There was only one man who escaped, and that was Dorley. This was the
more remarkable because he lived in the centre of the region raided, and
within one mile of the Devil's Hole. Faithful Wully proved himself worth
all the dogs in the neighborhood. Night after night he brought in the
sheep, and never one was missing. The Mad Fox might prowl about the
Dorley homestead if he wished, but Wully, shrewd, brave, active Wully
was more than a match for him, and not only saved his master's flock,
but himself escaped with a whole skin. Everyone entertained a profound
respect for him, and he might have been a popular pet but for his temper
which, never genial, became more and more crabbed. He seemed to like
Dorley, and Huldah, Dorley's eldest daughter, a shrewd, handsome, young
woman, who, in the capacity of general manager of the house, was Wully's
special guardian. The other members of Dorley's family Wully learned to
tolerate, but the rest of the world, men and dogs, he seemed to hate.
His uncanny disposition was well shown in the last meeting I had with
him. I was walking on a pathway across the moor behind Dorley's house.
Wully was lying on the doorstep. As I drew near he arose, and without
appearing to see me trotted toward my pathway and placed himself across
it about ten yards ahead of me. There he stood silently and intently
regarding the distant moor, his slightly bristling mane the only sign
that he had not been suddenly turned to stone. He did not stir as I
came up, and not wishing to quarrel, I stepped around past his nose and
walked on. Wully at once left his position and in the same eerie silence
trotted on some twenty feet and again stood across the pathway. Once
more I came up and, stepping into the grass, brushed past his nose.
Instantly, but without a sound, he seized my left heel. I kicked out
with the other foot, but he escaped. Not having a stick, I flung a large
stone at him. He leaped forward and the stone struck him in the ham,
bowling him over into a ditch. He gasped out a savage growl as he fell,
but scrambled out of the ditch and limped away in silence.
Yet sullen and ferocious as Wully was to the world, he was always gentle
with Dorley's sheep. Many were the tales of rescues told of him. Many
a poor lamb that had fallen into a pond or hole would have perished but
for his timely and sagacious aid, many a far-weltered ewe did he turn
right side up; while his keen eye discerned and his fierce courage
baffled every eagle that had appeared on the moor in his time.
III
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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