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By Root 1201 0

boredom. There had been other little creatures the children insisted on keeping: baby birds that had fallen from the nest, toads, grasshoppers, guppies, and so forth. But one after another they escaped or died. Pets were difficult to keep in a city. So he had resisted whenever they begged for a dog. If a turtle died, or a toad, one could feel a slight regret and that was all. But a dog—if a dog lived with the family for a long time and then was killed, the shock of its death was deep. He remembered the grief he felt as a child when his dog went mad one summer and had to be shot. He did not think the enjoyment of owning the dog compensated for the grief he felt over its death, which he could remember thirty years afterward. He did not want the children to go through the same experience.

And now the Irish setter had been killed. He had petted it and tossed sticks for it to chase, and he was sorry about what had happened but he was not surprised. He shook his head noncommittally when his wife talked about it. She was dismayed and could not imagine why anyone would do such a thing.

He did not try to answer, except to repeat what he had said before: keeping pets in the city was almost impossible. As to who killed the Tiptons’ dog, he had no more idea than the police, so he did not give an opinion, although he suspected it might be one of the Negroes who worked in the neighborhood.

65 Liberal Arts

“Oh! I forgot to tell you,” Mrs. Bridge remarked. “Harriet received some awfully exciting news today.” And as Harriet was at that moment serving the mashed potatoes, some acknowledgment was necessary.

“Is that so?” he inquired. “Well, well, let’s hear about this.”

“Actually,” said Harriet, “it’s nothing.”

“Why, it most certainly is something,” Mrs. Bridge retorted.

“All right, if you must know,” Harriet said while offering the potatoes to Carolyn, “it’s my nephew, Junior Dewes.”

“No more,” Carolyn said.

Harriet gracefully lifted the dish and moved around the table to Ruth.

“No thanks, I’m on a diet,” Ruth said.

She offered the potatoes to Douglas, who began to load his plate for the second time.

“Well, as I was saying to Mrs. Bridge earlier this evening, I received this long-distance telephone call placed by my sister Dorothy Dewes at Cleveland, Ohio. She took sick a while back and has felt poorly ever since; however, she seems to be improving somewhat. At least, that is what I am informed.”

Mr. Bridge was buttering a biscuit. He said, “That’s fine, Harriet. I’m glad to hear it.”

“Yes, it is good news, of course. However, the news with regard to my nephew is he has become the receivient of a four-year university or college scholarship, whichever he chooses. So you can understand why my sister Mrs. Dewes, as well as her husband, was thrilled to death.”

“I should imagine!” Mrs. Bridge said enthusiastically, as though hearing about it for the first time. “And you told me he was applying for admission where?”

“Harvard is the college he wishes to attend. However it is very difficult to be accepted there, so he don’t know if they will take him. Though naturally he is extremely hopeful.”

“Harvard?” Mr. Bridge asked. “Harvard is where the boy wants to go to school?”

“Yes. Junior feels it is a school of extremely high quality with good teachers and all that.”

“Oh, I should say!” Mrs. Bridge agreed. “And he intends to study what?”

“The liberal arts. He wishes to get his degree of Bachelor of Liberal Arts.”

“I hope for his sake everything works out,” said Mr. Bridge.

“We expect it will, because his grades is the highest that’s been recorded in his school at Cleveland since the year 1921.”

“Your nephew must be exceptionally bright, if what you say is true.”

“Oh, yes. Junior was always very intelligent and extremely scholastic. He has been given these various tests they give to prodigal children and he scores very high. He taught hisself to read a little bit when he was six years old.”

Having offered the potatoes to everybody, she then asked if there would be anything else. For the moment nobody wanted anything, so