Beautiful Joe [34]
robe. Jim always slept here in cold weather, because
it was farther away from the ground.
To return to this December evening. I can remember yet how hungry I was. I could
scarcely lie still till Miss Laura finished her tea. Mrs. Morris, knowing that
her boys would be very hungry, had Mary broil some beefsteak and roast some
potatoes for them; and didn't they smell good!
They ate all the steak and potatoes. It didn't matter to me, for I wouldn't have
gotten any if they had been left. Mrs. Morris could not afford to give to the
dogs good meat that she had gotten for her children, so she used to get the
butcher to send her liver, and bones, and tough meat, and Mary cooked them, and
made soup and broth, and mixed porridge with them for us.
We never got meat three times a day. Miss Laura said it was all very well to
feed hunting dogs on meat, but dogs that are kept about a house get ill if they
are fed too well. So we had meat only once a day, and bread and milk, porridge,
or dog biscuits, for our other meals.
I made a dreadful noise when I was eating. Ever since Jenkins cut my ears off, I
had had trouble in breathing. The flaps had kept the wind and dust from the
inside of my ears. Now that they were gone my head was stuffed up all the time.
The cold weather made me worse, and sometimes I had such trouble to get my
breath that it seemed as if I would choke. If I had opened my mouth, and
breathed through it, as I have seen some people doing, I would have been more
comfortable, but dogs always like to breathe through their noses.
"You have taken more cold," said Miss Laura, this night, as she put my plate of
food on the floor for me. "Finish your meat, and then come and sit by the fire
with me. What! do you want more?"
I gave a little bark, so she filled my plate for the second time. Miss Laura
never allowed any one to meddle with us when we were eating. One day she found
Willie teasing me by snatching at a bone that I was gnawing. "Willie," she said,
"what would you do if you were just sitting down to the table feeling very
hungry, and just as you began to eat your meat and potatoes, I would come along
and snatch the plate from you?"
"I don't know what I'd do," he said, laughingly; "but I'd want to wallop you."
"Well," she said, "I'm afraid that Joe will 'wallop' you some day if you worry
him about his food, for even a gentle dog will sometimes snap at any one who
disturbs him at his meals; so you had better not try his patience too far."
Willie never teased me after that, and I was very glad, for two or three times I
had been tempted to snarl at him.
After I finished my tea, I followed Miss Laura upstairs. She took up a book and
sat down in a low chair, and I lay down on the hearth rug beside her.
"Do you know, Joe," she said with a smile, "why you scratch with your paws when
you lie down, as if to make yourself a hollow bed, and turn around a great many
times before you lie down?"
Of course I did not know, so I only stared at her. "Years and years ago," she
went on, gazing down at me, "there weren't any dogs living in people's houses,
as you are, Joe. They were all wild creatures running about the woods. They
always scratched among the leaves to make a comfortable bed for themselves, and
the habit has come down to you, Joe, for you are descended from them."
This sounded very interesting, and I think she was going to tell me some more
about my wild forefathers, but just then the rest of the family came in.
I always thought that this was the snuggest time of the day when the family all
sat around the fire Mrs. Morris sewing, the boys reading or studying, and Mr.
Morris with his head buried in a newspaper, and Billy and I on the floor at
their feet.
This evening I was feeling very drowsy, and had almost dropped asleep, when Ned
gave me a push with his foot. He was a great tease, and he delighted in getting
me to make a simpleton of myself. I tried to keep my eyes on the fire, but I
could not, and just
it was farther away from the ground.
To return to this December evening. I can remember yet how hungry I was. I could
scarcely lie still till Miss Laura finished her tea. Mrs. Morris, knowing that
her boys would be very hungry, had Mary broil some beefsteak and roast some
potatoes for them; and didn't they smell good!
They ate all the steak and potatoes. It didn't matter to me, for I wouldn't have
gotten any if they had been left. Mrs. Morris could not afford to give to the
dogs good meat that she had gotten for her children, so she used to get the
butcher to send her liver, and bones, and tough meat, and Mary cooked them, and
made soup and broth, and mixed porridge with them for us.
We never got meat three times a day. Miss Laura said it was all very well to
feed hunting dogs on meat, but dogs that are kept about a house get ill if they
are fed too well. So we had meat only once a day, and bread and milk, porridge,
or dog biscuits, for our other meals.
I made a dreadful noise when I was eating. Ever since Jenkins cut my ears off, I
had had trouble in breathing. The flaps had kept the wind and dust from the
inside of my ears. Now that they were gone my head was stuffed up all the time.
The cold weather made me worse, and sometimes I had such trouble to get my
breath that it seemed as if I would choke. If I had opened my mouth, and
breathed through it, as I have seen some people doing, I would have been more
comfortable, but dogs always like to breathe through their noses.
"You have taken more cold," said Miss Laura, this night, as she put my plate of
food on the floor for me. "Finish your meat, and then come and sit by the fire
with me. What! do you want more?"
I gave a little bark, so she filled my plate for the second time. Miss Laura
never allowed any one to meddle with us when we were eating. One day she found
Willie teasing me by snatching at a bone that I was gnawing. "Willie," she said,
"what would you do if you were just sitting down to the table feeling very
hungry, and just as you began to eat your meat and potatoes, I would come along
and snatch the plate from you?"
"I don't know what I'd do," he said, laughingly; "but I'd want to wallop you."
"Well," she said, "I'm afraid that Joe will 'wallop' you some day if you worry
him about his food, for even a gentle dog will sometimes snap at any one who
disturbs him at his meals; so you had better not try his patience too far."
Willie never teased me after that, and I was very glad, for two or three times I
had been tempted to snarl at him.
After I finished my tea, I followed Miss Laura upstairs. She took up a book and
sat down in a low chair, and I lay down on the hearth rug beside her.
"Do you know, Joe," she said with a smile, "why you scratch with your paws when
you lie down, as if to make yourself a hollow bed, and turn around a great many
times before you lie down?"
Of course I did not know, so I only stared at her. "Years and years ago," she
went on, gazing down at me, "there weren't any dogs living in people's houses,
as you are, Joe. They were all wild creatures running about the woods. They
always scratched among the leaves to make a comfortable bed for themselves, and
the habit has come down to you, Joe, for you are descended from them."
This sounded very interesting, and I think she was going to tell me some more
about my wild forefathers, but just then the rest of the family came in.
I always thought that this was the snuggest time of the day when the family all
sat around the fire Mrs. Morris sewing, the boys reading or studying, and Mr.
Morris with his head buried in a newspaper, and Billy and I on the floor at
their feet.
This evening I was feeling very drowsy, and had almost dropped asleep, when Ned
gave me a push with his foot. He was a great tease, and he delighted in getting
me to make a simpleton of myself. I tried to keep my eyes on the fire, but I
could not, and just