Billy Whiskers at Home

by Frances Trego Montgomery

“I don’t care. Tee hee! Keep your eyes open for I am off!”

Five minutes later there was a sharp bark from Shep and when the cows stopped eating to look up to see what caused it, all they saw was a thick cloud of dust, with Sal Scrugs running like mad and a bundle of yellow hair following in leaps and bounds.

“Oh, dear!” said Sal Scrugs to herself. “That dog is gaining on me! I thought that with my long legs I could out-run any dog, but this one is coming like the wind and is surely gaining on me. My only hope is to jump this barbed wire fence which he can’t crawl through, and make for the woods at the other side of the field where he can’t see me.”

Just as Shep reached her and gave one nip at her heels, taking out a small piece of flesh, Sal jumped the fence. It being higher than she calculated, instead of landing on her feet as usual, she caught her foot on the top wire, which threw her on her nose and she fell, nearly breaking her neck. But in a minute she was up and off again across the field, running faster than ever for now she began to know for a certainty that unless she gained the shelter of the woods and hid in the thick underbrush, she was lost and Shep would bite her unmercifully unless she went back to the herd. And she did not care to return and endure their laughter at her expense after all her vain boasting.

While she was running across the lot for dear life, Shep was barking in anger at the closely woven barbed wires that kept him from the pursuit. He tried jumping the fence, but could not and was about to run around the field when he spied a small hole under the fence. In a jiffy he was scratching, making the dirt fly out in a shower behind him as he made the hole large enough for him to squeeze under. And just as Sal Scrugs entered the woods and turned her head to see where Shep was, expecting to see him running aimlessly up and down the road, she saw him coming like mad, already half way across the field. With a quick plunge into the deep bushes, she stood still, hoping to hide from him. She scarcely breathed for fear of betraying her presence, but alas, she had forgotten that dogs do not have to trust to their eyes to find things, but that they are given a sense of smell which aids them wonderfully.

The minute Shep entered the woods, he saw some bushes were slightly moving, so he went directly to them and as he approached the scent of a cow grew stronger and stronger. Peering through the bushes, he spied Sal Scrugs standing stock still, staring back at him, her eyes distended with fear. For by this time Sal Scrugs knew she had found her master and was frightened to death.

“Here you, Sal, come out of those bushes and march straight back to the pasture, or I’ll nip your ankles until they bleed!” barked Shep.

“I’ll do nothing of the kind, for you don’t belong to our farm and consequently it is none of your business what I do!” she answered.

“Oh, yes, it is my business because my master told me not to allow a single cow out of the pasture while he was gone. You heard him say it! Still you thought you would go, just to be mean. Now I’ll bark three times and on the third bark you chase yourself toward home or I’ll show you. And what is more, I’ll bite you every time you try to get away from me. Bow, wow, wow!”