Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1929, Page 112

. ~ - 16 THE SUNDAY STAR, W! [~ B S BT oy 62 I TS e T ASHINGTON, D. C., DECEMBER 8 1929, DOGGY ROMANCE By Margaret Suffolf. I 777hich a Collic Starts a Love A fl(zir The girl gasped and just managed to save herself from falling by leaning heavily against the window of the fur shop. “I'm so sorry,” apologized Tom. That an Awedale Breaks U P and a Mongrel Sciiles Quite Peacefully. 'i"l THE beginning there was only King —a big, black and white collie with a pedigree that was long and important, like his tail. He belonged to young Tom Ward, who certainly treated him with all the defcrence due a monarch. For instance, Tom never ventured out in the even'ng for a stroll without first consulting King. 2 “Want to come along, old fellow?"” he would query, and receive the bark of affirmation which was lightly louder than the negative yelp, if that were possible, and accompanied by enthusiastic jumping and pawing. “Hush, now,” Tom would command. “Did I say you couldn’t go?” ©Of course, he hadn’'t. King always went, and King always led the way, too. He bounded along a half block in front of Tom, looking back now and then to be certain that his young master was obediently following. It was while his eyes wcre engaged in one of these backward glances that King accidentally collided with Miss Betty Bates, who was gazing ongingly into a fur shop window and wonder- ing why nature hadn’t supplied fox furs as well a8 red curls to young ladies with luxury tastes and necessity purses. “I'm so sorry,” apologized Tom, who hastened to heggiside inquiring solicitously whether she had been hurt. The girl gasped, dropped her little silver vanity case, and just managed to save herself from falling by leaning heavily against the window of the fur shop. “You see, my dog is so enthusiastic.” BE‘X'I‘Y glared at him. Seeing only red, as people with that shade of hair are likely ‘0 do under such circumstances, she demanded: “Ever hear of a leash?” Tom admitted that he had. In fact, he car- ried one in his hand which he held up for the girl’s inspection. “Why show it to me? fore.” And she was thinking, as her vision cleared: “But I've never seen a finer looking young jman.” So she continued to lean against the window looking injured and rebellious, until Tom in- sisted that she lean upon his arm and be half carried (0 a taxicab. ¢ “My dog is very headstrong,” he exclaimed they drove home. “So I've observed,” replied Betty, keeping her eyes, which were now dancing with mis- chief, carefully lowered from the troubled ones (which bent over her. “Are you certain you're all right now?” he ked anxiously when he left her at her door. ‘Thep_he glanced ruefully at the little heap of glass and silver which he had gathered up if'om the pavement. “Seven years bad luck,” sighed Betty, reache g for the remnants. “Let me keep it and buy you another,” Tom ggested. ‘The girl hesitated. “I suppose I could collect from your dog’s imsurance company.” ‘That was when Tom first realized that she 'was laughing at him, and he was too relieved be angry. He whistled all the way home. That is— when he wasn’t standing under a street light [gazing at the little silver sparkle in the palm of his hand or murmuring: “Red hair, too, by gum!” Just before he went to bed, he administered very severe scolding to the black and white collie, who wondered what it was all about, and a8 soon as it was over, he went out and tore p Tom's best hat which he had absentmind- edly dropped upon the living room table. The following day, Tom Ward spent just three hours selling real estate. He couldn't e to concentrate on it somehow, so he left jhis office and spent five hours buying a little silver vanity case containing a powder puff, a pstick, a street car ticket and a half stick of chewing gum. “How did you ever find one exactly like mine?” cried Betty delightedly when he pre- ented it that evening. “Well, I searched for four hours and a half for one-exactly like it, and then a kind-hearted eweler told me I'd have to buy the street car ket and chewing gum separately.” Betty laughed and inquired about King, who, er all, was responsible for their meeting, nd therefore deserved some consideration. “He’s a great old King,” replied Tom proudly. ‘Il bring him along next time I come over.” So he did. He brought him the next time, 00, and the next. Betty didn’t mind, because g slept most of the time, and he really did ook quite sporty with his big, fluffy head thrust out of the car window when they went driving. I've seen them be- FTER they had been married six months Betty began to resent the presence of the black and white collie in their home. King, bounding into Tom'’s arms first in the morning, sitting in the bathroom at his feet while he shaved. King, being caressed by Tom every evening in front of the fire. “Heavens, I hope I'm not jealous of a—a— dog!” she thought. “Say, Betty, why don't you get these tan- gles out of King's fur?” asked Tom as he went for the comb, and the girl wondered just what emotion surged up within her and made her respond irritably: “Suppose you think I have nothing to do all day long but play with the dog.” “Well, Mrs. Jennings always managed to find time to comb his hair, didn't she, old fellow?” Tom asked the dog, and Betty had to leave the room hastily to keep from saying a lot of things about the woman at whose home Tom had roomed before he was married. When they went visiting, too, King was al- ways along. First to leap out of the car and be greeted by Betty’s relatives. Always holding them up when they left while every one solemn- ly shook his right paw. “You know, Tom,” Betty began after one of these trips, “something must be done about King. My sister was horrified when he barked so at the people next door, and it drives Auntie crazy to see’ that great big dog drinking milk like 2 baby while you hold the saucer and pour in a teaspoonful at a time.” “Oh, hush, Betty, you just don't like dogs, that’s all.” Betty insisted she did like dogs, but only dogs with nice dispositions like the homely Alredale which dropped around one morning shortly after breakfast, “Now, that's my idea of a dog,” she bragged Lllustrations by George Clark. to Tom. “Eats anything at all, and never barks at any one.” Tom glared at the shaggy creature and made some sarcastic remark about good old Mother Nature and the law of compensation, “I don't care if you call her the fourth di- mension,” said Betty. “I'm calling her Queen, and I'm going to keep her.” “Keep her!” groaned Tom. “Say, hasn't she any people?” “Well, I've advertised.” No one answered the advertisement, how- ever, 50 Queen stayed, following Betty about the house all day long in blind adoration, and in the evening being locked in the cellar so that King might hold full sway. Old Mrs. Jennings, who passed the house Betty insisted that she did like dogs, but only dogs with nice dispositions, like Queen. 'l every afternoon on her way to the grocery store, noticed that the lordly King was always chained in the back yard, and complained about it to Tom. “What can I do?” he asked helplessly. “Betty will ke®p the Airedale and, of course, I can’t permit King to associate with animals of that caliber.” “No indeed,” Mrs. Jennings shook her head understandingly, and agreed that it was a serie ous state of affairs. “It's perfectly absurd,” insisted Betty when Tom ruined a new suit teaching King a little sliding up-and-down the stairs trick. “No more absurd than this,” cried ‘Tom, pointing to a couch cover that had been badly torn by Queen in the course of a lot of after- noon naps. THEN came a sudden climax. Ome night Queen, with true womanly technique, started a low-voiced argument .with King through the cellar window. King, of course, exercised the masculine prerogative of making himself heard, and every person within four blocks sat up in bed, resolved to call the police, and then because the telephone was downstairs decided pot to. The man next door, however, shouted through his bedroom window, which was quite close to Tom Ward’s bedroom window: “If you don’t do something about that dog, I'm going to shoot him.” So Tom said some nasty things about Queen which Betty pretended not to hear, went down and opened the cellar door and let her out, hurling a lump of coal after her. “Oh, the big brute,” gasped Betty, as Queen emitted a howl of pain and vanished into the night. As soon as Tom was comfortably settled in bed, she went quietly out and unchained King from his kennel. Because she felt that she just had to she gave him a tiny kick with the toe of her bedroom slipper. Then she sat down on the back porch and sobbed convulsively. “I hope both of them are killed by-a truck,” she thought in her misery, and then very dis- tinctly she heard the front door close. “Tom,” she cried, running through the house, but he paid no attention. A minute later, he drove the car out of the garage and was gone down the street. Queen returned in time for breakfast, but . Tom sent for his clothes and mailed Betty a check for her household allowance, “I hate you,” the girl told Queen. your fault.” Then at the trusting expression in the brown eyes, she buried her head in the dog's black and brown spotted neck and wept, “But youre all I have,” she murmured sadly, and made a bed for Queen right at the foot of her own. She felt that Tom would surely relent and come back, but days became -weeks, and the only thing she knew was that occasionally Mrs. Jennings on her way to the grocery store l'(fig accompanied by the bounding, leaping The neighbors looked on and wondered. Betty’s relatives came and asked questions. “Too bad you had to lose such a fine hus- band for such a crummy dog,” said her broth- er-in-law frankly. “Now if it had been a dog like King!” “What do you mean, a dog like King?” flared Betty. “He had the worst disposition in the world.” “Perhaps, but he had a lot of cute tricks.” “Yes, tricks,” said Betty sadly, and decided it was time she tried a few of them herself. She was bitterly lonely without Tom, and swallowing her pride, she watched Mrs. Jen- nings go down the street. Then she took “It's all Continued on Twenty-first Page