Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899: Volume LVI, No. 1Various
Science
Appletons' Popular Science Monthly, November 1899: Volume LVI, No. 1
Various
Science -- Periodicals; Technology -- Periodicals
In some way or other--how we do not profess to know--Jack discovered
this, which had become to us a source of amusement, and here he
succeeded in annoying her, where in many other ways which he had tried
he had only been humiliated and disgraced. He would, when the floor
had just been scrubbed, march in and walk over it with his feet made
as dirty as tramping in the worst places outside could make them. At
other times he would plunge into the lake, and instead of, as usual,
thoroughly shaking himself dry on the rocks, would wait until he had
marched in upon Mary's spotless floor. At other times, when Jack
noticed that Mary was about to begin scrubbing her floor he would
deliberately stretch himself out in a prominent place on it, and
doggedly resist, yet without any growling or biting, any attempt on her
part to get him to move. In vain would she coax or scold or threaten.
Once or twice, by some clever stratagem, such as pretending to feed
the other dogs outside or getting them excited and furiously barking,
as though a bear or some other animal were being attacked, did she
succeed in getting him out. But soon he found her out, and then he paid
not the slightest attention to any of these things. Once when she had
him outside she securely fastened the door to keep him out until her
scrubbing would be done. Furiously did Jack rattle at the latch, but
the door was otherwise so secured that he could not open it. Getting
discouraged in his efforts to open the door in the usual way, he went
to the woodpile and seizing a large billet in his mouth he came and so
pounded the door with it that Mary, seeing that there was great danger
of the panel being broken in, was obliged to open the door and let in
the dog. Jack proudly marched in to the kitchen with the stick of wood
in his mouth. This he carried to the wood box, and, when he had placed
it there, he coolly stretched himself out on the floor where he would
be the biggest nuisance.
Seeing Jack under such circumstances on her kitchen floor, poor Mary
could stand it no longer, and so she came marching in to my study, and
in vigorous picturesque language in her native Cree described Jack's
various tricks and schemes to annoy her and thus hinder her in her
work. She ended up by the declaration that she was sure the _meechee
munedoo_ (the devil) was in that dog. While not fully accepting the
last statement, we felt that the time had come to interfere, and
that Jack must be reproved and stopped. In doing this we utilized
Jack's love for our little ones, especially for Eddie, the little
four-year-old boy. His obedience as well as loyalty to that child was
marvelous and beautiful. The slightest wish of the lad was law to Jack.
As soon as Mary had finished her emphatic complaints, I turned to
Eddie, who with his little sister had been busily playing with some
blocks on the floor, and said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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