BOWSER'S GREAT VOICE
To long for home when far away
Will rob of joy the brightest day.
_Bowser the Hound._
There is as much difference in the voices of dogs as in the voices of
human beings. For that matter, this is true of many of the little people
who wear fur. Bowser the Hound had a wonderful, deep, clear voice, a
voice that could be heard a great distance. No one who knew it would
ever mistake it for the voice of any other Hound.
As a rule, Bowser seldom used that great voice of his save when he was
hunting some one. Then, when the scent was strong, he gave tongue so
fast that you wondered how he had breath enough left to run. But now
that he was a prisoner of kindness, in the home of the people who had
taken him in when he had crept to their doorstep, Bowser sometimes bayed
from sheer homesickness. When he was tied out in the yard, he would
sometimes get to thinking of his home and long to see Farmer Brown and
Mrs. Brown and especially his master, Farmer Brown's boy. Then, when he
could stand it no longer, he would open his mouth and send his great
voice rolling across to the woods with a tone of mournfulness which
never had been there before.
But great as was Bowser's voice, and far as it would carry, there was
none who knew him to hear it, save Blacky the Crow. You remember that
Blacky knew just where Bowser was and often flew over that farmyard to
make sure that Bowser was still there. So more than once Blacky heard
Bowser's great voice with its mournful note, and understood it.
It troubled Blacky. Yes, Sir, it actually troubled Blacky. He knew just
what was the matter with Bowser, but for the life of him he couldn't
think of any way of helping Bowser. "That dog is homesick," croaked
Blacky, as he sat in the top of a tall tree, scratching his head as if
he thought he might scratch an idea out of it. "Of course he doesn't
know how to get home, and if he tried he probably would get as badly
lost as he was before. Anyway, they don't give him a chance to try. I
can't lead Farmer Brown's boy over here because he doesn't understand my
talk, and I don't understand his. There isn't a thing I can do but keep
watch. I wish Bowser would stop barking. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
Yes, Sir, it makes me feel uncomfortable. Old Man Coyote got Bowser into
this trouble, and he ought to get him out again, but I don't suppose it
is the least bit of use to ask him. It won't do any harm to try,
anyway."
So Blacky started back for the Green Forest and the Old Pasture near
Farmer Brown's to look for Old Man Coyote, and for a long time as he
flew he could hear Bowser's voice with its note of homesickness and
longing.