Wakefield High School - Oracle Yearbook (Wakefield, MA)

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THE ENMITY BETWEEN MY NEIGHBOR ' S DOG AND ME The subject of my story is a small, white, intelligent dog of timid features and nimble feet. I first became acquainted with this mid- day prowler when I corneied him one day in my yard. In order to escape he had to pass within four feet of me; it was a critical po- sition and he soon realized it. Summoning all his courage, he prepared to run the gauntlet. Coming like the wind, he whizzed by me; but as he did so, I touched him with my hand. This brought forth a yell of fear, — a long drawn-out wail such as a wolf gives in the still night of a western prairie, but somewhat different in that I detected feetings of excitement, fear, anger, pain, disgust, — and perhaps joy. I think I could write a book on that yell, such rare, blood- curdling shrieks are not neard every day, though similar ones might be heard at a slaughter house on a pig ' s dying day, but not elsewhere. This one adventure, whicli that dog will long remember, has established in his mind an ever-growing hatred for me. As yet he has not exercised his revenge on me, and I do not think he will for he assumes the de- fensive. This is evident when I pass him on the street, for he is sure to cross over to the other side or run in back of a house. My eyes have become accustomed to the sight of his flying feet. When there is snow on the ground, he is well aware of it, and he is also acquainted with my ability to aim snowballs. I have never resorted to stones as my animosity toward him is pure- ly innocent; he has done no harm that I know of other than chase friendly cats. One of the characteristics of this dog, whose intellectual capacity is not much in- ferior to that of many human beings, is his knowledge of geometry. Apparently he knows that the hypotenuse of a right triangle is longer than either of the other two sides, for as I watched him one day, he was in the act of carrying away a right- angle-shaped bone through a small hole in a wire fence of a henyard. He first got through himself, and then taking the base of the triangle in his mouth, he slowly and gently drew the bone after him. It slipped through the hole neatly, owing to his mental calcula- tion of the shape of the bone and the hole through which it was going. I must relate my last meeting with friend dog, which occurred on a sunny day in April. I was walking along the street, whistling the tune of When a porcupine pines for his little pork, when suddenly I stopped in perplexity, for about five feet from me was that dog, with the hair on his back sticking up like ninepins. He gave a low growl as if he were going to leap at me. This action stimulated my hatred for that dog, and I was just thinking of what I would do to him when the following words popped into my mind: Thou shalt not kill. Well, I had to do something, so I stooped as though to pick up a stone, and when I straightened up again saw that the poor dog had unceri- moniously vamoosed. I have not seen the dog since, but I know he still lives as I hear his evening hymns now and then. C. S. Marshall, ' 18 25