Jonathan and David

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project
to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject
to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books
are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the
publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the
public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we have taken steps to
prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying.

We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for
personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain from automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine
translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the
use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attribution The Google "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find
additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just
because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other
countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of
any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner
anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers
discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at jhttp : //books . qooqle . com/

/^A

;*• Jl*

^

J

. ji. ■■ ■ r '

r<c

■•/■ -,

' -1

//t'f ■

*m

I See page 15
LORD. I HAVEN T GOT ANYTHING BUT THIS DOG"

It

NATHAN
/ DAVID

PY

; ; ii STV \RT PHELPS

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BY T V. T. SMEDLEY

■:■■."■!

» BROTHERS

i ii. <■ AND LONDON
M C

JONATHAN

and DAVID

BY

ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
BY W. T. SMEDLEY

HARPER & BROTHERS

NEW YORK AND LONDON
M CM I X

Copyright, 1904, by Harper ft Brothers.

All rights reserved.

Published August, 1909.

• v\

ILLUSTRATIONS

44 Lord, I haven't got anything but this

dog" Frontispiece

Jonathan's face had fallen over upon

David's head Facing p. 26

44 Yocs have a right to it, madame, If you

insist" • .' . ■ u 44

M501471

JONATHAN AND
DAVID

JONATHAN AND
DAVID

mm

old man came out of his door
and sat down on the ragged porch*
It would be more exact to say that
he sank down, for he dropped upon
his broken chair heavily, as if
from real physical weakness, or that agita-
tion of mind and heart which creates it*

At first impression he seemed to be a
very old man; but on the second, one would
have judged him to be still something under
seventy, and would have concluded that
age had chased him down before his time
s

JO NATH AN AND DAVID

i

because trouble had disarranged the sched-
ule* He was a poor person, beyond a
doubt; his threadbare clothes were those of
a man for whom no woman cares* Several
of the buttons were missing from his black
coat and vest, and of those which remained
two were sewed on with blue thread and
one with white* His collar was raw at the
edge, and his lean, cuf fless wrists shook as
he shut his hands together upon the piazza
rail and dropped his face upon them*

He was not altogether bald* but had a con-
siderable fringe of clear white hair* which
was neatly brushed* Of the untidiness of
age and solitude Jonathan Perch had so
little that this circumstance alone distin-
guished him* He was scrupulously clean*
and his wasted hands were those of a man
who might have passed for something of a
gentleman in his youth and vigor* These*

now clasped* or* it might be* clinched* upon
2

JONATHAN AND DAVID

the porch rail, beneath his deeply wrinkled
f orehead, were not tinlike the famous pray-
ing hands of Albert Durer; they had a little
of the delicacy and much of the pathos of
that touching picture of which it has been
said, "It lifts the cry of the ages from
humanity to Heaven/'

If Jonathan Perch had been told, thirty
years before, that he should become at
sixty-eight a pensioner upon his native
town, he would have resented the imperti-
nent prophecy as hotly as would any com-
fortable young man who may read this
episode in the history of a lonely and
neglected age*

By what subtle stages old Jonathan had
fallen upon the fate of a man who has not
succeeded, nobody knew; perhaps he him-
self least of all* America plays whimsical
games of chance with the surest and the
safest of us, and the loaded dice drop
3

JONATHAN AND DAVID

easily against the unbef riended and the
weak; most easily against the sick and the
sensitive* How ever it happened, Jona-
than Perch was a beaten soldier in the
battle of industrial life* He could hardly
remember when last he earned a hundred
dollars a year*

His shabby cottage had long ago been
sold for taxes over his head* It had been
bought in by a chance divinity— a sum-
mer lady of kindly and unorganized im-
pulses, who had left the village after one
season, without evicting him* without col-
lecting rent, without even a personal inter-
view with her puzzled beneficiary* Jona-
than had stayed on in his old home because
he had been given to understand that his
benefactress (of whom he knew nothing
except that, by a pretty accident, she bore
the name of Mersey) expected him to do
so "for the present*" This phrase, which
4

JONATHAN AND DAVID

flagellates the anxious temperament even
in a tolerable situation, tormented Jonathan
at first* Bat now he had ceased to fore-
cast, as he had ceased to fear* For the past
two years he had existed like a shell-fish*
tinder the old roof to which his organism
had conformed* He planted corn and vege-
tables behind his house* and picked apples
in front of it* He had a few hens* and lived
a good deal on eggs* The neighbors gave
him milk* The overseers of the town poor*
with a certain consideration for this faded
gentility* such as occasionally illuminates the
hard-headed public guardians in our kind-
ly New England villages* had refrained from
forcing the old man into the alms-house* He
cut down an oak-tree now and then* or a
pine— it took him a good while — and con-
trived to keep from freezing* The town
saw to it that he did not starve* But Jona-
than had ceased to be a wage-earner* It
5

JONATHAN AND DAVID

was a good while since he had handled
money* People, according to their individ-
ual tastes, gave him almost anything else —
a pig, or cold potatoes, a bantam chicken,
cream-of-tartar biscuits, or grape jelly,
darned flannels, or mince pie, cheap tea, or
robbers that leaked* One inspired lady
presented him with a crepe tissue-paper
lamp-shade, and three had sent him Bibles*

Five years ago an imaginative woman
who had eight children, four cats, and six
dogs had contributed, as her share of the
public responsibility in Jonathan's behalf,
a puppy.

This donation had become in the fife of
the desolate old man an epoch beside which
everything else that he often thought about
retreated into an episode* His youth, his
friendships, his marriage, and his release
from it by the unexpected death of his wife
in middle fife; the summer when his daily
6

JONATHAN AND DAVID

paper had to stop; the year when he sold
his little library; the winter when he had
pneumonia; the year when his house was
sold over his head — all retreated into misti-
ness before the date when David became
his dog*

David had been a fall puppy, and that
threw him for the first winter of his life
closely into the society of his master, who
cherished the kissing, clawing creature with
the devotion of a solitary man*

Jonathan shared his fire, his food, his bed,
his mind, his heart, his past, his future,
with the puppy; guarded him anxiously
from every snow-storm, covered the shiver-
ing little body with his own ragged com-
forter a dozen times a night, brooded over
him like a mother through distemper and
teething, and patiently educated the grow-
ing dog with the passion and the oppor-
tunity of love and leisure*
7

JONATHAN AND DAVID

"Why, you're nothing but a baby—
youJ" he used to say* Beyond the lot of
most of his race, David had been distin-
guished by the friendship of man* For
five years he had been the comrade of a
lonely and intelligent master* He drew
without check upon the resources of age,
of desolation, and of sensitiveness*

Unlike most human spendthrifts of affec-
tion, David had respected his privilege*
As an intellect he had developed vividly,
but as a heart he was supreme* More can-
not be said of his passionate fidelity than that
it was the passion and the fidelity of his race
presented in something like a typical form*

As Jonathan sat in the hot June after-
noon with his face upon his shut hands,
David came up the walk* He had been
gone for some time—longer than usual*
He had his own affairs (the most subject
soul has) and occasionally attended to
8

JONATHAN AND DAVID

them; whether calls of a social or business
nature, political duties, private detective
work, or sheer mental recreation detained
him, Jonathan often wondered, bat never
asked* He respected David's individuality*
The dog had never voluntarily remained
away from his master an hour in his life*
To-day he had exceeded his precedent*
Jonathan's face came up abruptly from
his clasped fingers and regarded David over
the porch rail*

"Why, DavidP he said* "It's an hour
and twenty minutes!"

David stood still and returned the look
protestingly* He showed signs of agita-
tion* He was panting heavily* and his
tail deprecated his master with swiftly re-
peated strokes* These* as he started up
the steps* thumped on the porch rail*
David was a collie— a sable collie of fine
proportions and with a kingly head* His
9

JONATHAN AND DAVID

ruff was white, and his paws* He had a
white part in the middle of his forehead*
His eyes were at once thoughtful and
happy* His demeanor was dignified* The
shape of his head was irreproachable* and
all his points were excellent— he was clear-
ly of good birth — bat he had one defect*
He was badly marked* A white spot
over his left eye disfigured him for the
taste of fanciers* It was a singular mark*
like a small star* This fortunate dis-
figurement had preserved him for his
humble and happy lot*

44 You see* David/' Jonathan would ex-
plain* " she couldn't sell you* If you'd
been as handsome as the rest of your
family you and I would never — "

But Jonathan finished the sentence with

a big hug* It was impossible to imagine

what life would have been if he and David

had never met and loved*
10

JONATHAN AND DAVID

The star-marked collie sprang tip the
steps and rapturously embraced the old
man* David's ardor did not offend: he
kissed delicately— not all over, but only
behind his master's ear* He had the air
of trying to say something out of the com-
mon course* Jonathan listened attentive-
ly and with respect; but his face and that
of the collie both showed that the man
failed to catch the dog's meaning*

44 David/' said Jonathan, sadly, "I've
been worrying about you* I suppose you
know you're a tax-dodger?"

With an air of mortification the dog
promptly hung his head before this ac-
cusation*

44 It isn't your fault, David," proceeded
Jonathan* 44 You're not to blame."

David's fine head came up from his ruff

as quickly as it had fallen*

44 It's my fault, David* I can't pay* I
II

JONATHAN AND DAVID

can't get together two dollars— not any
way* I've only got seventy-six cents*
Your taxes are most two months overdue*
I've been so worried I can't sleep* I'd
go around with a hat for you* David* I
would, for you — but if I did * * * I don't
know! I can't say* You have a pretty
good appetite* you know* David* And if
the Town should take it into its head * * *
Why* David! What's this on your neck?
Where have you been* sir? What's hap-
pened to you?"

The clouded face of the dog cleared
swiftly as his master's long* thin hands
strayed to the broken end of a rope which
hung from David's collar* The collar was
an old skate-strap* neatly marked in in-
delible ink with the name of Jonathan
Perch* But the face of the master dark-
ened as visibly as that of tfte collie had
lightened*

12

JONATHAN AND DAVID

44 You've been tied op and kept!" cried
Jonathan, with agitation* The dog bark-
ed excitedly*

44 Somebody kept you! You gnawed off
and got away!"

David's fine head nodded like a man's*

44 David! Davidr cried Jonathan
Perch* " Was it the Town did it?"

David whirled and barked shrilly*

44 Yes or no?" demanded the old man*
44 Bark no— One! Bark Yes— Two! Yes
or no, David? Answer, sir!"

And David barked twice*

44 Oh," groaned Jonathan, " that's what
my worrying meant! I always find there's
reason for it when I have to worry* They'll
take you, David— see if they don't! Your
poor old master is too poor to help it* * * *
I should think you'd be ashamed of him,
David* Ain't you?"

By this time the dog was whimpering
S3

JONATHAN AND DAVID

like a child* He stood tip and pot his
fore paws about the old man's neck and
began to kiss passionately*

44 Yes or no?" quavered Jonathan*
"Ashamed of me* David? Yes or no?"

Then David punctuated the air with stac-
cato barks* single and sharp — No! No! Not

44 If I were the Almighty," protested
Jonathan Perch, 44 or if I were the Town,
I wouldn't do such a thing, not if I died
for it, David!"

He lifted his trembling hands from the
dog's neck and put the tips of his fingers
together (as one sees them in the great
picture)* Was he praying to God? or to
the Town? In the mind of the old village
pensioner the two may have been a little
confused*

"Say your prayers, David," command-
ed Jonathan Perch* " Guess they're worth

as much as most Christians'* Maybe He's
14

JONATHAN AND DAVID

the kind of a God who would hear a dog's
prayer — no telling, David* If yoa don't
want 'em to take you away from yoor
master, say your prayers, sir!"

The dog dropped, put his fore paws
upon his master's knee, and his chin upon
them* The old man still sat with his
trembling hands raised — the tips of the
fingers put together* Tears were storming
down his cheeks* He spoke in a low and
solemn tone*

44 Lord," said Jonathan Perch, " I haven't
got anything bat this dog* I'm convinced
they're going to take him away from me*
I can't bear it — I can't bear it anyway in
the world* Lord, I'm a poor old fellow*
Life has gone pretty hard* It's beaten
me* I'm not enough of a man now to pay
his taxes* I haven't got anybody else
to talk to but this collie and You— that is,
Thee* I'm rather a lonesome old man*
15

JONATHAN AND DAVID

I couldn't begin to tell You— I mean Thee
— Lord, how I feel about my dog David*
♦ ♦ ♦ I haven't been much of a praying
man* I don't excuse myself* That's my
fault* too* I don't know how to express
myself * * * to a Person like You — Thee*
Bat if there is any Thou* Lord God who
made man-love and dog-love * * * it appears
to me as if some attention would be paid
to this matter — " Jonathan paused*
" Amen," he said* abruptly*

At the sound of the word David sprang
from his knees (as he had been taught)*
and looking now quite happy* stood to
his hind feet once more and replaced his
arms about his master's neck* As he did
so he kissed the tears from the old man's
wet cheek*

The two were in this position when a
clattering team stopped in front of the
house* Its driver* a man in a soiled seer-
16

JONATHAN AND DAVID

sticker coat, threw the reins over the dash-
board of the wagon, and came tip the walk
toward the porch with an impatient step*

At the sound of the first advancing
footfalls a portentous change took pos-
session of the collie* His hair bristled;
his ears shot backward; he planted him-
self before his master, fore paws firmly
fixed, back arched, head lowered; in his
eyes a slumbering rage, like that of a
man with a cherished enmity, waked
fiercely* He made no effort to approach
the visitor* either in greeting or in hostility;
the dog had the attitude of a garrison*

"Hello!" cried the man in the soiled
coat* " I've come after your dog."

David's upper lip wrinkled wickedly;
he made no other reply*

"The blamed critter got away from
me/' complained he of the seersucker*
"He chewed his rope and put* lickity-
17

JONATHAN AND DAVID

split* The Town don't allow that sorter
thing* When I get a critter into my
Pound I expect him to stay there. Come
here, you darned deserter, you! You won't
get away this time, you bet!"

From some hitherto unexplored depth
in David's throat issued a formidable sound
— he was not a growling dog; neither he
nor his master knew that he was capable
of a roar like that*

"Better be a little careful," quavered
Jonathan Perch* " I never knew him do
anybody any harm— but he doesn't seem
to like you exactly* I can't answer for
the consequences if you got too near*"

David echoed this feeble protest with
another mighty roar; this one came from
between his clinched teeth; he stood like
a statue of a collie, rigid and menacing*

"Hand him over to me, then!" com-
manded the intruder*
f8

JONATHAN AND DAVID

44 Who are you, anyhow ?" cried Jon-
athan Perch, getting to his feet* The old
man trembled like one of his own poplar-
trees which stood silver and quivering be-
side the front gate*

" Me ? Fm the dog-catcher* That's what
I am* Hand me over that there dog!
You ain't paid his taxes* Hand him over!"

44 m see you in hell first," replied Jon-
athan* steadily* David advanced a little
and took tip his position at the head of
the porch steps* He retained the same
attitude, and showed as yet no intention
to spring; but beneath the collie's wrin-
kled upper lip the tooth which reminds us
most of a wolf and least of a housemate
in our dearest dog gleamed so that Jonathan
slipped a finger through David's collar*

44 1 don't know's I blame ye," remarked
the dog-catcher, unexpectedly; he retreated
a step or two and stood uncertain* " Folks
19

JONATHAN AND DAVID

says you set a sight by the critter. Why
don't you pay tip, then?"

" I've got seventy-six cents toward it"
pleaded the old man. His shaking hands
went to his pocket*

" The Town don't receipt on account/'
said the dog-catcher, with an accent of
marked disgust* "FII call again/' he
added, looking David in the glaring eyes*
44 1— I won't take the critter to-day/'

Then David laughed*

"You'd better pay tip/' advised the
dog-catcher, not unkindly* " *R else you'd
better let me have him and have it over*
We kill 'em easy. We ain't Apaches —
not if we be the Pound! I'll give ye till
come a Chuseday — that's three days —
to think it over, Jonathan/' The dog-
catcher turned. " Besides," he continued,
thoughtfully, "it mought be better for
ye, come to long run o't. There is folks
20

JONATHAN AND DAVID

that says ye hadn't orter to be f eedin' so
big a critter, and you dependin' on the
Town* See? If the Town should get
to thinkin' that way — an' come to stop-
pin' yer aid— where'd you be, Fd like to
know? Or the critter, either* See? He'd
come tip in our hands anyhow you fix it*
Seer

44 1 see/' replied Jonathan* in a very
low voice* "Thank you. Good-morn-
ing* David! No, rirl—Dawidl Let that
man alone, sir!"

For David had reared and stood— roar-
ing* and defying the feeble old finger which
restrained him*

"He's no fool of a dog*" admitted the
dog-catcher with reluctant professional ad-
miration* u Why don't ye sell him?"

The man in the seersucker climbed into
his wagon without further remark, and

drove noisily away* Once he looked back*

2J

JONATHAN AND DAVID

David, straining on the skate-strap, was
using mighty .language* The June after-
noon echoed with the dog's adjectives and
substantives* The dog-catcher smiled with
grim appreciation as he drove away*

Beit Jonathan did not smile* He shook
from head to foot* He could with diffi-
culty keep his fingers on David's collar*
He felt himself suddenly very faint* and
brokenly appealed to the dog:

44 Don't, Davie— don't, dear! I can't
hold you, David* You stay with master*
Master feels sick, David— he— "

His head drooped and fell over upon
the head of the collie, whose mood and
manner changed immediately* He began
to lap the old man's face, whining the
while, but retaining such a position as
to support the weight which had fallen
against him until Jonathan somewhat re-
covered himself*

21

JONATHAN AND DAVID

44 Thank you, David/ 9 he said, catching
his breath, feebly* "You always were a
good nurse. David! Davidf What shall
we do?"

At this moment Jonathan perceived
that wheels had stopped again in front
of his house. They belonged to an empty
victoria driven by a liveried coachman
who was exercising a smart black pair*

44 How much will you take for your
dog?" demanded the coachman* without
preliminaries*

44 Who are you?" gasped Jonathan* " and
what do you want of him?"

44 These are Mrs* Mersey's horses/' re-
plied the coachman, haughtily* " I thought
everybody knew thai. She wants a dog
— a good dog* Fm looking about for her/'

"Oh. she} 1 " quavered Jonathan* "I
never met the lady* but I suppose — I've
reason to think she must be a kind lady*

23

JONATHAN AND DAVID

Do you think she would treat him— David
has never had anybody but me* He is a
good deal spoiled* I — There isn't money
enough in the State to boy my dog, sir/'

"Then what do yot* waste my time
foolin' for?" cried the coachman, crossly*
He took up his whip and would have driven
off* But Jonathan stayed him*

44 1 can't pay his taxes* sir/ 9 he said,
deprecating the servant* "I'm too poor*
The dog-catcher has given me till Tues-
day* Then they will kill him* I have
only seventy-six cents* Besides, he says
the Town ain't likely to let me keep him
very long* anyhow* he's so big* Would
you—" Jonathan summoned his sinking
voice, and in a tone of anguish too fine
for the ears that heard it, desperately faced
his fate and David's* "Would you give
as much as two dollars for him? I— I can't
take money for David* I can't make money

24

JONATHAN AND DAVID

out of David Beit — if his taxes were paid
— if he weren't a pauper — like me— and had
a kind home — perhaps I'd consider it* I
don't see how I can let them kill D*oid"

" I'll pay them taxes on the spot/' an-
swered the coachman, eagerly, "and bring
you the receipt inside of twenty minutes."

Snapping the long whip about the ears
of the pair, the fellow whirled away* In
half an hour he returned with the tax
receipt*

The old man and the dog were precisely
as he had left them, sitting silently. David's
head was upon his master's knee* Jona-
than's face had fallen over upon David's
head* Neither stirred as the coachman,
who had brought a footman back with
him, gave the reins to the boy and sprang
down from the box*

"Here it is," he Said, hurriedly, hold-
ing out the receipt* Jonathan did not reply*
25

JONATHAN AND DAVID

"What's the matter with you, old fel-
low, anyhow?" demanded the coachman*
44 Why don't you wake tip? It's a fah
bargain. The dog's mine now* Here!"

Disregarding the protests of David, who
was now alive to the emergency* the fellow
tucked the tax receipt into the old man's
cold hands, dexterously leashed and muzzled
the dog, and pulled him away* Jonathan
sat where and as he was* When the dog
was taken from him, his gray head had
fallen — or perhaps the purchaser of David
had laid it over— upon the piazza rail* The
old man did not stir* He was spared the
separation* The coachman stopped at the
nearest neighbor's and left word that old
Jonathan was in a kind of a fit or a faint,
and some woman better go see to him*
Then he carried David home to his em-
ployer, to whom he sold the collie for

twenty-five dollars*

26

JONATHAN'S FACE HAD FALLEN OVER UPON DAVIDS
HEAD

JONATHAN AND DAVID

The nearest neighbor came over* She
was a young wife with a baby in her arms,
and, thus encumbered, she did all she could
for the old man. She made him some tea
and got him to his room* In the morning
she came in again, but he told her that he
was perfectly well and needed nothing and
wanted nobody; so she put bread and milk
and water within his reach, asked him if he
didn't want to kiss the baby, and went
away* Jonathan lay as she had left him in
the evening, and as she had found him in
the morning, fallen upon the outside of his
bed, silent and still*

She had tried to throw something over
him, but when he found what it was, the
old man flung it away — then fell to weep-
ing, and drew it back — then pushed it from
him, with a groan* It was the ragged
coverlet under which or on which, accord-
ing to the season, David had slept since he
27

JONATHAN AND DAVID

was a fall poppy and shivered the first
winter through, a clawing, wobbling de-
pendent on his master's tireless care and
tenderness*

That first night Jonathan did not sleep
at all* Sometimes his mind strayed and
his trembling hand went down to pat the
dog; the emptiness at the foot of the bed
smote him cold and weak; his pulse fell
and his breath shortened* When day came
he most have got some broken sleep, perhaps
not knowing it, for his dreaming and his
waking ran together like the tints in a prism*
so that it was difficult to say where one
ended and another began. He tried to eat*
but could not; he drank the water* and some
of the milk* and turned his face to the wall*
The dreadful hollowness of the room* the
aching silence in the house* seemed to the
lonely old man like a destiny which he had

been denied the strength to face — the last
28

JONATHAN AND DAVID

buffet of a life which had worsted him every-
where* He retained a subconsciousness
that his suffering would not be generally
understood by other men*

" He was all I had," he muttered* apolo-
getically* "I'm rather a lonely old man*
I hadn't anybody else."

Then again:

44 1 might stand it better if it weren't
for what David is undergoing* David won't
understand it* Hell think I sold him*
Oh me! Oh me! Hell think I w&nted
him to go*"

On the second day he crawled up and
moved about a little* but he was so weak
that he went back to bed* and there he re-
mained* half adbze and half awake* and
did not try to get up again* No one came
to inquire for him; his door remained un-
locked* and his window* with the rude mos-
qtdto-bar that he had made for it* was open*
29

JONATHAN AND DAVID

The soft June nights looked in gently,
and the gleaming June days flashed brill-
iantly by the solitary man; he regarded
both indifferently, for he was not any
longer strong enough to care what hap-
pened; and so it came to be the fifth night
since David and he were parted*

On this night, at a little past midnight,
Jonathan started from a happy dream* He
thought that he and David were together
in a large house, among many people* and
that David was showing off some of his
pretty tricks* and that when he said: " Are
you your master's dog, David? Bark once
—No! Bark twice— Yes!" David, mad
for joy* barked twice* and twice* and twice
again, and clung to him and kissed him
rapturously, and was never to be taken from
him again till death* that separates the man
and the wife* the child and the mother* the

lover and the beloved* that spares no life and
30

JONATHAN AND DAVID

has mercy upon no love, should part the
master and the dog; but nothing less— no,
nothing else should come between them.

He woke to a tremendous fact It was
the voice of David barking at the door*

" Oh, my God!" cried Jonathan* "Dxvidl
And I haven't got the strength to get there*
Dntdl Wait a minute till I try to get to
you*"

But David did not* could not* would
not wait* While the old man* panting and
shaking, was trying to get to his feet and
stand on them* the collie came crashing
through the window— glass and screen and
all splintered around him-— and with a
mighty cry the two were in each other's
arms*

It was not until noon of the next day that

the lawful owner of David interrupted the

rapturous reunion of the man and the dog*

Jonathan* who had dreaded the reappear-

3*

JONATHAN AND DAVID

ance of the coachman, received Mrs. Mersey
with a forced composure which touched her
instantly* Mrs* Mersey was a round, middle-
aged, mother-hearted woman — not in the
least the ideal Lady Bountiful that her old
pensioner had pictured her; he had thought
her to be some fashionable young lady,
slender and remote* When Jonathan look-
' ed into her warm brown eyes, he thought,
44 Why, she's just a woman!"

44 Madam," he began, tremulously, "I
know the dog is yours* I— have had him
a good while, that's alL And we love each
other, madam* David couldn't — He had
to run away, you see* ♦ ♦ * Look at the win-
dow where he broke in to get to me last
night*"

Jonathan's unsteady finger pointed proud-
ly to the broken glass*

"He was in such a hurry," he said*

"Madam, I would have returned him to
32

JONATHAN AND DAVID

you this morning* I know David is your
property now* There, David! there, sir!
Don't touch the lady* She's a kind lady,
David. She'll do— the right thing." With
both arms around the dog's neck the old
man repeated the phrase confusedly:

"She will do— the right— thing. . . .
You see, madam, I wasn't able to walk over
to your house — with David. I haven't
been very well since I lost David!"

His head fell back upon the pillow, and
David's went beside it.

"When did you eat last?" cried Mrs.
Mersey. The tears were driving down her
cheeks. She did not offer to touch the dog,
but moved about quickly in her rich, em-
broidered, thin dress, dexterously making
a fire, tea, and toast, and cooking eggs,
as if she had been some plain, experienced
housewife. When she brought Jonathan the

food he tried to swallow it, but put it down.
33

JONATHAN AND DAVID

44 Could I keep him — about a half an hoar
longer, madam?" he asked, humbly*

"You ihafl keep him forever!" blazed
Mrs. Mersey. "Yot* don't suppose — you
couldn't suppose — Why, what do you
think I am made of? Nobody can take
the dog from you — nobody f if I say so/*

" Not even the Town?" gasped Jonathan.
" You hadn't thought, had you, about the
Town? They say he eats so much*"

"Not even the Town!" cried the lady,
hotly. "Let him eat. M see to that.
Let him eat all he can— and you, too. The
dog is yours. Don't you understand?"

44 Oh, madam!" gasped Jonathan* " Oh,
madam /"

He turned his face upon the collie's neck
and cried like a child. And David lifted
up his voice and cried too. And the sum-
mer lady did as much. For she was a

woman of quite unorganized, kindly im-
34

JONATHAN AND DAVID

poises, as we have said* She did not care
whether she made people happy in the usual
way or not* She only cared to make them
happy*

The chance divinity— as is the way of
such divinities — took Jonathan's case warm-
ly to heart* Within an hour beef tea* cold
fowl* strawberries* sugar* fresh milk* and
coffee tempted the starving old man to the
first sufficient meal that he had eaten for
six days* When Jonathan found in the
hamper a package of dog-biscuit and a
portly mutton bone* he brought the tips of
his fingers together in the touching Albert
Durer way, as if he were asking grace over
David's supper*

44 1 said she was just a woman* David!"
he muttered* with wet and happy eyes*

She was woman enough to follow her

pretty benefaction in person the next

day* It was rather early in the morn-
35

JONATHAN AND DAVID

ing, but she found the old man up and
dressed, and tottering about the house in
his clean, worn, black coat—two buttons
sewed on with blue thread and one with
white* David hung on Jonathan's every
motion, head on master's knee, paws around
his neck; kisses on his cheek* The dog's
fine eyes had a frightened look He re-
garded Mrs* Mersey with suspicion, but in
silence* David's faith in humanity had
received a terrific shock* The only fact
in life of which the collie felt any assurance
was that his master was not to be blamed
for the existence of dog-catchers and coach-
men*

"Madam," began old Jonathan, flush-
ing with pleasure* " you do me an honor*
I was about to try to call upon you to say
— if you will permit me, madam— that I
should take it as a favor if you will allow

me to pay back David's price, on the in-
36

JONATHAN AND DAVID

stalment plan* I have seventy-six cents
toward it—" His hand went to his pocket*
" That leaves him in your debt one dollar
and twenty-four cents* I think David
would feel happier if he were really my dog
again* I hope I have not offended you,
madam?" he broke off, anxiously, when he
saw the expression of doubt or displeasure
which brushed the face of his benefactress*

44 But Peter said — How much did you
sell the dog to Peter for* Jonathan?"

" Two dollars," said Jonathan, promptly.
44 the amount of his tax bill/'

The lady challenged the old man's candid
eyes for an instant only* This was but the
second time that she had seen Jonathan
Perch; but she knew Peter Sweeney*

"Very well," she said* quietly, "I wffl
take that money— if you wish me to*"

Shining with joy* Jonathan placed seventy-
six cents in the lady's white-gloved hand*
37

JONATHAN AND DAVID

She had rather a small hand for a large
lady*

"Davidr cried Jonathan, ecstatically,
"are you your master's dog? Bark once
-No! Bark twfce-Yes!"

Then David pierced the June morning
with double barks, doubly repeated, .and
reiterated still again.

" That's no ordinary dog," observed Mrs.
Mersey* "Can he do anything else as
clever as that?"

44 Why, that's nothing, madam!" boasted
Jonathan* "David has a vocabulary of
two hundred English words that he under-
stands, and twelve French ones* But my
French is pretty rusty now, so his polite
education has been neglected* He can spell
several sentences* And he can count — let
me see— he can count up to twenty*"

"I should like to see some of these
miracles, if you please," suggested the lady*
3ft

JONATHAN AND DAVID

She sat back on Jonathan's crumbling old
lounge, and David sat before her and studied
her critically* David had not yet satisfied
himself whether the lady were an accessory
after the fact to Peter Sweeney*

The front door was open into the sitting-
room* and the silver poplar showed* tall and
slim* beyond the shining space* The tree
did not tremble more than Jonathan's happy
hands when he brought them together in his
favorite* unconscious gesture*

"Ah," said Mrs* Mersey, smiling, "the
Albert D&er!"

"Madam?" asked the old man* with
quickly troubled perplexity*

"Sometime I will show you* Are you
fond of pictures* Jonathan? Did you ever
care for them?"

" My training was in mathematics* mad-
am* My education in art was deficient*"

44 Aid Do you mind telling me what you
39

JONATHAN AND DAVID

were, Mr* Perch, in your younger life?
What was yotir business — or — profession?"
Jonathan's gray head lifted a little* He
could not remember when any one had
called him Mr* Perch*

" I was a teacher of algebra and geometry
at the Normal School/' he answered* gently*

44 Let me see what the dog can do," re-
plied the lady, brusquely* But her white
glove stole to her wet lashes* So Jona-
than showed the summer divinity what
David could do*

The sable colfie, as his master had averred,
was not a common dog* When Jonathan
said, "Bring your blocks, David," David
found his blocks and spread them out upon
the bare floor*

"Give us the alphabet, David*" And
David arranged the alphabet*

44 Spell dog, David." And David spelled
dog*

40

JONATHAN AND DAVID

"Master, David/' And David spelled
master*

The lady, absorbed, sat leaning forward,
silently* The old man's face had grown
serious and studious* He stood opposite the
cotiie and regarded him fixedly* The dog's
face indicated a close intellectual strain,
not unmixed with anxiety*

"Spell lady* David/' commanded Jon-
athan* slowly* "L-a-d-y* L-a-d-y."

David lifted his head* hesitated* shoved
his blocks about uncertainly* He had for
a moment an expression of distress* Evi-
dently this was a lesson never learned be-
fore* The star on his forehead showed
more than usual* and the dog seemed to
be at a disadvantage, and to be aware
of it*

Jonathan* fixing his eyes upon the dog*
repeated* firmly:

"L-a-d-y, David."

41

JONATHAN AND DAVID

The dog pushed the blocks impatiently*
L— A — He stopped and whined*

44 D," repeated his master*

David uttered a sound between a bark
and a gasp, but slowly finished spelling lady*

"Rest a minute," said his master* pat-
ting him with a proud and loving hand*
44 and then we'll count a little, David*"

When the collie had rested* he began to
count; this he did with ease and pleasure*
for it was plainly an accustomed task* He
counted to five* He counted to ten* He
counted to twenty*

"He can add and subtract!" cried the
old man, proudly*

"IH believe it when I see it!" protested
the lady* She was as much excited now
as the man and the dog*

44 Two and two are how many, David?"

demanded Jonathan* in a loud* firm voice*

David barked four times*
42

JONATHAN AND DAVID

44 Six. from nine leaves how many, David ?"

And David did bark thrice*

44 It is astounding! Incredible! How do
you do it? How do yots do it?" exclaimed
Mrs* Mersey* She drew her breath hard*

"That is my secret/' replied the old
mathematician* with dignity* " Yoo have
a right to it* madam, if yots insist*" he added*
quickly and contritely*

44 I insist on nothing* Mr* Perch," said the
lady* impetuously— "except that you shall
become a self-supporting, self-respecting
citizen* And— give me three days to think
it over — I think— I am not sttre-H&at I
see a way*"

She vanished from his cottage as won-
derfully as she had entered it; and for three
days Jonathan saw her no more*

On the fourth morning her victoria and
black pair appeared at the old man's gate*
Peter had a repressed and melancholy ex-
43

JONATHAN AND DAVID

pression, and the footman, with consider-
able manner, brought Jonathan the fol-
lowing note:

Dear Mr* Perch* — A few friends of mine
have expressed a wish to see your extraordinary
dog* Will you kindly bring him to my house
on receipt of this? It might be well to brush
that handsome silky coat of his a little* Peter
will drive you over*

Very truly yours*

MARY B* MERSEY.
To Jonathan Perch* Esq*

But when Jonathan* perplexed but obe-
dient, prepared to get into the victoria,
David utterly and magnificently refused*
For gods nor men nor master would David
ride with Peter Sweeney* The nearest
neighbor* who stood on her porch with her
baby in her arms* was disappointed to see
that Jonathan and David had to walk*

It was not a long walk* however* perhaps

half a mile* and the two arrived, at Mrs*
44

"YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO IT. MADAME. IF YOU INSIST*

JONATHAN AND DAVID

Mersey's summer home in good spirits* and
not more dusty than was to be expected*
The lady herself came out on the piazza to
meet them* She was dressed in something
black* and thin, and elegant* which gave her
a slender look* and which to Jonathan's
refined taste seemed to qualify her per-
fectly*

He heard the hum of voices in the
drawing-room* u My dream!" thought Jon-
athan* " My dream!"

He stood before his hostess patiently in
his old* clean* black clothes, one button sew-
ed on with white thread and two with blue;
his cuffless wrists extended from his too
short sleeves* Da vid, watchful and anxious,
sat stolidly at his master's feet David felt
that the drama of life had gone beyond his
comprehension* He sat with one ear up,
the other down, as a collie will when he is
perplexed*

45

JONATHAN AND DAVID

"Mr. Perch," said the lady, in a voice
so low that no one could overhear it, " my
man wifl show you to one of the guest-rooms,
where you will find something which you
may like to pot on before you meet my
friends* No* This is no charity* sir* You
will have earned them; they will be your
own— like David* Qh yes, David may go
too* And here — tickets for seeing David
have been sold for a dollar apiece* An
audience of sixty people is waiting — if you
will be so good— to see some of David's re-
markable mathematical feats*

44 Allowing something for the new suit,"
proceeded Mrs* Mersey, with the tone of a
philanthropist who, however unorganized
her impulses, sometimes had views about
pauperizing people, * that will leave you—"
She held out to the trembling old village
pensioner fifty fresh one-dollar bills*

"And I have arranged," continued the
46

JONATHAN AND DAVID

divinity, quickly, for her own lips quivered
and her brown eyes suddenly blurred, " if
you will be so good, Mr* Perch, for you and
David to give three or four more entertain-
ments at the homes of the neighbors before
the season is over* And next winter — I am
quite sure that next winter we can find
plenty of people in town who will be delight-
ed to see you and David — if — that is, if you
think well of my plan? And David? Do
you think David will like itT

" Oh, madam!" said Jonathan, as he had
said before— " oh, madam!"

But David stole up with slowly swishing
tail and for the first time kissed Mrs. Mersey's
hand David was now quite ready to spell
1-a-d-y.

The large rooms were both full when
Jonathan came down in his ready-made
black suit. He held himself tall and
47

JONATHAN AND DAVID

straight* His sunken eyes were brilliant,
and his fingers did not tremble*

David walked beside him with dignity
and quite composedly, and the two friends
— the dog who had gained so much of the
human, and the lonely man who had ac-
quired something of the beautiful canine —
came out together upon the little stage*

Above it, half hidden with drapery and
silver-poplar boughs, there had been hung
a copy of the " Praying Hands." . But
Jonathan did' not see this; and the sum-
mer people* such as noticed it, wondered
why it was there.

THB BND

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

Return to desk from which borrowed.
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.

*V*M

49**\> t

LD 21-100m-9,*481B399Bl6)476