"Well, Cousin Eleanor," said the child, "you know Tiger, our big dog. He used to be a bad dog, and when Dr. Fairchild drove up to the house he jumped up and bit at him. Dr. Fairchild used to speak kindly to him, and throw out bits of meat, and now when he comes, Tiger follows behind and wags his tail. Now, give me a kiss."
The girl had to give her a kiss, right up there before every one, and what a stamping the boys made. The larger girl blushed and hurried back to her seat, with the child clinging to her hand.
There was one more story, about a brave Newfoundland dog, that saved eight lives by swimming out to a wrecked sailing vessel, and getting a rope by which the men came ash.o.r.e, and then a lad got up whom they all greeted with cheers, and cries of, "The Poet! the Poet!" I didn"t know what they meant, till Mrs. Wood whispered to Miss Laura that he was a boy who made rhymes, and the children had rather hear him speak than any one else in the room.
He had a snub nose and freckles, and I think he was the plainest boy there, but that didn"t matter, if the other children loved him. He sauntered up to the front, with his hands behind his back, and a very grand manner.
"The beautiful poetry recited here to-day," he drawled, "put some verses in my mind that I never had till I came here to-day." Everyone present cheered wildly, and he began in a singsong voice:
"I am a Band of Mercy boy, I would not hurt a fly, I always speak to dogs and cats, When"er I pa.s.s them by.
"I always let the birdies sing, I never throw a stone, I always give a hungry dog A nice, fat, meaty bone.
"I wouldn"t drive a bob-tailed horse, Nor hurry up a cow, I----"
Then he forgot the rest. The boys and girls were so sorry. They called out, "Pig," "Goat," "Calf," "Sheep," "Hens," "Ducks," and all the other animals" names they could think of, but none of them was right, and as the boy had just made up the poetry, no one knew what the next could be.
He stood for a long time staring at the ceiling, then he said, "I guess I"ll have to give it up."
The children looked dreadfully disappointed. "Perhaps you will remember it by our next meeting," said the president, anxiously.
"Possibly", said the boy, "but probably not. I think it is gone forever." And he went to his seat.
The next thing was to call for new members. Miss Laura got up and said she would like to join their Band of Mercy. I followed her up to the platform, while they pinned a little badge on her, and every one laughed at me. Then they sang, "G.o.d Bless our Native Land," and the president told us that we might all go home.
It seemed to me a lovely thing for those children to meet together to talk about kindness to animals. They all had bright and good faces, and many of them stopped to pat me as I came out. One little girl gave me a biscuit from her school bag.
Mrs. Wood waited at the door till Mr. Maxwell came limping out on his crutches. She introduced him to Miss Laura, and asked him if he wouldn"t go and take tea with them. He said he would be very happy to do so, and then Mrs. Wood laughed; and asked him if he hadn"t better empty his pockets first. She didn"t want a little toad jumping over her tea table, as one did the last time he was there.
CHAPTER XXI
MR. MAXWELL AND MR. HARRY
Mr. Maxwell wore a coat with loose pockets, and while she was speaking, he rested on his crutches, and began to slap them with his hands. "No; there"s nothing here to-day," he said; "I think I emptied my pockets before I went to the meeting."
Just as he said that there was a loud squeal: "Oh, my guinea pig," he exclaimed; "I forgot him," and he pulled out a little spotted creature a few inches long. "Poor Derry, did I hurt you?" and he soothed it very tenderly.
I stood and looked at Mr. Maxwell, for I had never seen any one like him. He had thick curly hair and a white face, and he looked just like a girl. While I was staring at him, something peeped up out of one of his pockets and ran out its tongue at me so fast that I could scarcely see it, and then drew back again. I was thunderstruck. I had never seen such a creature before. It was long and thin like a boy"s cane, and of a bright green color like gra.s.s, and it had queer shiny eyes. But its tongue was the strangest part of it. It came and went like lightning. I was uneasy about it, and began to bark.
"What"s the matter, Joe?" said Mrs. Wood; "the pig won"t hurt you."
But it wasn"t the pig I was afraid of, and I kept on barking. And all the time that strange live thing kept sticking up its head and putting out its tongue at me, and neither of them noticed it.
"Its getting on toward six," said Mrs. Wood; "we must be going home.
Come, Mr. Maxwell."
The young man put the guinea pig in his pocket, picked up his crutches, and we started down the sunny village street. He left his guinea pig at his boarding house as he went by, but he said nothing about the other creature, so I knew he did not know it was there.
I was very much taken with Mr. Maxwell. He seemed so bright and happy, in spite of his lameness, which kept him from running about like other young men. He looked a little older than Miss Laura, and one day, a week or two later, when they were sitting on the veranda, I heard him tell her that he was just nineteen. He told her, too, that his lameness made him love animals. They never laughed at him, or slighted him, or got impatient, because he could not walk quickly. They were always good to him, and he said he loved all animals while he liked very few people.
On this day as he was limping along, he said to Mrs. Wood: "I am getting more absent-minded every day. Have you heard of my latest escapade?"
"No," she said.
"I am glad," he replied. "I was afraid that it would be all over the village by this time. I went to church last Sunday with my poor guinea pig in my pocket. He hasn"t been well, and I was attending to him before church, and put him in there to get warm, and forgot about him.
Unfortunately I was late, and the back seats were all full, so I had to sit farther up than I usually do. During the first hymn I happened to strike Piggy against the side of the seat. Such an ear-splitting squeal as he set up. It sounded as if I was murdering him. The people stared and stared, and I had to leave the church, overwhelmed with confusion."
Mrs. Wood and Miss Laura laughed, and then they got talking about other matters that were not interesting to me, so I did not listen. But I kept close to Miss Laura, for I was afraid that green thing might hurt her. I wondered very much what its name was. I don"t think I should have feared it so much if I had known what it was.
"There"s something the matter with Joe," said Miss Laura, when we got into the lane. "What is it, dear old fellow?" She put down her little hand, and I licked it, and wished so much that I could speak.
Sometimes I wish very much that I had the gift of speech, and then at other times I see how little it would profit me, and how many foolish things I should often say. And I don"t believe human beings would love animals as well, if they could speak.
When we reached the house, we got a joyful surprise. There was a trunk standing on the veranda, and as soon as Mrs. Wood saw it, she gave a little shriek: "My dear boy!"
Mr. Harry was there, sure enough, and stepped out through the open door.
He took his mother in his arms and kissed her, then he shook hands with Miss Laura and Mr. Maxwell, who seemed to be an old friend of his. They all sat down on the veranda and talked, and I lay at Miss Laura"s feet and looked at Mr. Harry. He was such a handsome young man, and had such a n.o.ble face. He was older and graver looking than when I saw him last, and he had a light, brown moustache that he did not have when he was in Fairport.
He seemed very fond of his mother and of Miss Laura, and however grave his face might be when he was looking at Mr. Maxwell, it always lighted up when he turned to them. "What dog is that?" he said at last, with a puzzled face, and pointing to me.
"Why, Harry," exclaimed Miss Laura, "don"t you know Beautiful Joe, that you rescued from that wretched milkman?"
"Is it possible," he said, "that this well-conditioned creature is the bundle of dirty skin and bones that we nursed in Fairport? Come here, sir. Do you remember me?"
Indeed I did remember him, and I licked his hands and looked up gratefully into his face. "You"re almost handsome now," he said, caressing me with a firm, kind hand, "and of a solid build, too. You look like a fighter--but I suppose you wouldn"t let him fight, even if he wanted to, Laura," and he smiled and glanced at her.
"No," she said; "I don"t think I should; but he can fight when the occasion requires it." And she told him about our night with Jenkins.
All the time she was speaking, Mr. Harry held me by the paws, and stroked my body over and over again. When she finished, he put his head down to me, and murmured, "Good dog," and I saw that his eyes were red and shining.
"That"s a capital story, we must have it at the Band of Mercy," said Mr.
Maxwell. Mrs. Wood had gone to help prepare the tea, so the two young men were alone with Miss Laura. When they had done talking about me, she asked Mr. Harry a number of questions about his college life, and his trip to New York, for he had not been studying all the time that he was away.
"What are you going to do with yourself, Gray, when your college course is ended?" asked Mr. Maxwell.
"I am going to settle right down here," said Mr. Harry.