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: ., stood first in Natalie’s heart.
>. of him by day, and dreamed of him by
~ Grace, to
Copyright, 1907, by David O.
Cook Publishing Company.
VoL. VI.
No. 44, { RuBLisiep
DAVID C. COOK PUBLISHING CO., Exern,
ILLINoIs, AND 36. WasurneTon St., Curcaco..
November 2, 1907.
it a promise?’
Natalie’s eyes fairly glowed,
and her hair seemed to wave and. dance
with eagerness... Broad-shouldered Uncle
Ned laughed, and gave her a_little shake
and her curls a tweak, as he answered
briskly :
“ Tlonest and true, black and blue, Nat;
you shall own a dog—kiud, size and color
to order—the very day you are aged ten;
provided, of course, the little mother is
6 Hiern and true, Uncle Ned? Is
willing. ~ She’s fond of dogs, isn’t she?”
“ Well—not very,” reluctantly admitted
Natalie. “e "She prob’ly wouldn’t want a
ig dog. see, she isn’t accustomed
to them, but she wouldn’t mind a small
one, I’m sure. Oh, uncle, you’re a dear!
I have wanted a dog for- years! I think
I shall choose a cocker spaniel, all black,
“with long silky ears, and I'll. name him
Teddy. May he haye a collar, with -his
named engraved, please, uncle? Oh, how
can I wait till January?”
7 acger~Thanksgiving -ytiae, and - Uncle
2 “Ned, Murray had come for a visit. Ile and
-Natalie’s father. were old college friends
as well as brothers-in-law, and the house
‘had been very lively. for almost a week.
Now he was going home, and his smallest
niece was disconsolate, until—this promise
of.a dog for a birthday present! A real,
live dog for her very own! Natalie could
hardly credit her senses.
All through the next month the subject
of dogs was uppermost in the Harlan fam-
~ ily. - How the little girl’s tongue did run
~on, about dogs in general and dogs in par-
- ticular; dogs large and small, rough and
. smooth; about’ breed, and color, and dis-
position, and food, of dogs. For her sake,
the family. entered into the discussion with
“ enthusiastic interest, and gave opinions and
» advice freely and fully.
But after. all. .was said, the “ cocker
spaniel, all. black, with long silky ears,”
She thought
-night, until: at last it seemed to her that
her own particular Teddy really lived and
~ breathed.
November went by, December came and
-moved on steadily toward Christmas. As
» the time drew near, all the Harlans were
“as ‘busy.as bees, from the doctor, who was
*Sunday-school superintendent, with a great
deal on his mind, down past mamma, and
Joe, the college brother, and Helen, and
Natalie herself. There* were
Christmas presents,. holly trimming, Sun-
.- day, school concert, church decoration, ete,
ete, till, as Helen said, everybody. was
“nearly wild.”
Christmas Eve came on Saturday night,
and all the young people were down at the
church, decorating, singing, and rehears-
_ing. Even Natalie, who was to take part in
‘the concert, was there, and was to stay
until eight o’clock.
~ When that hour arrived, Joe stepped up
promptly with his sister’s coat and over-
shoes.
‘* Come on, Chicken,” he said masterful-
-.ly. “ Lime’s up. Vl take you home right
+ Dow; told mother I would. Bundle up,
is, it’s beginning to snow.’
atalie looked longingly back into the
NATAL 5.5 TRANGER
VY 02 MARY & E.08 ALLBRIGHT:
warm, fascinating church, but submitted
to ane inevitable with a good grac
I'm here, Joe, take hold of wne—ow!
—what’s that?”
For she had almost fallen over sumething
soft and wet and furry, lying on the stone
steps, the “something” uttering a sharp,
apprehensive yelp at. the contact. of the
small foot.
“Goodness, it’s a dog!” — announced
Joe, bending cautiously over the forlorn
huddle. .. “A poor, little, wet, trembling
cur! He seems scared to death—about
half. dead anyway. Get up, sir! What
you doing here?” .
“Oh, Joe, don’t! Don’t, Joe! He’s
lost, and don’t know where to go! He’s
cold and hungry, I know he is! The poor
little fellow! And it’s Christmas, too, Joe!
Ile can’t stay here all night—he’ll freeze to
death! And they couldn’t Jet him into the
cburch, all wet, so. Let’s take him
home; please, Joe! I can carry him.”
“Pretty idea!” growled her big
brothér, at the same” time. gathe?ing ~~
the waif gingerly into his arms.“ May ~
be mad, for all I’ know, or—or have
the mange, or—something. There, old
fellow! I declare, he acts like a
Christian! See him cuddle his head
down, Nat, and heave a sigh like a
tired old woman with a cup of tea!
Come on home, then, if you say so!
Mercy on us—what’ll mother say!”
What she said was Jost in the gen-
eral excitement and sensation of the
four-legged stranger’s arrival at “ Har-
lan House.” All manner of exclama-
tions greeted him as he was deposited
on the library rug, where Joe and
Natalie, as well as father and mother
and Maggie, the maid, could see him
to the best advantage.
“A regular ‘yaller dog,’ was the
doctor’s uncompromising verdict ;
“and homely at that!”
“FYe looks half-starved,” pityingly
from mamma. “ Maggie, do find him
some milk, or something.”
“Better Jave ’im to starve,
thin!” muttered the girl, mov-
ing off unwillingly. “Of all the
lookin’ annymiles! But it won’t
be like the doctor, nor anny of
’em, to turn ’im out. They’re
that soft-hearted they’d kape a
polar bear if ’twas to come to
em! I’m scared to death of
‘im, though. Ile’ll be turnin’
ugly, or havin’ hydrophoby, Vl
warrant !”
Maggie was right as to the
dog’s immediate fate. Ie was
carried 0} yy the men of the:
household to the cellar, and en- ©
sconced in a warm bed by the
furnace. There he — remained,
contrary to — expectation, all
through the night, while not a
bark or a howl disturbed the peace of the | plexedly.
amily. .
But before church time the next morning,
in the
ment and rejoicing, Dr. Harlan called’ a
family council. ‘For there’s got to be
some policy concerning this dog,” he de-
clared with decision. Am |
with him, or have him carried off, or—are
we to keep him? I don’t think he is dis-
eased—in fact, he has all the signs of
health about him; but he came pretty near
being a dead dog last night. There’s one
thing about it—we can’t support more than
one dog in this household”—and_ he
glanced at Natalie. :
The little girl looked up, startled, and
then extremely sober. She had _ never
thought of that. Of course, this forlorn,
miserable little creature couldn’t live with
Teddy, her own black cocker spaniel!
“Tet’s have one more look at him,”
suggested Dr. Ilarlan, finally, and Joe
forthwith departed for the cellar and re-
turned with the “ yaller dog” in his arms.
“Te can’t walk,” remarked Joe, shaking
his head doubtfully, “ nor scarcely wag his
tail—what little he’s got. I guess we’d bet-
ter send for the Rescue Nome officer, father,”
Just then, what should the dog do but
totter feebly over, on his wabbly legs, from
the middle of the room to Natalie, and put
his nose into her lap, while he gazed be-
seechingly into her face! . Everybody ex-
claimed, Nat saying hastily
“Oh, mamma, see him try to talk!
Oh,
look! he’s got lovely brown eyes, only that
horrid long hair covers them all up. Mam-
ma, he looks so pitiful, what shall I do?”
to make. way |
“JT don’t know,” said Mrs, Harlan per-
“worl-swiy! wat!”
EXCLAIMED NATALIE,
“ T—really—don’t. know! If
you keep this dog, dear, you’ll have to give
up any other. But I belleve he’s accus-
midst of the Christmas excite-|tomed to children, and he’s remarkably well
You might learn to think a great
“ Anyway,
behaved.
deal of. him,” encouragingly.
dear, it’s for you to decide.”
*Poor Natalie heaved a deep sigh.
“Well, let me think about it to-day,” she
begged. “It’s a great responsibility, but
I'll decide by to-night.”
That- was a delightful Christmas Sun-
day for Natalie—holly wreaths and palms
and smilax everywhere in the church and
at home, grand anthems and instrumental
music, and the happy children’s concert in
the evening. She enjoyed it all, every bit,
and. looked forward eagerly to the good
times the next day. And yet, through it all,
she never forgot the lonesome little yellow
dog in his box by the furnace. Somehow,
she couldn’t get the pitiful look of his eyes
out of her mind.
“Now,” thought Natalie, cuddling fown
finally into bed in her own room;
it’s no use, I’ve got to decide. Can r Tet
that homely old dog stay here in place of
my. lovely blaik Teddy? ’Course, I don’t
really own a cocker spaniel, yet, and I’ve
never seen him, bat-—he’s somewhere!
“ All the same, the other one is really
here, and he needs a home. h, de par me!
I feel ’most like praying about it!
Nat lay very still for five minutes, then
she drew a long breath.
““*T was a stranger, and ye took me in,
she repeated softly. ‘ Ilow did I come to
remember that Golden Text? Of course
he didn’t mean dogs!» And yet—I’m
afraid—I guess—IIe would © keep» bim.
Maybe He would like it if I kept
a
him, and—it’s Christmas! _I wilt
keep him, and ll, name him
2 Chris?!) a
“. A» queer ‘ expression “flitted
across Dr. Harlan’s face as” he
heard the decision:
“Tet me see, Nat, your birth-
day comes on New Year’s Day,
doesn’t. it? Well, ‘let me take
care of Chris till Saturday night,
and don’t you see him. I want
him to get rested and well. The
next morning he is yours!
This program was strictly car-
ried out, and whatever curiosity
Natalie may have felt over the
visits to the cellar of a rather
pompous looking man whom
her father called “ Doc,” “she
made no sign.
She. and» Joe © faithfully
watched ~ the “Lost and
Found” advertisements in all
the (papers, but with no result.
“T guess he was. ’bandoned,
as.you say,” decided Nat.
Uncle Ned was: duly: notified
in. a. grateful and. somewhat
regretful. explanatory — letter,
which received the brief re-
ply:
“All right, Natty, as long as
you have a dog
Sunday porning~—New Year's
morning, birthday morning—came
and Natalie, ording to Joe’s
statement, received “shoals”. of
gifts and congratulations. Bat
after breakfast she turned to her
father. “Now, papa, the- dog,”
she said.
“Now! the dog!” echoed Dr.
Tiarlan and Joe simultaneously,
as they led the way to the sitting-
room, and there, running to meet
hem, came—‘“ Why! why!
what!” exclaimed Natalie in amazement.
A beautiful little Scotch terrier with long,
silky coat, shaded from a soft, creamy :
tint on his breast, to golden brown on back ~
and tail, bright brown eyes shining out
from quaint cream-colored. “
“stockings,” as Nat declared, clear to his
toes, and around his neck.an elegant silver
