OCTOBER 26: Blackie’s Escape
“A little girl named Doris,” said daddy, “was devoted to her pet dog, Blackie. He had long black curly hair and was her constant companion.
“Wherever Doris went, Blackie followed. He took long walks with her, and when she stopped to gather ferns and lovely wild flowers, Blackie would romp through the fields, playing and chasing his shadow, sticks, and sometimes his tail!
“One day Doris was very busy. She was getting ready for a magic lantern show she was going to give for some of her little friends that evening.
“Blackie went out alone. He thought at first he would take a long scamper over the hills and then he decided that he would go and see some of the other dogs in the village where Doris lived. He thought perhaps they would like to take a run, and it would be so much more fun to have companions. He knew his mistress would not be able to leave the house for she had told him so, and Blackie always understood.
“He went up into the village and before he had met any of his special friends he came across a big bone. He had met several dogs he knew well enough to sniff at and wag his tail to as he went by, but he was waiting to see some of his really good friends when he happened upon the bone.
“‘This looks good,’ he said to himself. ‘I do believe I’ll take it home and spend the afternoon munching on the bone.’
“Blackie ran home and into the side yard. What a time he did have, but it was not long before Doris saw him.
“‘What, back again?’ she said. And Blackie wagged his tail. ‘Maybe I’ll get through in time for a little scamper.’
“Of course Blackie knew perfectly well what a scamper meant and he barked delightedly.
“‘What have you got there?’ asked Doris as she noticed the bone.
“Somehow it had a peculiar look and a very peculiar odor and in a moment Doris thought of poison. That was always the danger about bones that were found. She thought to herself, as she took the bone and looked at it, that there have been people cruel enough to put poison around on bones so dogs would eat it.
“She threw the bone away and though Blackie looked very much disappointed he knew that it must be quite a horrid bone if his mistress wouldn’t let him have it. For she knew how much he loved bones and would never take it away from him if she didn’t have to do so.
“‘I think I’ll be able to leave now,’ said Doris. For the bone still worried her and she thought perhaps it would be good for Blackie to have a run.
“Blackie was very happy again, but when they were a little way out of the village, Blackie didn’t seem to want to run, and he stopped every few moments to eat grass. Dogs usually do that when they are feeling ill.
“Again Doris thought of the bone and how worried she was. Blackie didn’t want to run, and was so unlike himself.
“Pretty soon she decided to go home and Blackie seemed very glad of that. She telephoned her little friends and said that the magic lantern show would be put off for Blackie was ill.
“How badly they all felt, for they knew how much she loved Blackie. But she didn’t forget about the other little dogs. She told all her friends to watch their pets, for she imagined a cruel person who wanted to poison dogs was around.
“During the evening Blackie grew worse! Oh, how sick he was! He was so hot, and Doris kept sponging his head with cool water. He would look at her out of his brown eyes and tell her how grateful he was, and he would try to say that he did not want to leave his mistress—life had been so happy for him.
“‘Oh, Blackie,’ whispered Doris, as she bathed his head, and as her tears rolled down on his black shaggy hairs, ‘would they kill little dogs who are people’s pets—just because they are so mean and don’t know what it is to understand and love an animal? And they put the poison around anywhere so that the good are just as apt to eat it as perhaps one dog who is naughty.’
“But Blackie got well, and perhaps the cruel person heard about it, for there was no more dog poisoning in that village.”