 Introduction in chapters one and two of Beautiful Joe. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia. Beautiful Joe in Autobiography by Marshall Sanders. Profess. Beautiful Joe is a real dog and Beautiful Joe is his real name. He belonged during the first part of his life to a cruel master who mutilated him in the manner described in the story. He was rescued from him and is now living in a happy home with pleasant surroundings and enjoys a wide local celebrity. The character of Laura is drawn from life and to the smallest detail is truthfully depicted. The Morris family has its counterparts in real life and nearly all of the incidents of the story are founded on fact. The Author. End of Preface. Introduction. The wonderfully successful book entitled Black Beauty came like a living voice out of the animal kingdom. But it spake for the horse and many other books necessary. It led the way. After the ready welcome that it received and the good it has accomplished and is doing, it followed naturally that someone should be inspired to write a book to interpret the life of a dog to the humane feeling of the world. Such a story we have in Beautiful Joe. The story speaks not for the dog alone, but for the whole animal kingdom. Through it we enter the animal world and are made to see as animals see and to feel as animals feel. The sympathetic sight of the author in this interpretation is ethically the strong feature of the book. Such books as this is one of the needs of our progressive system of education. The day school, the Sunday school and all libraries for the young demand the influence that shall teach the reader how to live in sympathy with the animal world. How to understand the languages of the creatures that we have long been accustomed to call dumb. And the sign language of the lower orders of these dependent beings. The church owes it to her mission to preach and to teach the enforcement of the birds nest commandment. The principle recognized by Moses in the Hebrew world and echoed by copper in English poetry and burns in the meadow mouse and by our own long fellow in songs of many keys. Kindness to the animal kingdom is the first or a first principle in the growth of true philanthropy. Young Lincoln once waited across a half frozen river to rescue a dog and stopped in a walk with a statesman to put back a bird that had fallen out of its nest. Such a heart was trained to be the leader of men and to be crucified for a cause. The conscience that runs to the call of an animal in distress is girding itself with power to do manly work in the world. The story of beautiful Joe awakens an intense interest and sustains it through a series of vivid incidents and episodes, each of which is a lesson. The story merits the widest circulation and the universal reading and response according to Black Beauty. To circulate it is to do good, to help the human heart as well as the creatures of quick feelings in simple language. When, as one of the committee to examine the manuscripts offered for prizes to the humane society, I read the story, I felt the writer had a higher motive than to compete for a prize. That the story was a stream of sympathy that flowed from the heart, that it was genuine, that it only needed a publisher who should be able to command a wide influence to make its merits known to give it a strong educational mission. I am pleased that the manuscript has found such a publisher and ensure that the issue of the story will honor the publication society. In the development of the book, I believe that the humane cause has stood above any speculative thought or interest. The book comes because it is called for, the times demanded. I think the publishers have a right to ask for a little unselfish service on the part of the public in helping to give it a circulation commensurate with its opportunity, need, and influence. Hezekiah Butterworth End of Introduction Chapter 1 Only a Cur My name is beautiful Joe and I am a brown dog of medium sized. I am not called beautiful Joe because I am a beauty. Mr. Morris, the clergyman in whose family I have lived for the last 12 years, says that he thinks I must be called beautiful Joe for the same reason his grandfather down south called a very ugly colored slave lad Cupid and his mother Venus. I do not know what he means by that, but when he says it, people always look at me and smile. I know that I am not beautiful and I know that I am not a thoroughbred. I am only a cur. When my mistress went every year to register me and pay my tax, and the man in the office asked what breed I was, she said part fox terrier and part bull terrier, but he always put me down a cur. I do not think she liked having him call me a cur. Still, I have heard her say that she preferred curs for they have more character than well bred dogs. Her father said that she liked ugly dogs for the same reason that a nobleman at the court of a certain king did, namely that no one else would. I am an old dog now and am writing, or rather getting a friend to write, the story of my life. I have seen my mistress laughing and crying over a little book that she says is a story of a horse's life, and sometimes she puts the book down close to my nose to let me see the pictures. I love my dear mistress. I can say no more than that. I love her better than anyone else in the world, and I think it will please her if I write the story of a dog's life. She loves dumb animals, and it always grieves her to see them treated cruelly. I have heard her say that if all the boys and girls in the world were to rise up and say that there should be no more cruelty to animals, they could put a stop to it. Perhaps it will help a little if I tell a story. I am fond of boys and girls, and though I have seen many cruel men and women, I have seen few cruel children. I think the more stories there are written about dumb animals, the better it will be for us. In telling my story, I think I had better begin at the first and come right on to the end. I was born in a stable on the outskirts of a small town in Maine called Fairport. The first thing I remember was lying close to my mother and being very snug and warm. The next thing I remember was always being hungry. I had a number of brothers and sisters, six in all, and my mother never had enough milk for us. She was always half-starved herself, so she could not feed us properly. I am very unwilling to say much about my early life. I have lived so long in a family where there is never a harsh word spoken, and where no one thinks of ill treating anybody or anything that it seems almost wrong even to think or speak of such a matter as hurting a poor dumb beast. The man that owned my mother was a milkman. He kept one horse and three cows, and he had a shaky old cart that he used to put his milk cans in. I don't think there can be a worse man in the world than that milkman. It makes me shudder now to think of him. His name was Jenkins, and I am glad to think that he is getting punished now for his cruelty to poor dumb animals and to human beings. If you think it is wrong that I am glad, you must remember that I am only a dog. The first notice that he took of me when I was a little puppy just able to stagger about was to give me a kick that sent me into a corner of the stable. He used to beat and starve my mother. I have seen him use his heavy whip to punish her till her body was covered with blood. When I got older, I asked her why she did not run away. She said she did not wish to, but I soon found out that the reason she did not run away was because she loved Jenkins. Cruel and savage as he was, she yet loved him. And I believe she would have laid down her life for him. Now that I am old, I know that there are more men in the world like Jenkins. They are not crazy. They are not drunkards. They simply seem to be possessed with a spirit of wickedness. There are well-to-do people, yes, and rich people who will treat animals and even little children with such terrible cruelty that one cannot even mention the things they are guilty of. One reason for Jenkins' cruelty was his idleness. After he went in his rounds in the morning with his milk cans, he had nothing to do till late in the afternoon but take care of his stable and yard. If he had kept them neat and groomed his horse and cleaned the cows and dug up the garden, it would have taken up all his time. But he never tidied the place at all till his yard and stable got so littered up with things he threw down that he could not make his way about. His house and stable stood in the middle of a large field and they were at some distance from the road. Passersby could not see how untidy the place was. Occasionally a man came to look at the premises and see that they were in good order. But Jenkins always knew when to expect him and had things cleaned up a little. I used to wish that some of the people that took milk from him would come and look at his cows. In the spring and summer he drove them out to pasture. But during the winter they stood all the time in the dirty dark stable where the chinks in the wall were so big that the snow swept through almost in drifts. The ground was always muddy and wet. There was only one small window on the north side where the sun only shone in for a short time in the afternoon. They were very unhappy cows, but they stood patiently and never complained. Though sometimes I know they must have nearly frozen in the bitter winds that blew through the stable on winter nights. They were lean and poor and were never in good health. Besides being cold they were fed on very poor. Jenkins used to come home nearly every afternoon with a great tub in the back of his cart that was full of what he called peelings. It was kitchen stuff that he asked the cooks at the different houses where he delivered milk to say for him. They threw rotten vegetables, fruit pairings, and scraps from the table into a tub and gave them to him at the end of a few days. A sour, nasty mess it always was and not fit to give any creature. Sometimes when he had not many peelings he would go to town and get a load of decayed vegetables that the grocers were glad to have him take off their hands. This food together with poor hay made the cows give very poor milk and Jenkins used to put some white powder in it to give it body as he said. What's a very sad thing happened about the milk that no one knew about but Jenkins and his wife. She was a poor, unhappy creature, very frightened at her husband and not daring to speak to him much. She was not a clean woman and I never saw a worse looking house than she kept. She used to do very queer things that I know now no housekeeper should do. I have seen her catch up the broom to pound potatoes in the pot. She pounded with the handle and the broom would fly up and down in the air dropping dust into the pot where the potatoes were. Her pan of soft mixed bread she often left uncovered in the kitchen and sometimes the hens walked in and sat in it. The children used to play in mud puddles about the door. It was the youngest of them that sickened with some kind of fever early in the spring before Jenkins began driving the cows out to pasture. The child was very ill and Mrs. Jenkins wanted to send for a doctor but her husband would not let her. They made a bed in the kitchen close to the stove and Mrs. Jenkins nursed the child as best she could. She did all her work nearby and I saw her several times wiping the child's face with the cloth that she used for washing her milk pans. Nobody knew outside the family that the little girl was ill. Jenkins had such a bad name that none of the neighbors would visit them. By and by the child got well and a week or two later Jenkins came home with a quite frightened face and told his wife that the husband of one of his customers was very ill with typhoid fever. After a time the gentleman died and the cook told Jenkins that the doctor wondered how he could have taken the fever for there was not a case in town. There was a widow left with three orphans and they never knew that they had to blame a dirty, careless milkman for taking a kind husband and father from them. End of Chapter One Only Occur Chapter Two The Cruel Milkman I have said that Jenkins spent most of his days in idleness. He had to start out very early in the morning in order to supply his customers with milk for breakfast. Oh, how ugly he used to be when he came into the stable on cold winter mornings before the sun was up. He would hang his lantern on a hook and get out his milking stool and if the cows did not step aside just to suit him he would seize a broom or fork and beat them cruelly. My mother and I slept on a heap of straw in the corner of the stable and when she heard his step in the morning she always roused me so that we could run outdoors as soon as he opened the stable door. He always aimed to kick at us as we passed but my mother taught me how to dodge him. After he finished milking he took the pales of milk up to the house for Mrs. Jenkins to strain and put in the cans and he came back and harnessed his horse to the cart. His horse was called Toby and a poor miserable broken down creature he was. He was weak in the knees and weak in the back and weak all over and Jenkins had to beat him all the time to make him go. He had been a cab horse and his mouth had been jerked and twisted and sold at till one would think there could be no feeling left in it. Still I have seen him wince and curl up his lip when Jenkins thrust in the frosty bit on a winter's morning. Poor old Toby. I used to lie on my straw sometimes and wonder he did not cry out with pain. Cold and half-starved he always was in the wintertime and often with raw sores on his body that Jenkins would try to hide by putting bits of cloth under the harness. But Toby never murmured and he never tried to kick and bite and he minded the least word from Jenkins and if he swore at him. Toby would start back or step up quickly. He was so anxious to please him. After Jenkins put him in the cart and took in the cans he set out on his rounds. My mother, whose name was Jess, always went with him. I used to ask her why she followed such a brute of a man and she would hang her head and say that sometimes she got a bone from the different houses they stopped at. But that was not the whole reason. She liked Jenkins so much that she wanted to be with him. I had not her sweet and patient disposition and I would not go with her. I watched her out of sight and then ran up to the house to see if Mrs. Jenkins had any scraps for me. I nearly always got something for she pitted me and often gave me a kind word or look with the bits of food that she threw to me. When Jenkins come home I often coaxed mother to run about and see some of the neighbor's dogs with me. But she never would and I would not leave her. So from morning to night we had to sneak about keeping out of Jenkins' way as much as we could and yet trying to keep him in sight. He always sauntered about with a pipe in his mouth and his hands in his pockets growling first at his wife and children and then at his dumb creatures. I have not told what became of my brothers and sisters. One rainy day when we were eight weeks old Jenkins, followed by two or three of his ragged dirty children came into the stable and looked at us. Then he began to swear because we were so ugly and said if we had been good looking he might have sold some of us. Mother watched him anxiously and fearing some danger to her puppies ran and jumped in the middle of us and looked pleadingly up at him. It only made him swear the more. He took one pup after another and right there before his children and my poor distracted mother put an end to their lives. Some of them he seized by the legs and knocked against the stalls till their brains were dashed out. Others he killed with a fork. It was very terrible. My mother ran up and down the stable screaming with pain and I lay weak and trembling and expecting every instant that they would come next. I don't know why he spared me. I was the only one left. His children cried and he sent them out of the stable and went out himself. Mother picked up all the puppies and brought them to our nest in the straw and licked them and tried to bring them back to life but it was of no use. They were quite dead. We had them in our corner of the stable for some days and Jenkins discovered them and swearing horribly at us he took his stable fork and threw them out in the yard and put some earth over them. My mother never seemed the same after this. She was weak and miserable and though she was only four years old she seemed like an old dog. This was on account of the poor food she had been fed on. She could not run after Jenkins and she lay on our heap of straw only turning over with her nose the scraps of food I brought her to eat. One day she licked me gently wagged her tail and died. As I sat by her feeling lonely and miserable Jenkins came into the stable I could not bear to look at him. He had killed my mother. There she lay a little gump scarred creature and worried to death by him. Her mouth was half open her eyes were staring she would never again look kindly at me or curl up to me at night to keep me warm. Oh how I hated her murderer but I sat quietly even when he went up and turned her over with his foot to see if she was really dead I think he was a little sorry for he turned scornfully toward me and said she was worth two of you why didn't you go instead still I kept quiet till he walked up to me and kicked at me my heart was nearly broken and I could stand no more I flew at him and gave him a savage fight on the ankle Oh oh he said so you are going to be a little fighter are you I'll fix you for that his face was red and furious he seized me by the back of the neck and carried me out to the yard where a log lay on the ground Bill he called one of his children bring me the hatchet he laid my head on the log and pressed one hand on my struggling body I was now a year old and a full size dog there was a quick dreadful pain and he had cut off my ear not in the way they cut puppies ears but close to my head so close that he cut off some of the skin beyond it then he cut off the other ear and turning me swiftly round cut off my tail close to my body then he let me go and stood looking at me as I rolled on the ground and yelped in agony he was in such a passion that he did not think that people passing by on the road might hear me End of Chapter 2 The Cruel Milkman Chapters 3 and 4 of Beautiful Joe This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders Chapter 3 My Kind Deliverer and Miss Laura There was a young man going by on a bicycle he heard my screams and springing off his bicycle came hurrying up the path and stood among us before Jenkins caught sight of him in the midst of my pain I heard him say fiercely What have you been doing to that dog? I've been cutting his ears for fighting My young gentleman says Jenkins there is no law to prevent that is there and there is no law to prevent my giving you a beating said the young man angrily in a trice he had seized Jenkins by the throat and was pounding him with all his might Mrs. Jenkins came and stood at the house door crying no effort to help her husband bring me a towel the young man cried to her after he had stretched Jenkins bruised and frightened on the ground she snatched off her apron and ran down with it and the young man wrapped me in it and taking me carefully in his arms walked down the path to the gate there were some little boys standing there watching him bounce wide open with astonishment sonny he said to the largest of them if you will come behind and carry this dog I will give you a quarter the boy took me and we said out I was all smothered up in a cloth and moaning with pain but still I looked out occasionally to see which way we were going we took the road to the town and stopped in front of a house on Washington street the young man leaned his bicycle up against the house took a quarter from his pocket and put it in the boy's hands and lifting me gently in his arms went up a lane leading to the back of the house there was a small stable there he went into it put me down on the floor and uncovered my body some boys were playing about the stable and I heard them saying horrified tones oh cousin harry what's the matter with that dog hush he said don't make a fuss you jack go down to the kitchen and ask Mary for a basin of warm water and a sponge and don't let your mother or Lara hear you a few minutes later the young man had bathed my bleeding ears and tail there was something on them that was cool and pleasant and had bandaged them firmly with strips of cotton I felt much better and was able to look about me I was in a small stable that was evidently not used for a stable but more for a playroom there were various kinds of toys scattered about and a swing and bar such as boys loved to twist about on different corners and a box against the wall was a guinea pig looking at me in an interested way this guinea pig's name was Jeff and he and I became good friends a long-haired French rabbit was hopping about and a tame white rat was perched on the shoulder of one of the boys and kept his foothold there no matter how suddenly the boy moved there were so many boys and the table was so small that I suppose he was afraid he would get stepped on if he went on the floor he stared hard at me with his little red eyes and never even glanced at a queer looking grey cat that was watching me too from her bed in the back of the vacant horse stall out in the sunny yard some pigeons were pecking at grain and a spaniel lay asleep I had never seen anything like this before and my wonder at it almost drove the pain away mother and I always chased rats and birds and once we killed a kitten while I was puzzling over it one of the boys cried out here's Laura take that rag out of the way said Mr. Harry kicking aside the old apron I had been wrapped in and that was stained with blood one of the boys stuffed it into a barrel and they all looked toward the house a young girl holding up one hand to shade her eyes from the sun was coming up the walk that led from the house to the stable I thought then that I had never seen such a beautiful girl and I think so still she was tall and slender and had lovely brown eyes and brown hair and a sweet smile and just to look at her was enough to make one love her I stood in the stable door staring at her with all my might why what a funny dog she said and stopped short to look at me up to this I had not thought what a queer looking sight I must be now I twisted round my head saw all the white bandage on my tail and knowing I was not a fit spectacle for a pretty young lady like that I slunk into a corner poor doggy have I hurt your feelings she said and with a sweet smile like the boys she passed by them and came up to the guinea pigs box behind which I had taken refuge what's the matter with your head good dog she said curiously as she stooped over me he has a cold in it said one of the boys with a laugh so we put a nightcap on she drew back and turned very pale cousin Harry there are drops of blood on this cotton who has hurt this dog dear Laura and the young man coming up laid his hand on her shoulder he got hurt and I have been bandaging him who hurt him I had rather not tell you but I wish to know her voice was as gentle as ever but she spoke so decidedly that the young man was obliged to tell her everything all the time he was speaking she kept touching me gently with her fingers when he had finished his account of rescuing me from Jenkins she said quietly you will have the man punished what is the use that won't stop him from being cruel it will put a check on his cruelty I don't think it would do any good said the young man doggedly cousin Harry and the young girl stood up very straight and tall her brown eyes flashing in one hand pointing at me will you let that pass that animal has been wronged it looks to you to write it and who has maimed it for life should be punished a child has a voice to tell it's wrong a poor dumb creature must suffer in silence in bitter, bitter silence and eagerly as the young man tried to interrupt her you were doing the man himself in injustice if he is bad enough to ill treat his dog he will ill treat his wife and children if he is checked and punished now for his cruelty he may reform and even if his wicked heart has not changed he will be obliged to treat them with outward kindness through fear of punishment the young man looked convinced and almost as ashamed as if he had been the one to crop my ears what do you want me to do he said slowly and looking sheepishly at the boys who were staring open mouth at him the young girl the girl pulled a little watch from her veiled I want you to report that man immediately it is now five o'clock I will go down to the police station with you if you like very well he said his face brightening and together they went off to the house end of chapter three my kind deliverer and miss Laura chapter four the boys add to my name the boys watched them out of sight then one of them whose name I afterward learned was Jack and who came next to miss Laura in age gave a low whistle and said does it the old lady come out strong when anyone or anything gets abused I'll never forget the day she found me setting Jim on the black cat of the wilson's she scolded me and then she cried I didn't know where to look plague on it how was I going to know he killed the old cat I only wanted to drive it out of the yard come on let's look at the dog they all came and bent over me as I lay on the floor in my corner I wasn't much used to boys then I didn't know how they would treat me but I soon found by the way they handled me and talked to me that they knew a good deal about dogs and were accustomed to treat them kindly it seemed very strange to have them pat me and call me good dog no one had ever said that to me before today he's not much of a beauty is he said one of the boys whom they called Tom not by a long shot said Jack Morris with a laugh not any nearer the beauty mark than yourself Tom Tom flew at him with a scuffle the other boys paid no attention to them but went on looking at me one of them a little boy with eyes like Ms. Laura's said what did cousin Harry say the dog's name was Joe answered another boy the little chap that carried him home told him we might call him ugly Joe then said a lad with a round fat face I wondered very much who this boy was and later on I found out that he was another of Ms. Laura's brothers and his name was Ned there seemed to be no end to the Morris boys I don't think Laura would like that said Jack Morris suddenly coming up behind him he was very hot and was breathing fast but his manner was as cool as if he had never left the group about me he had beaten Tom who was sitting on a box roofily surveying a hole in his jacket you see he went on gaspingly if you call him ugly Joe her ladieship will say that you were wounding the dear dog's feelings beautiful Joe would be more to her liking a shout went up from the boys I didn't wonder that they laughed plain looking as I naturally but I must have been hideous in those bandages beautiful Joe then let it be they cried let us go and tell mother and ask her to give us something for our beauty to eat they all trooped out of the stable and I was very sorry for when they were with me I did not mind so much the tingling in my ears and the terrible pain in my back they soon brought me some nice food but I could not touch it so they went away to their play and I lay in the box they put me in trembling with pain and wishing that the pretty young lady was there to stroke me with her gentle fingers by and by it got dark the boys finished their play and went into the house and I saw lights twinkling in the windows I felt lonely and miserable in this strange place I would not have gone back to Jenkins for the world still it was the only home I had known and though I felt that I should be happy here I had not yet gotten used to this change then the pain all through my body was dreadful my head seemed to be on fire and there were sharp darting pains up and down my backbone I did not dare to howl lest I should make the big dog Jim angry he was sleeping in a kennel out in the yard the stable was very quiet up in the loft above some rabbits that I had heard running about had now gone to sleep the guinea pig was nestling in the corner of his box and the cat and the tame rat had scampered into the house long ago at last I could bear the pain no longer I sat up in my box and looked about me I felt as if I was going to die and though I was very weak there was something inside me that made me feel as if I wanted to crawl away somewhere out of sight I slunk out into the yard and along the stable wall where there was a thick clump of raspberry bushes I crept in among them and lay down in the damp earth I tried to scratch off my bandages but they were fastened on too firmly and I could not do it I thought about my poor mother and wished she was here to lick my sore ears though she was so unhappy herself she never wanted to see me suffer if I had not disobeyed her I would not now be suffering so much pain she had told me again and again not to snap at Jenkins for it made him worse in the midst of my trouble I heard a soft voice calling Joe Joe it was Ms. Lara's voice but I felt as if there were weights on my paws and I could not go to her Joe Joe she said again and again she was going up the walk to the stable holding up a lighted lamp in her hand I sat on a white dress and I watched her till she disappeared in the stable she did not stay long in there she came out and stood on the gravel Joe Joe beautiful Joe where are you you were hiding somewhere but I shall find you then she came right to the spot where I was poor doggie dead stooping down and patting me are you very miserable and did you crawl away to die I have had dogs to do that before but I am not going to let you die Joe and she set her lamp on the ground and took me in her arms I was very thin then not nearly so fat as I am now still I was quite an armful of her but she did not seem to find me heavy she took me right into the house through the back door and down a long flight of steps across the hall and into a snug kitchen for the late say Miss Laura said a woman who was bending over a stove what have you got there a poor sick dog Mary said Miss Laura seating herself on a chair will you please warm a little milk for him and have you a box or a basket down here that he can lie in I guess so said the woman but he is awful dirty you are not going to let him sleep in the house are you only for tonight he is very ill a dreadful thing happened to him Mary and Miss Laura went on to tell her how my ears had been cut off oh that's the dog the boys were talking about said the woman poor creature he is welcome to all I can do for him she opened a closet door and brought out a box and folded a piece of blanket for me to lie on then she heated some milk in a saucepan and poured it in a saucer and watched me while Miss Laura went upstairs to get a little bottle of something that would make me sleep they poured a few drops of this medicine into the milk and offered it to me I lapped a little but could not finish it even though Miss Laura cooked me very gently to do so she dipped her finger in the milk and held it out to me and though I did not want it I could not be ungrateful enough to refuse to lick her finger as often as she offered it to me after the milk was gone Mary lifted up my box and carried me into the washroom that was off the kitchen I soon felt sound asleep and I could not rouse myself through the night even though I both smelled and heard someone coming near me several times the next morning I found out that it was Miss Laura whenever there was a sick animal in the house no matter if it was only the tame rat she would get up two or three times in the night to see if there was anything she could do to make it more comfortable end of chapter 4 the Morris boys add to my name chapters 5 and 6 of beautiful joe this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org this reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia beautiful joe by Marshall Saunders chapter 5 my new home and a selfish lady I don't believe that a dog could have fallen into a happier home than I did in a week thanks to good nursing good food and kind words I was almost well Mr. Harry washed and dressed my sore ears and tail every day till he went home and one day he and the boys gave me a bath out in the stable they carried out a tub of warm water and stood me in it I had never been washed before in my life and it felt very queer Miss Laura stood by laughing and encouraging me to mind the streams of water trickling all over me I couldn't help wondering what Jenkins would have said if he could have seen me in that tub that reminds me to say that two days after I arrived at the Morris's Jack, followed by all the other boys came running into the stable he had a newspaper in his hand and with a great deal of laughing and joking read this to me Fearport Daily News June 3rd in the police court this morning James Jenkins for cruelly torturing and mutilating a dog, fined $10 and costs then he said what do you think of that Joe $5 a piece for your ears and your tail thrown in that's all there worth in the eyes of the law Jenkins has had his fun about three quarters of a dog I'd lash rascals like that tie them up and flog them until they were scarred and mutilated a little bit themselves just wait till I'm president but there's more old fella listen, our reporter visited the house of the above mentioned Jenkins and found a most deplorable state of affairs the house, yard and stable were indescribably filthy with the marks of ill usage and is in an emanciated condition his cows are plastered up with mud and filth and are covered with vermin where is our health inspector that he does not exercise a more watchful supervision over establishments of this kind to allow milk from an unclean place like this to be sold in the town is endangering the health of its inhabitants upon inquiry Jenkins found that the man Jenkins bears a very bad character steps are being taken to have his wife and children removed from him Jack threw the paper into my box and he and the other boys gave three cheers for the daily news and then ran away how glad I was it did not matter so much for me for I had escaped him but now that it had been found out what a cruel man he was there would be a restraint upon him and poor Toby and the cows could have a happier time I was going to tell about the Morris family there were Mr. Morris who was a clergyman and preached in a church in Fairport Mrs. Morris his wife Miss Laura who was the eldest of the family then Jack, Ned, Carl and Willie I think one reason why they were such a good family was because Mrs. Morris was such a good woman she loved her husband and children and did everything she could to make them happy Mr. Morris was a very busy man and rarely interfered in household affairs Mrs. Morris was the one who said what was to be done and what was not to be done even then when I was a young dog I think that she was very wise there was never any noise or confusion in the house and though there was a great deal of work to be done everything went on smoothly and pleasantly and no one ever got angry and scolded as they did in the Jenkins family Mrs. Morris was very particular about money matters whenever the boys came to her for money to get such things as candy cream, expensive toys and other things that boys often crave she asked them why they wanted them if it was for some selfish reason she said firmly no my children we are not rich people and we must save our money for your education I cannot buy you foolish things if they asked her for money for books or something to make their pet animals more comfortable for outdoor games she gave it to them willingly her ideas about the bringing up of children I cannot explain as clearly as she can herself so I will give a part of a conversation that she had with a lady who was calling on her shortly after I came to Washington street I happened to be in the house at the time indeed I used to spend the greater part of my time in the house one day looked at me and exclaimed why does that dog stalk about first after one and then after another looking at us with such solemn eyes I wished that I could speak to tell him that I had so long been used to seeing animals kicked about and trodden upon that I could not get used to the change it seemed too good to be true I could scarcely believe that the animals had rights but while it lasted and human beings were so kind to me I wanted to be with them all the time Miss Laura understood she drew my head up to her lap and put her face down to me you like to be with us don't you Joe stay in the house as much as you like Jack doesn't mind though he speaks so sharply he's tired of us go out in the garden and have a romp with Jim but I must return to the conversation I referred to it was one fine June day and Mrs. Morris was sewing in a rocking chair by the window I was beside her sitting on a hassack so that I could look out into the street dogs love variety and excitement and like to see what is going on outdoors with human beings a carriage drove up to the door and a finely dressed lady got out and came up the steps Mrs. Morris seemed glad to see her and called her Mrs. Montague I was pleased with her for she had some kind of perfume about her that I like to smell so I went and sat on the hearth rug quite near her they had a little talk about things I did not understand and then the ladies eyes fell on me she looked at me through a bit of glass that was hanging by a chain from her neck and pulled away her beautiful dress lest I should touch it I did not care any longer for the perfume and went away and sat very straight and stiff at Mrs. Morris's feet the ladies eyes still followed me I beg your pardon Mrs. Morris said she but that is a very queer looking dog you have there yes said Mrs. Morris quietly he is not a handsome dog and he is a new one isn't he said Mrs. Montague yes and that makes two dogs a cat 15 or 20 rabbits a rat about a dozen canaries I don't know how many pigeons a few bantams a guinea pig and well I don't think there is anything more they both laughed and Mrs. Montague said you have quite a menagerie my father would never allow one of his children to keep a pet animal he said it would make his girls rough and noisy to romp about the house with cats and his boys would look like rowdies if they went about with dogs at their heels I have never found that it made my children more rough to play with their pets said Mrs. Morris no I should think not said the lady languidly your boys are the most gentlemanly lads in Fedport and as for Laura she is a perfect little lady I like so much to have them come and see Charlie they wake him up and yet don't make him naughty they enjoyed their last visit very much said Mrs. Morris by the way I have heard them talking about getting Charlie a dog oh cried the lady with a little shutter beg them not to I cannot sanction that I hate dogs why do you hate them asked Mrs. Morris gently they are such dirty things they always smell and have vermin on them a dog said Mrs. Morris is something like a child if you want it clean and pleasant you have got to keep it so this dog's skin is as clean as yours or mine hold still Joe and she brushed the hair on my back the wrong way Mrs. Montague how pink and free from dust my skin was Mrs. Montague looked at me more kindly and even held out the tips of her fingers to me I did not lick them I only smelled them and she drew her hand back again you have never been brought in contact with the lower creation as I have said Mrs. Morris just let me tell you in a few words what a help dumb animals have been to me in the upbringing of my children my boys especially when I was a young married woman going about the slums of New York with my husband I used to come home and look at my two babies as they lay in their little cots and say to him what are we going to do to keep these children from selfishness the curse of the world get them to do something for somebody outside themselves he always said and I have tried to act on that principle Laura is naturally unselfish with her tiny baby fingers she would take food from her own mouth and put it into jacks if we did not watch her I have never had any trouble with her but the boys were born selfish tiresomely disgustingly selfish they were good boys in many ways as they grew older they were respectful, obedient they were not untidy and not particularly rough but their one thought was for themselves each one for himself and they used to quarrel with each other in regard to their rights while we were in New York we had only a small backyard when we came here I said to try and experiment we got this house because it had a large garden and a stable that would do for the boys to play in then I got them together and had a little serious talk I said I was not pleased with the way in which they were living they did nothing for anyone but themselves for morning to night I asked them to do an errand for me and it was done unwillingly I knew they had their school for part of the day but they had a good deal of leisure time when they might do something for someone else I asked them if they thought they were going to make real manly Christian boys at this rate and they said no then I asked them what we should do about it they all said you tell us mother and we'll do as you say I proposed a series of tasks each one to do something for somebody outside and apart from himself every day of his life they all agreed to this and told me to allot the tasks if I could have afforded it I would have gotten a horse and cow and had them take charge of them but I could not do that so I invested in a pair of rabbits for Jack a pair of canaries for Carl pigeons for Ned really I brought these creatures home put them into their hands and told them to provide for them they were delighted with my choice and it was very amusing to see them scurrying about to provide food and shelter for their pets and hear their consultations with other boys the end of it all is that I am perfectly satisfied with my experiment my boys in caring for these dumb creatures have become unselfish and thoughtful they had rather go to school without their own breakfast than have the inmates of the stable go hungry they are getting a humane education a heart education added to the intellectual education of their schools then it keeps them at home I used to be worried with the lingering about street corners the dawdling around with other boys often worse than idle talk indulged in now they have something to do they are men of business they are always hammering and pounding at boxes and partitions out there in the stable or cleaning up and if they are sent out on an errand they do it and come right home I don't mean to say we have deprived them of liberty they have their days for baseball and football and excursions to the woods but they have so much to do at home that they won't go away unless for a specific purpose while Mrs. Morris was talking her visitor leaned forward in her chair and listened attentively when she finished Mrs. Montague said quietly thank you I am glad you told me this I shall get to Charlie a dog I am glad to hear you say that replied Mrs. Morris it will be a good thing for your little boy I should not wish my boys to be without a good faithful dog a child can learn many a lesson from a dog this one pointing to me might be held up as an example to many a human being he is patient, quiet and obedient my husband says that he reminds him of the words in the Bible through much tribulation why does he say that? asked Mrs. Montague curiously because he came to us from a very unhappy home and Mrs. Morris went on to tell her friend what she knew of my early days when she stopped Mrs. Montague's face was shocked and pained how dreadful to think that there are such creatures as that man jinkens in the world and you say he has a wife and children Mrs. Morris tell me plainly are there many such unhappy homes in Fairport? Mrs. Morris hesitated for a minute then she said earnestly my dear friend if you could see all the wickedness and cruelty and vileness that is practiced in this little town of ours in one night you could not rest in your bed Mrs. Montague looked dazed I did not dream it was as bad as that she said are we worse than other towns? no not worse but bad enough over and over again the saying is true one half the world does not know how the other half lives how can all this misery touch you? you live in your lovely house out of the town when you come in you drive about do your shopping make calls and go home again you never visit the poorer streets the people from them never come to you you were rich your people before you were rich you live in a state of isolation but that is not right said the lady in a wailing voice I have been thinking about this matter lately I read a great deal in the papers about the misery of the lower classes and I think we richer ones ought to do something to help them Mrs. Morris what can I do? the tears came in Mrs. Morris's eyes she looked at the little frail lady and said simply dear Mrs. Montague I think the root of the whole matter lies in this the Lord made us all one family we are all brothers and sisters the lowest woman is your sister and my sister the man lying in the gutter is our brother what should we do to help these members of our common family who are not as well off as we are we should share our last crust with them you and I but for God's grace in placing us in different surroundings might be in their places I think it is wicked neglect criminal neglect in us to ignore this fact it is it is said Mrs. Montague in a despairing voice I can't help feeling it telling me something I can do to help someone Mrs. Morris sank back in her chair her face very sad and yet with something like pleasure in her eyes as she looked at her collar you are wash your woman she said has a drunken husband and a cripple boy I have often seen her standing over her tub washing your delicate muslins and laces and dropping tears into the water I will never send her anything more she she shall not be troubled said Mrs. Montague hastily Mrs. Morris could not help smiling I have not made myself clear it's not the washing that troubles her it is her husband who beats her and her boy who worries her if you and I take our work from her she will have that much less money to depend on and will suffer in consequence she is a hard working poor woman and makes a fair living I would not advise you to give her money for her husband would find out and take it from her it is sympathy that she wants if you could visit her occasionally and show that you are interested in her by talking or reading to her poor foolish boy or showing him a picture book you have no idea how grateful she would be to you and how it would cheer her on in a dreary way I will go to see her tomorrow said Mrs. Montague can you think of anyone else I could visit a great many said Mrs. Morris but I don't think you had better undertake too much at once I will give you the addresses of three or four poor families where an occasional visit would do untold good that is it will do them good if you treat them as you do your richer friends don't give them too much money or too many presents till you find out what they need try to feel interested in them find out their ways of living and what they are going to do with their children and help them to get situations for them if you can and be sure to remember that poverty does not always take away one's self respect I will I will said Mrs. Montague eagerly addresses Mrs. Morris smiled again and taking a piece of paper and a pencil from her work basket wrote a few lines and handed them to Mrs. Montague the lady got up to take her leave and in regard to the dog said Mrs. Morris following her to the door if you decide to allow Charlie to have one you had better let him come in and have a talk with my boys about it they seem to know all the dogs that are for sale in the town thank you I shall be most happy to do so he shall have his dog when can you have him tomorrow the next day any day at all it makes no difference to me let him spend an afternoon an evening with the boys if you do not object it will give me much pleasure and the little lady bowed and smiled and after stooping down to pat me tripped down the steps and got into her carriage and drove away Mrs. Morris stood looking after her with a beaming face and I began to think that I should like Mrs. Montague too if I knew her long enough two days later I was quite sure I should for I had a proof that Mrs. Morris really liked me when her little boy Charlie came to the house he brought something for me done up in white paper Mrs. Morris opened it and there was a handsome nickel plated collar with my name on it beautiful Joe wasn't I pleased they took off the little shabby leather strap that the boys had given me and then Mrs. Morris held me up to a glass to look at myself I felt so happy up to this time I had felt a little ashamed of my cropped ears and docked tail but now that I had a fine new collar I could hold up my head with any dog dear old Joe said Mrs. Morris pressing my head tightly between her hands you did a good thing the other day in helping me to start that little woman out of her selfish way of living I did not know about that but I knew that I felt very grateful to Mrs. Montague for my new collar and ever afterward when I met her in the street I stopped and looked at her sometimes she saw me and stopped her carriage to speak to me but I always wagged my tail or rather my body for I had no tail to wag whenever I saw her whether she saw me or not her son got a beautiful Irish setter called brisk he had a silky coat and soft brown eyes and his young master seemed very fond of him end of chapter 5 my new home and a selfish lady chapter 6 The Fox Terrier Billy when I came to the Morris's I knew nothing about the proper way of bringing up a puppy I once heard of a little boy who sister beat him so much that he said he was brought up by hand so I think as Jenkins kicked me so much I might say I was brought up by foot shortly after my arrival in my new home I had a chance to find out how one should bring up a little puppy one day I was sitting beside Miss Laura in the parlor when the door opened and Jack came in one of his hands was laid over the other and he said to his sister guess what I've got here a bird she said nope a rat no a mouse she said reprovingly for she thought he was telling a story he opened his hands and there lay the tiniest morsel of a fox terrier puppy that I ever saw he was white with black and tan markings his body was pure white his tail black with a dash of tan his ears black and his face evenly marked with black and tan we could not tell the color of his eyes as they were not open later on they turned out to be a pretty brown his nose was a pale pink and when he got older it became jet black why Jack exclaimed Miss Laura his eyes aren't open why did you take him from his mother she's dead said Jack poisoned left her pups to run about the yard for a little exercise some brute had thrown over a piece of poisoned meat and she ate it four of the pups died this is the only one left Mr. Robinson says his man doesn't understand raising pups without their mothers and as he is going away he wants us to have it for we always had such luck in nursing sick animals Mr. Robinson I knew was a friend of the Morris's and a gentleman who was and imported a great deal of it from England if this puppy came from him it was sure to be a good one Miss Laura took the tiny creature and went upstairs very thoughtfully I followed her and watched her get a little basket and line it with cotton wool she put the puppy in it and looked at him though it was mid-summer and the house seemed very warm to me the little creature was shivering making low murmuring noise she pulled the wool all over him and put the window down and set his basket in the sun then she went to the kitchen and got some warm milk she dipped her finger in it and offered it to the puppy but he went nosing about it in a stupid way and wouldn't touch it too young Miss Laura said put some bread in it tied a string around it and dipped it in the milk when she put this to the puppy's mouth he sucked it greedily he acted as if he was starving but Miss Laura only let him have a little every few hours for the rest of the day she gave him some more milk and I heard the boys say that for many nights she got up once or twice and heated milk over a lamp for him one night the milk got cold before he took it and he swelled up and became so ill that Miss Laura had to rouse her mother and get some hot water to plunge him in that made him well again and no one seemed to think it was too great a deal of trouble to take for a creature that was nothing but a dog he fully repaid them for all his care for he turned out to be one of the prettiest and most lovable dogs that I ever saw they called him Billy and the two events of his early life were the opening of his eyes and the swallowing of his muslin rag the rag did not seem to hurt him but Miss Laura said that as he had got so strong and so greedy he must learn to eat like other dogs he was very amusing he was a puppy he was full of tricks and he crept about in a mischievous way when one did not know he was near he was a very small puppy and used to climb inside Miss Laura's jersey sleeve up to her shoulder when he was six weeks old one day when the whole family was in the parlor Mr. Morris suddenly flung aside his newspaper and began jumping up and down Mr. Morris was very much alarmed and cried out my dear William what is the matter there's a rat up my leg he said shaking it violently just then little Billy fell out on the floor and lay on his back looking up at Mr. Morris with a surprised face he had felt cold and thought it would be warm inside Mr. Morris's trousers leg however Billy never did any real mischief thanks to Miss Laura's training she began to punish him just as soon as he began to tear and worry things the first thing he attacked was Mr. Morris's felt hat the wind blew it down the hall one day and Billy came along and began to try it with his teeth I dare say it felt good to them for a puppy is very like a baby and loves something to bite Miss Laura found him and he rolled his eyes at her quite innocently not knowing that he was doing wrong she took the hat away and pointing from it to him she said bad Billy then she gave him two or three slaps with a boot lace she never struck a little dog with her hand or a stick she said clubs were for big dogs and switches for little dogs if one had to use them the best way was to scold them for a good dog feels a severe scolding as much as a whipping Billy was very much ashamed of himself nothing would induce him even to look at a hat again but he thought it was no harm to worry other things he attacked one thing after another the rugs on the floor curtains anything flying or fluttering and Miss Laura patiently scolded him for each one till at last it dawned upon him that he must not worry anything but a bone then he got to be a very good dog there was one thing that Miss Laura was very particular about and that was to have him fed regularly we both got three meals a day we were never allowed to go into the dining room and while the family was at the table we lay in the hall outside and watched what was going on dogs take a great interest in what anyone gets to eat it was quite exciting to see the Morris's passing each other different dishes and to smell the nice hot food Billy often wished he could get up on the table he said that he would make things fly when he was growing he hardly ever got enough to eat I used to tell him that he would kill himself if he could eat all he wanted to as soon as meals were over Billy and I scampered after Miss Laura to the kitchen we each had our own plate for food Mary the cook often laughed at Miss Laura because she would not let her dogs dish together Miss Laura said that if she did the larger one would get more than his share and the little one would starve it was quite a sight to see Billy eat he spread his legs apart to steady himself and gobbled at his food like a duck when he finished he always looked up for more and Miss Laura would shake her head and say no Billy better longing than loathing I believe that a great many little dogs are killed by overfeeding I often heard the morises speak of the foolish way in which some people stuffed their pets with food and either kill them, buy it or keep them in continual ill-help a case occurred in our neighborhood while Billy was a puppy some people called Dobson who lived only a few doors from the morises had a fine bay mayor and a little cult called Sam very proud of this cult and Mr. Dobson had promised it to his son James one day Mr. Dobson asked Mr. Morris to come in and see the cult and I went too I watched Mr. Morris while he examined it it was a pretty little creature and I did not wonder that they thought so much of it when Mr. Morris went home his wife asked him what he thought of it I think he said that it won't live long why Papa exclaimed Jack who overheard the remark it is as fat as a seal it would have a better chance for life if it were lean and scrawny said Mr. Morris they are overfeeding it and I told Dobson so but he wasn't inclined to believe me now Mr. Morris brought up in the country and knew a great deal about animals so I was inclined to think he was right and sure enough in a few days we heard that the cult was dead poor James Dobson felt very badly a number of the neighbors boys went in to see him and there he stood gazing at the dead cult and looking as if he wanted to cry Jack was there and though he said nothing for a time I knew he was angry with the Dobsons for sacrificing the cult's life presently he said you won't need to have that cult stuffed now he's dead Dobson what do you mean why do you say that ask the boy peevishly because you stuffed him while he was alive said Jack Salsely then we had to run for all we were worth for the Dobson boy was after us and he was a big fellow he would have whipped Jack Salsely I must not forget to say that Billy was washed regularly once a week with nice smelling soap and once a month with strong smelling disagreeable carbolic soap he had his own towels and wash cloths and after being rubbed and scrubbed he was rolled in a blanket and started to dry Miss Lara said that a little dog that has been petted and kept in the house and has become tender should never be washed and allowed to run about with a wet coat unless the weather was very warm for he would be sure to take cold Jim and I were more hearty than Billy and we took our baths in the sea every few days the boys took us down to the shore and we went swimming with them End of Chapter 6 The Fox Terrier Billy Chapters 7 and 8 of Beautiful Joe This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org This reading by Allison Hester of Athens, Georgia Beautiful Joe by Marshall Saunders 7. Training a puppy Ned, dear said Miss Lara one day I wish you would train Billy to follow and retrieve he is four months old now and I shall soon want to take him out in the street Very well, sister said Miss GV as Ned and catching up a stick he said come out into the garden dogs Though he was brandishing his stick fiercely I was not at all afraid of him and as for Billy he loved Ned The Morris Garden was not really a garden but a large piece of ground with the grass worn bare in many places a few trees scattered about and some raspberry and current bushes along the fence A lady who knew that Mr. Morris had not a large salary said one day she was looking out of her dining room window My dear Mrs. Morris why don't you have this garden dug up you could raise your own vegetables it would be so much cheaper than buying them Mrs. Morris laughed in great amusement Think of the hens and cats and dogs and rabbits and above all the boys that I have what sort of a garden would there be and do you think it would be fair to take their playground from them The lady said that no, she did not think it would be fair I am sure I don't know what the boys would have done without this strip of ground many a frolic and game they had there In the present case Ned walked around and around it with his stick on his shoulder Billy and I strolling after him Presently Billy made a dash to decide to get a bone Ned turned around and said firmly to heal Billy looked at him innocently not knowing what he meant to heal exclaimed Ned again Billy thought he wanted to play and putting his head on his paws he began to bark Ned laughed still he kept saying to heal another word he knew if he said come here or follow or go behind it would confuse Billy Finally as Ned kept saying the words over and over and pointing to me it seemed to dawn upon Billy that he wanted him to follow him so he came beside me and together we followed Ned around the garden again and again Ned often looked behind his face and I felt so proud to think I was doing well but suddenly I got dreadfully confused when he turned around and said hey out the Morris's all used the same words in training their dogs and I had heard Miss Laura say this but I had forgotten what it meant good Joe said Ned turning around and patting me you have forgotten I wonder where Jim is he would help us he put his fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle and soon Jim came trotting up the lane from the street he looked at us with his large intelligent eyes and wagged his tail slowly as if to say well what do you want of me come and give me a hand at this training business old guys said Ned with a laugh it's too slow to do it alone now young gentleman attention to heal he began to march around the garden again and Jim and I followed closely at his heels while little Billy seeing that he could not get us to play with him came lagging behind soon Ned turned around and said hey out old Jim spring ahead and ran off in front as if he was after something now I remembered what hey out meant we were to have a lovely race wherever we liked little Billy loved this we ran and scampered hither and thither and Ned watched us laughing at our antics after tea he called us out in the garden again and said he had something else to teach us he turned up a tub on the wooden platform at the back door and sat on it and then called Jim to him he took a small leather strap from his pocket it had a nice strong smell we all licked it and each dog wished to have it no Joe and Billy said Ned holding us both by our collars you wait a minute here Jim Jim watched him very earnestly and Ned threw the strap halfway across the garden and said fetch it Jim never moved till he heard the words fetch it then he ran swiftly brought the strap and dropped it in Ned's hand Ned sent him after it two or three times then he said to Jim lie down and turned to me here Joe it is your turn he threw the strap under the raspberry bushes and then looked at me and said fetch it I knew quite well what he meant and I ran joyfully after it I soon found it by the strong smell but the queerest thing happened when I got it in my mouth I began to gnaw it with it and when Ned called out fetch it I dropped it and ran toward him I was not obstinate but I was stupid Ned pointed to the place where it was and spread out his empty hands that helped me and I ran quickly and got it he made me get it for him several times sometimes I could not find it and sometimes I dropped it but he never stirred he sat still till I brought it back to him after a while he tried Billy but it soon got dark and we could not see so he took Billy and went into the house I stayed out with Jim for a while and he asked me if I knew why Ned had thrown a strap for us instead of a bone or something hard of course I did not know Jim told me it was on his account he was a bird dog and was never allowed to carry anything hard in his mouth because it would make him hard mouth and he would be apt to bite the birds when he was bringing them back to any person who was shooting with him he said that he had been so carefully trained that he could even carry three eggs at a time in his mouth I said to him Jim how is it that you never go out shooting I have always heard that you were a dog for that and yet you never leave home he hung his head a little and said he did not wish to go and then for he was an honest dog he gave me the true reason end of chapter 7 training of Huffy chapter 8 I was a sport and dog he said bitterly for the first three years of my life I belong to a man who keeps a livery stable here in Fairport and he used to hire me out to shooting parties I was a favorite with all the gentlemen I was crazy with delight when I saw the guns brought out and would jump up and bite at him I loved to chase birds and rabbits and even now when the pigeons come near me I tremble all over and have to turn away lest I should seize them I used often to be in the woods for morning till night I liked to have a hard search after a bird after it had been shot and to be praised for bringing it out without biting or injuring it I never got lost for I am one of those dogs I would tell where human beings are I did not smell them I would be too far away for that but if my master was standing in some place and I took a long round through the woods I knew exactly where he was and could make a short cut back to him without returning in my tracks but I must tell you about my trouble one Saturday afternoon a party of young men came to get me a dog with them a Cocker Spaniel named Bob but they wanted another for some reason or other my master was very unwilling to have me go however he at last consented and they put me in the back of the wagon with Bob and the lunch baskets and we drove off into the country this Bob was a happy merry looking dog and as we went along we should have the next day the young men would shoot a little then they would get out their baskets and have something to eat and drink and would play cards and go to sleep under the trees and we would be able to help ourselves to legs and wings of chicken and anything we liked from the baskets I did not like this at all I was used to working hard through the week and I liked to spend my Sundays quietly at home however I said nothing that night we slept at a country hotel and drove the next morning to the banks of a small lake where the young men were told there would be plenty of wild ducks they were in no hurry to begin their sport they sat down in the sun on some flat rocks at the water's edge and said they would have something to drink before setting to work they got out some of the bottles from the wagon and began to take long drinks from them then they got quarrelsome and mischievous and seemed to forget all about their shooting one of them proposed to have some fun with the dogs they tied us both to a tree and throwing a stick in the water told us to go get it of course we struggled and tried to get free and chafed our necks with the rope after a time one of them began to swear at me and say that he believed I was gunshot he staggered to the wagon and got out his fouling piece and said he was going to try me he loaded it went to a little distance and was going to fire when the young man who owned Bob said he wasn't going to have his dog's legs shot off and coming up and then fastened him and took him away you can imagine my feelings as I stood there tied to the tree with that stranger pointing his gun directly at me he fired close to me a number of times over my head and under my body the earth was cut up all around me I was terribly frightened and howled in bed to be freed the other young men who were sitting laughing at me thought it was such good fun that they got their guns too I never wished to spend such a terrible hour again I was sure they would kill me I dare say they would have done so for they were all quite drunk by this time if something had not happened poor Bob who was almost as frightened as I was and who lay shivering under the wagon was killed by a shot by his own master whose hand was the most unsteady of all he gave one loud howl kicked convulsively then turned over on his side and lay quite steel it sobered them all they ran up to him but he was quite dead they sat for a while quite silent then they threw the rest of the bottles into the lake a shallow grave for Bob and putting me in the wagon drove slowly back to town they were not bad young men I don't think they meant to hurt me or to kill Bob it was the nasty stuff in the bottles that took away their reason I was never the same dog again I was quite deaf in my right ear and though I strove against it I was so terribly afraid even the sight of a gun that I would run and hide myself whenever one was shown to me my master was very angry with those young men and it seemed as if he could not bear the sight of me one day he took me very kindly and brought me here and asked Mr. Morris if he did not want a good nature dog to play with the children I have a happy home here and I love the Morris boys but I often wish I could keep from putting my tail between my legs and running home every time I hear the sound of a gun never mind that Jim I said you should not fret over a thing for which you are not to blame I am sure you must be glad for one reason that you have left your old life what is that he said on account of the birds you know Miss Laura thinks it is wrong to kill the pretty creatures that fly about in the woods so it is he said unless one kills them at once I have often felt angry with men for only half killing a bird I hated to pick up the little warm body and see the bright eye looking so reproachfully at me and feel the flutter of life we animals, or rather most of us, kill mercifully it is only human beings who butcher their prey and seem, some of them to rejoice in their agony I used to be eager to kill birds and rabbits but I did not want to keep them before me long after they were dead I often stop in the street and look up at fine ladies bonnets and wonder how they can weir little dead birds in such dreadful positions some of them have their heads twisted under their wings and over their shoulders and looking toward their tails and their eyes are so horrible that I wish I could take those ladies into the woods and let them see how easy and pretty a live bird is and how unlike the stuffed creatures they weir have you ever had a good run in the woods Joe never I said someday I will take you and now it is late and I must go to bed are you going to sleep in the kennel with me or in the staple I think I will sleep with you Jim dogs like company you know as well as human beings I curled up in the straw beside him and soon we were fast asleep I have known a good many dogs but I don't think I ever saw such a good one as Jim he was gentle and kind and so sensitive that a hard word hurt him more than a blow he was a great pet with Mrs. Morris and as he had been so well trained he was able to make himself very useful to her when she went shopping he often carried a parcel in his mouth for her he would never drop it anywhere one day she dropped her purse without knowing it and Jim picked it up and brought it home in his mouth she did not notice him for he always walked behind her when she got to her own door she missed the purse and turning around saw it in Jim's mouth another day a lady gave Jack Morris a canary cage as a present for Carl he was bringing it home little seed boxes fell out Jim picked it up and carried it a long way before Jack discovered it end of chapter 8 a ruined dog