Lad: A Dog

nmercifully; in a prettily imperious way she bossed and bullied him-for all of which Lad adored her. He had other reasons, too, for loving Lady-not only

forests beyond The Place in search of rabbits. Together they sprawled shoulder to shoulder on the disreputable old

and love. Poor old Lad was made to feel terribly out in the cold. The trio of rivals that had so suddenly claimed Lady's ca

e Lad in color, but like the mother-at least, all of him not white was of the indet

e two brown puppies died. There seemed no particular reason for their death, except the f

e puppy which was soon to turn to white

s, a dozen times a day, to lure his mate into a woodland ramble or into a romp on the lawn, but Lady met his wistful advances with absorbed indifference or w

apeless little whimpering ball of fur that nestled so helplessly against his beloved mate's side. He could not unde

for hours at a time to sad brooding in his favorite "cave" under the living-room piano, and tried to console himself by spending all the rest of his day in the company of the M

ting, and his huge feet and legs were beginning to shape up. He looked more like a dog now, and less like an animated muff. Also within Wolf's youthful heart awoke the devil of mischief, the keen urge of play. He found Lady a pleasant-enough playfellow up to a c

e-except to the fool puppy himself-that he had no desire to romp or to associate in any way with this creature which had ousted him from Lady's heart! Being cursed with a

ance, would be snoozing away a hot hour on the veranda or under the wist

little milk-teeth fiercely into the flesh. Then he would brace himself a

ould lose his grip as his fat little body left the ground. Then, at a clumsy gallop, he would pursue Lad, throwing himself against his father's forelegs and nipping the slend

in it no ill-temper-nothing but heartache at his mate's desertion, and a weary distaste for the puppy's annoying antics. It was bad enoug

le, but unmitigated, pest. The Mistress and the Master tried in every way to make up to Lad for the pos

scampering away in mortal terror, and to bring the Master out from his study on a run. For no normal dog gives tha

o him in surly unwillingness. Her nose was hot and dry; her soft brown

aster shut her into a kennel-roo

r old, but when they do it's dangerous. Better let me take her over to my hospital and isolate her there. Distemper runs through a kennel faster than cholera th

mate borne away from him in th

rithing back from his clenched teeth, his shaggy throat vibrant with growls. At a sharp word of command from the Master, he checked his on

him, stroking the dog's magnificent head as he spoke

kidnaping was legal and must not be prevented. Sorrowfully he watched the chugging car out of

rbidden spot, the dining-room. Next morning, as soon as the doors were opened, he dashed out in search of Lady. Wit

spent the first solitary night of his three-month life. He missed the furry warm body into whose shelter

n in Wolf's eyes. But at sight of Lad, the puppy gamboled forward with a falsetto bark of joy. The world was not quite empty, after all. Though

turned aside to avoid the lively little nuisance. Then, h

s bumptious and sharp-toothed little son of hers. Lady had loved the youngster-Lady, who

of Lad's ears. Lad did not shake off his tormentor and stalk away. In spite of the pain to the sensitive flesh, he remained quiet, looking down

th a playfully unconscious throwback to his wolf ancestors who sought thus to disable an enemy by br

uppy trotted over to him and stood for a moment with ears cocked and head on one side as if planning a new attack on his

the top of the puppy's sleepy head was rumpled, Lad bent over and began softly to lick back the tousled hair into shape with his curving tongue-his raspberry

been of late. For animal mothers early wear out their zealously self-sacrificing love for their young. By the time the latter are a

of his relationship to his new ward. His adoption of Wolf was due solely to his own love

puppy's education as well-this to the amusement of everyone on The Place. But everyone's amusement was kept from Lad. The sensitive dog wo

wonder that many humans lose patience and temper during the process and idiotically resort to the whip, to the boot-toe and to bellowing-in which case the pu

entials for training a puppy. Happy the human who is blessed with any three of these quali

raze for destruction. A dropped lace handkerchief, a cushion left on the grass, a book or a hat lying on a veranda-chair-t

with bliss at a chance to harry and terrify the chickens or peacocks or pigeons or any others of The Place's Little People that were safe prey for him. He tried this form of bullying once-only once-on the Mistress' temperame

king. Wolf added to this limited fare a hundred articles, from clothespins to cigars. The climax came when he found on the veranda-table a two-pound box of chocolates, from which the

uppies to whom the Law is taught with bewildering ease. A single command or prohibition had ever been enough to fix a rule in his almost uncannily human brain. Perhaps if the two little brown pup

tance, Wolf leaped barkingly upon a filmy square of handkerchief that had just fallen from the Mistress' belt. Before the destructive little teeth could rip the fine cam

fted a second time, painlessly but terrifyingly, above earth. After this was repeated five times, a gleam

mmobile as a stone wall. Lad had darted in between the pup and the chicks, opposing his own big body to the charge. Wolf was b

Lad silenced the youngster's clamorous salvo when a guest or tradesman entered The Place, whether on foot or in a car. By his own thu

et bit by bit-and in a surprisingly short time for so vast an undertaking-Wolf's character was rounded into form. True, he had the ever-goading spirits of a true puppy. And these spirits sometimes led him to smash even suc

it by taking the puppy for long runs in the December woods and

ndliness of Lad were having their effect on his heart as well as on his manners. They str

t over to Lady's empty kennel to see if by any chance she had come back to him during the night. There was eager hope in his big dark

e lawn was frozen solid from shore to shore. The trees crouched away from the whirling north wind as if in shame at their own black naked

ecstasy of excitement. His gold-and-white coat was thicker and shaggier now, to ward off the

he chilly black water. Now, to his astonishment, he could run on that water as easily-if somewhat sprawlingly-as on land. It was

ered anything to remind him of his lost mate; and that discovery caused him for the first time i

of the house. In it rode the vet' who had taken Lady away. He had stopped for a m

he walked hospitably forward to greet the unknown guest. The vet' stepped into the

hen, without a sound or other sign of warning, he l

pounds smote him on the chest, and Lad's powerful jaws closed viselike on the forearm that guarded the man's throat. Deep into the thick ulster the white t

the Master, spr

osed his grip and dropped to the floor-wh

ad never merited punishment. He did not fear it. But the Master's tone of fierce disapp

Master again, in

aster, without another word, opened the front door and pointed outward. Lad rose

e vet', looking ruefully at his torn sleeve. "That's why

thrash a woman. Besides, I've just punished him worse than i

d the smooth surface of the lake-ice to gray slush. All day and all night the trees and the ea

jogged along at his side. As they reached the margin, Lad sniffed and drew back. His

umans are bothered by premonitions. Ahead of him stretched the huge shee

e him look back, but the lure of the

Thus, for a few yards out, the rotting ice was still thick, but where the current

hat the ice collapsed under the pounding feet. There was a dull, sloppy sound. A ten-foot ice-cake broke off from the main

ning his forefeet clawed helplessly at the unbroken ledge of ice. He had not the strength or the wit to crawl upon it and make his way to land. The bitter chill of the water was already p

them through the bare trees, even at that distance, and they took in the impending tragedy at a glance. They jumped out of the car and set off at a r

ry edge of the hole, and there, leaning forward and bracing all four of his absurdly tiny white paws, he sought to catch the puppy by the neck and lift him to safety.

plessly among the chunks of drifting ice. The breaking off of the shoreward mass of ice, under Lad's pressure

swimming with a rush that lifted a third of his tawny body out of water. His jaws gripped Wolf by the middle of the back, and he swam thus with him toward shore. At the edge of the

harp claws bit into its soft upper crust. With a frantic wriggle he was out of the water and on top of this thicker stratum of

baby. He halted, turned about and, with a volley of falsetto bar

by thrusting downward with his hind legs. Both his hind paws had struck Lad's h

r the ice, some yards below. The top of his head str

bout futilely until he drowned. Lad, perhaps on instinct, perhaps on reason, struck out tow

is breath. He fought his way on, inch by inch, against the current, beneath the scratching rough under-surface o

between him and the bank. He reached it just as the Master, squirming along, face down

ight, dousing him. The second time he got his fore-quarters well over the top of the ledge, and

g but safe on the slushy surface of the thicker ice. Backward over the few ya

dim and bloodshot from his fearful ordeal. Midway in his progress toward the Mistress

f this day, without the puppy's trying to rob him now of the Mistress' caress. He was tired, and he w

n and eyes. He halted in his shaky walk and stared, dumfounded. This dog which g

he Master was telling him. "We went over for her in

ed to realize-was that his mate was ecstatically

; and it hurt like

d to hav