6metimes got so rebellious
that he attacked me with a whip and larruped me
just because I did things that he thought 1 ought
not to do. . . .
. lie forced me to sit up and hold sticks, carry let
ters and little baskets' and things in my mouth, and
at first I hated it until I found out what fun it was.
He bossed me awfully in those days, ranking me
mind him in even the smallest details, no matter
what I wished to do myself, but now he merely hints
to me if he wishes anything, and of course I love
him so much that I am always very willing to do
him a favor. He says:
"Tatters, suppose you get me my Blippers;" or,
"Hello, Tatters, I hear the post-man at the door;
just run down and get the letters," and off I go like
a flash, for I feel that he is so big and fat I ought
to spare him the trouble of walking around, you
know.
, Sometimes, just to tease him, I pretend that I
will not give him his letters, and then he makes be
lieve to be angry and scolds me dreadfully; but I
know it's all pretending, for when he really is nngry
there's a little keen spark in his eye that tells me
that is no time for fooling. When I am teasing him
he has to laugh, for to save my life I can't keep
from wagging my little stumpy tail and giving my
self away.
That he adores me and worships me I know full
well, for he lets me sleep cuddled up in his bed, and
when he is reading and I am snoring on his Jap I
hare known him to sit still for ah hour rathei than
disturb my slumber.
It's a great thing to own a nice, agreeable Man,
although sometimes they are awfully careless and
unreasonable. I have known him to stand and talk
to another man on the street for a dreadful time, al
though 1 was barking at him' with all my might and
ordering him to come along, and many a tjme ho
has gotten on the railroad train and gone away
somewhere without taking me along. Then I am
very forlorn, for upon one thing I insist and always
have my own way; I will not eat a raorselof food
unless he gives it to me. No, sir; he is my Man and
it is his duty to feed me. Once he stayed away three
days, but he will never do it again, he says, for I
did not touch food until lip returned, for somehow
I had lost all 'appetite worrying about what had
happened to him. .
Bessie is a dear little girl, although she is onie
vhat too greedy for her father's kisses to suit me,
and when she is fondling him I sometimes feel a
distant desire to ehw hrr legs a little and chase
her away; for what are kisses compared to the nice
licks I can give him if he will let me? lie seems
to be as fond of her as he is of me, and that annoys
me, although I hate to show it, as perhaps it might
hurt his feelings; but at such times I run about
larking savagely, and generally the scheme works.
They stop hugging each other to see whether I am
going crazy or not, and then I jump uron his lap
Slid crowd her off. ;
1 go out with IWe very uftt-n. ntl then lead he
carefuHjr. to tho park, where there tau always be
S
TATTERS
found a lot of dogs who never are washed, and nice
mouldy things to roll in and perfume you all up
just heavenly. I manage to lose her frequently, and
it was thus I met the dark-haired lady.who, although
Bessie's hair is golden, made me think of my Girl.
She looked so much like Bessie that at first I stop
ped and stared, but when she smiled I came as near
to her as I ever do to strangers, and finally conde
scended to lick her hand. After that I always stop
ped to speak to her whenever I met her, and felt
very kindly toward her.
But there was one person for whom I hod no
feeling except a keen, bitter hatred and fear; for,
as you are perhaps aware, a dog knows a bad man
instantly. I am not permitted to reveal to1 human
beings the secret of this strange fact, but rest as
sured that it is true.
This man whom I so fervently despised was a
friend of my Man's, and although I endeavored to
warn my Man by attempting to bite Mr. Floyd on
every occasion, he refused to take the warning, but
actually was cross with me more than once. Mr.
Floyd hated me as cordially from the first; indeed,
it is a sign of a bad man not to love a dog, no mat
ter what kind of a dog it is; and he tried several
times to get a kick at me when my Man was not
looking, but it takes a pretty quick man to kick
Tatters Graeme, let me tell you; and once, while I
was at it, I got in a sharp bite on his leg.
He was forever haunting our house, thif man
, Floyd, and always snooping around prying into
everything when alone in a room, as I who watched
him constantly saw. I believed he was seeking some
thing from the first, and that is why I always
watched him ; but, in fact, I watch every stranger.
He had a mean, watery blue eye and a very red nose,
and his habit of looking around very often, as if be
thought somebody was about to grab him, ma le me
nervous. When he was talking to my Man or to
Bessie he used to chuckle softly and rub his hando
together until 1 would, bark with anger. I believe
that Mr. Floyd was a man who would commit any
crime, even bone-stealing from an honest dog not
being beneath him.
One , summer night we were nil on the porch
when Mr. Floyd happened somehow to speak of
Bessie's mother. My Man was silent, but I could
see in the dark that he was looking at his child.
Then he said :
"Bessie cannot remember her mother, and knows
nothing about her. I have never had the heart to
tell her."
"I am old enough now to know about my mamma,"
said Bessie. "Tell me, papai"
"It i$ a painful story," said my Man, slowly. "It
will only sadden you, my dearest one."
"Tell me," she insisted, coming closer to him and
placing her head on his shoulder. There, with her
golden head making a glow about her, she sat ali
through the tale.
"Not long after you were born, not more than a
year, your mother lost a diamond necklace at a ball
which was given at the house of a dear old friend.
Perhaps because she was still, in a nervous condi
tion, or maybe because this necklace was exceedina;
. ly valuable, not only on account of the large size of
the diamonds, but because it had been given to her
great-grandmother by the Czar of Russia, Peter the
Great, longer ago than you can possibly imagine,
'your prior mother worried so much over the loss of
the necklace that soon she sank into a dangerous
fever.
"Just at the crisis of the fever, which is the time
,when all hope is centred upon an hour, pe-haps,
your mother in her delirium arose and dressed her
self while the nurse was absent, and, strange to say,
left the house without being observed by any one.
She was never seen again."
"Did did she die if", gasped Bessie- ,
"T know not, my dear. She vanished as completely
as if she had been taken up to heaven. We never
obtained the slightest trace of her afterward."
"That was very mysterious!" said Mr. Floyd.
"What, did you think had happened I"
"What, could I think? She was far too feeble to
WHlk a block, Apparently, although in delirium pa-,
tieiits often reveal wonderful endurance. I can only
say tho t. we exhausted every means at our command
without, the least, result. From that day to this I
hove never ceased to hope, but I long ago gave Up
seeking for her."
AND HIS MISTRESS IN
"And the diamonds?" asked Mr. Floyd. "Did you
ever find them?"
"Yes; they were recovered in a week, but she was
too delirious to be told about them. I thought at
one time that it might have restored her to reason,
but they would not permit me to mention them.".
After a long silence Mr. Floyd asked :
"How were the diamonds lost?"
"The clasp on her necklace had loosened, and it '
fell into the moss in the conservatory and was dis
covered by the gardener. I have it here in the house.
Would you like' to see it! Some day when Bess is a
woman she will have the diamonds." - -'"
We all went into the house, and going to a large
brass chest of antique workmanship, my Man open
ed it with a funny little key and took out a box. From
this he produced a gleaming, flashing mass of large
diamonds, so brilliant that they made me blink. Mr.
Floyd's eyes reflected the flame in the stones, but
it was a gleam of' desire and covetousness as he
ran the long strand of diamonds through his hands
and held his breath as he gazed upon them.
Whether I would have been so quick to suspect
one of whom I was fond or not, I can't say, but at
any rate I had no fondness for Mr. Oily Floyd. I
used to sit for hours with my eyes fixed on the spot
on his leg where I wanted to bite him.'
Bessie was so thoughtful all the rest of the even
ing that I was able to slip away from her when Lucy,
our colored girl, opened the door, and skip away
down the dark street.
Then I went hunting for a cat that was my size,
for I had no wish for big game. I thought I saw a
white gleam far across the park lawn, and I scam
pered across the damp grass in a hurry. Then, just
as I hoped to see pussy, I came to a sudden stop, for
there upon a park bench sat Mr. Floyd with tho
most villainous looking ruffian I had ever Been. I
could smell the wickedness of him even from where
I stood. They both saw me, and Floyd said:
"Hello I There's that cur of Graeme's ! Git out of
here, you brute !"
"Great Scott! He's only a dog! You don't think
he can hear and understand us, do you?" said the
ugly man. ' r
"He's smart enough for anything, that little imp
is," replied Mr. Floyd, and he threw a small stone
at me.
I retreated, but making a circle, came up in the
dark where the tree-shadow blackened the grass, and
there I sat down within a yard of them to listen.
"Yes, I saw the diamonds, and as I told yon, ho
keeps them in the house. I have always been pretty
sure of it," said Floyd.
"When I saw his wife in the hospital where I was
lying with a broken leg, she was not silly, and I
heard her tell about losing them. Then I made a '
few inquiries and she told her story, and when she
mentioned her name I remembered about the loss
of the Graeme diamonds, eight or nine years ago.
It took me a couple of years to find my man, but I
did it.
"lie doesn't know that hia wife went craz wai
picked up in the street, taken to a hospital where,
she gave her name as Annie Laurie, and was after
ward sent to some asylum for the insane, but I know
it. She hopped out of bed one winter day and walk
ed right out of the house and was never heard of
again."
"That's a queer story." said the other man.
"Don't you believe it?" demanded Floyd.
"Oh, cert! Only it sounds like a novel !"
"It surely does. Now, we will have thos-e shiners
before the week is out, and this is my plan: We
will make the attempt on Thursday, because he is
going to a meeting that afternoon, and it's the serv
ant's off, which leaves only the kid in the house. We
send her a fake letter telling her to come at once to'
her papa, and the house is cleared, for she will take
the dog with her, see? Then into that rear-porch
window -we- step, bust open the brass box without
t.ny trouble, nnd there you are with diamonds worth
more than two hundred thousand right before your
eyes. It's really too easy." '
They got up and walked away, and I scurrie-l
home full of terror, to find Bcsie 'standing on the
porch. In my excitement I had never heard her
blow tlie whistle. ,
Next day she brought me a lovely collar with my
name and address engraved upon it, for sho eaid .
THE PARK
that I was a runaway and might be stolen. Ha ! I'd '
like to see it tried. .
The following day was Thursday, the day. selected
for the robbery, and if ever I wished for the power
of speech I yearned for it then. You know, as a
rule dogs are glad they can't talk, for if they could
men would at once compel them to work for them,
I think, and in this opinion I am supported by
many wise dogs. My conduct was bo mysterious all
day, for I was constantly trying to warn my Man
and Bessie of the danger, that at last .they con
cluded I was sick and tried to give me a powder.
In the afternoon Bessie called me, and without
taking the leader went to the door. I followed, for
I well knew that I could slip away from her in the
street and get back into the house, for there was a
broken pane of glass in the cellar window, just over
the coal bin, which is a place beloved by all clean
dogs; for there one gets blacker and more soiled
than anywhere else. From the coal bin the way up
stairs was clear, and once behind the divan I could
watch and observe all that happened.
So my mind was quite easy as I trotted along
before her, barking at every ugly old man or woman
and threatening every little boy and girl, as is my
custom when abroad. I love to see the old men stand
still and shake their sticks' at me as I circle wildly
around them, pretending to be a wolf, or at least a
mad Saint Bernard. But I never get too near he
sticks. Oh, dear no.
As we went up the street we met Mr. Floyd, who
looked surprised and pleased, for with Bessie out
of the house he saw that he would not have to send
the proposed letter, and then he hastened away, hur
rying, as I knew, to the house so as to accomplish
his purpose before we returned. Half way down
the block he turned, and I saw the dirty and villainous-looking
man coming across the park toward
him. I watched both until they turned the corner,
for they were going to enter our back gate as soon .
-as we had gone a few blocks f urther.Then catne my.
chance, for Bessie stopped to talk to another' girl
and I slipped away, flying like an arrow down the
street and into a narrow walk beside the house.
Already both men had vanished. Like a flash, of
sunlight from a mirror I darted through the broken
window, across the coal and upstairs, and even as I
flew I heard them softly treading the back porch.
Upstairs and behind the sheltering divan I whisked
noiselessly, and, shaking with excitement, crouched
there, my heart beating so that I feared they must
hear it. ' . v ' ; '
Then I heard the window open and their foot
steps approaching, for once within they had no need
to be careful. In another moment they stood in
the room and Floyd laughed.
"It's a shame I It's really too easy!" he chuckled. ,
" "Yes" added the other, Hain't really earning
the money, is it?" ry
Floyd took a sharp bar of iron sharpened on tho
end and with a hammer drove it beneath the lid of .
the brass box, and in an instant wrenched it loose,
taking out the little box, and going nearer to the
window.
"Here they are! Look at theml Did you ever
see anything like that ?" He held the string of dia
monds in the sunlight and they blazed like tiny
flames. The other man's eyes bulged with-greed,
and delight. As they gloated over the gleaming
gems Floyd stepped a space behind Mm and sud
denly struck him on the back of the head with the
iron bar. ' . . - v
He fell like a lump of lead to the floor, and Floyd, ,
grinning horribly, chuckled again:
"Hal Did you think that I brought you here to
share this?" lie looked at the man carefully and
then tiptoed to the door as if he feared to waken
his victim. 1 As he passed out a deep hollow groan
came from the stricken man's lips, and Floyd turned ,
and struck Jura again. v
"That makes it certain," said he, and passed, out. .
I followed him swiftly, and as he turned at the
head of the stairs I flew at hw leg. My jaws are
full of teeth that are astonishingly large, as well as
beautifuHy white, and when I really bite you may be
sure I caivbe felt. Mr. Floyd flow up into the air"
and dropped the necklace own the ptairs. lie
howled with pain and reached for his Jog, for I had
brought the blood. 1 did not wait, but darted down,
QUEER THINGS
THAT HAPPEN
ED TO A BRIGHT
LITTLE SKYE
DURING HIS FEW
SHORT YEARS
OF LIFE iS? jS?
seized the necklace and flew for the
coal bin. Yet even there -1, did not
feel safe, and out through the window
I .dashed. ' , ,v v
Across the park I flew and stopped
right before the dark-haired lady who
' was sitting in the shade, reading.
For a moment she looked at me as
I stood up on my hind legs holding
up the necklace; then a change camo
over her features, a look of astonish
ment, and she sprang up toward me.
" dL x l. it.. J: - i i
I let her have them readily, although
I cannot explain why. She looked at
them for an instant, and then cried:
' "My necklace ! My necklace I It is
found !" Then she seemed to totter as
. if about to faint. "Where am 1 1" she
cried. "What am I uoing here?"
She looked around in a confused
manner and then at me. "Seeing my
beautiful new collar gleaming amid
my silvery hair she knelt beside me,
and read the name upon it. '
"Douglas Graeme, 104 Park A ve
nue I" she read aloud, and then, "Why,
whose dog are you I Not ours I Where did you come
from?" ' , ,;.
, , I wagged my stump cheerfully, for I saw Bessie
hastening to me across the park and I felt that sha
could carry on the conversation and answer all
questions far better than I. When she catne up
she said: "You bad little acamp I Next time you
6hall have the leader on you 1"
The dark-haired lady, with a sweet smile, asked
"Is he your dog? And why has he Mr. Graeme's
name on his collar ?"
"Why, that's my papa's name," Teplied Bessie.
"My name is Bessie Graeme."
"And that is my name, too !" cried the lady. "How
strange! What does this meant. What is this
place? Tell me, m.y child!".
Bessie, in great surprise, told her the name of the
city, and she cried:
"But how did I get here? I have never been
herebeforel Oh, where is my husband ?"
"What is his name?" asked the girl, looking at
the lady with a great light in her eyes.
"Douglas Graeme," replied the lady. "That is
his name on this dog's collar! I cannot under
stand!" .
"I think you must be my mamma," said Bessia,
verv miiptlv. "Mv mamma who wns lout and never
found again. Now I am going to take you to my
papa and see if I am not right."
The lady held out the necklace, saying in a con
fused way :
"Arid these, they are mine. They were lost the
other night at the ball." 1
"They are ours!" cried Bessie, "I am sure! Where
did you get them ?" .
"This little dog brought them to me," she replied,
sitting down from sheer perplexity.
Bessie cried: "Something has happened! They
have been taken from the brass box! Come, let us
go to papa at once!"
But they had not far to go, for as Bessie led tho
lady across the park my Man, smoking a big cigar
which I knew came from the directors' "room of the
Bank, as I had been there with him, approached,
and when his eyes fell on Bessie he smiled, but. in
another instant his face changed and filled with
wonder. Then he rushed forward and held out his
arms. ' The dark' lady fell into them and clasped
her arms about his neck, right there in public, and
seemed about to faint.' My Man led her, to a scat,
and Bessie coolly started to explain what had hap
pened. '- ,
"Yes, this is your dear mamma," said my Man, as
he held her hand tight." "She has come back to us
and we will never let her go again I" ,
"But how did I get here?'' asked Mrs. Graeme,
when she had become calm. "I can remember noth
ing. .What has happened to me?" '
, After she had been told all about her mysterious
disappearance it, was even then hard to make her
believe-that many years had passed,' but at last she
was convinced and we went home. There we found
the injured man, of course, and he was not dead
after all. When he was . taken to the hospital he
confessed and told all that Floyd had related, so it
was quite easy to follow up poor Mrs. Graeme's
history. She had been without memory of the past
all these years", not even remembering' her name
until she saw it oh my collar. Then all had come
back to her in a flash.. She had been cared for by
kind people, until she was restored to health, but not
to memory, and then she had been placed in charge
of a? department in the hospital itself. :
Mj, but Bessie had a lovely time after that, for
her mamma was just like 'a.big girl herself, but as
for me, my nose is away out of joint, for now I have
io- be -eohtent -with what caresses I
can menace to
obtain, although I must admit She is as nice as a
woman can be and would spoil me completely were
sucn a imng possiwe. , .
' But I suppose she is aware that to arouse , my
jealousy is a dangerous thing, and, in fact, ever
since I bit that man Floyd everybody treats me with
, much respect, especially the .butcher s boy and the
milkman. And they all say that whqnever she wears
f. the diamonds hereafter Tatters'must be there as a
bodyguard, but I can't say I relish the idea, as these
' society affairs are not to my taste. ? -'
' - . . WALT ItcDOUGALL