The Coleman family were in possession of a roly-poly, fuzzy,
brown-and-white pup named Peter, called Pete for short. Peter was a
combination of several breeds of dogs. He had good and bad relations on
both sides of the house, but his nearest kin, which were, of course,
his father, Shep, and his Scotch collie mother, Susie, were very worthy
dogs. They were not quarrelsome nor dishonest, lived peaceably with the
house cat, and never tortured a rabbit before they killed it. Indeed,
in all dogdom Susie and Shep were considered honorable citizens.
It was on account of this excellent record of the parent dogs that
these good people were wanting ones of their likely offspring. They
felt sure that a member of a family so worthy would grow up to be a
useful dog.
Susie had tried to train Pete to be polite, and to observe the Golden
Rule in his conduct toward cats and other animals less fortunate than
himself. His father had given him a cuff on the side of the head when
he found him running off with Betty’s shoe, and told him that “dogs who
wished to grow up into leading citizens in dogdom didn’t steal young
ladies’ shoes and chew the toes off them.” Then he made Pete take the
shoe to his mistress, lay it at her feet, and wag his tail in apology.
In this way, these parents tried to instill into their son all the
good principles they could before he should go out into the wide, wide
world. In Pete’s case, this meant being taken in a basket to his new
home at Coleman’s.
Pete’s parting with his home folks was pathetic. All that week he was
favored above his brothers and sisters. The day before his departure,
his father, Shep, took him slyly aside and whispered in his ear,
“Follow me, but do not let even your mother know about it.”
[Illustration: Peter Learns a Lesson]
So Pete watched his chance and, when Susie was taking her afternoon
nap and others were playing tag, he sniffed about until he took up
the trail to the garden. There he saw his dad digging in the ground.
Finally Shep unearthed a well seasoned bone. What a treat Pete was
to have, in being allowed to dine with his father off one end of
that juicy, earth-flavored bone! There was no criticism of his table
manners. What if he did fill his mouth too full and make a noise when
he ate? Nothing was said about it, which was unusual, for his dad was
a stickler for correct eating. Another time Pete would have been sent
away from the feast, had he been greedy and asked for a third helping,
but to-day, how different! For once he was allowed to put both paws on
that sweet bone and to gnaw and gnaw, while his dad stood off smiling
approval.
Peter wished there was no wide world to go out into. Why, he was just
beginning to get along well at home. His brothers and sisters envied
him, and what satisfaction he got out of having them all jealous of
him--so nearly human was this little piece of dog flesh. The other
pups’ eyes fairly bulged and turned green when they saw Susie tucking
him tenderly in, the night before he was to leave his home.
How fondly she licked him, paying particular attention to his ears, to
make sure they were clean. Now these very ears were always a source
of dispute at other times. Many a cuffing Pete had received when they
would not bear inspection. But to-night how gentle was her touch,
what pathos in her whine, as she bade him good night! Susie was going
through a crisis, such as comes to every mother when her family circle
is broken, and one of her beloved ones goes out from the home nest. She
wanted him to be an honor to her and his father. Would he?
We shall see.