Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 February 1911 — HOW THE GANDER GOT EVEN [ARTICLE]

HOW THE GANDER GOT EVEN

. . " - 4Png Dog stopped Tormenting the Geeee After He Received • Good Thrashing. It Tfrould appear from the testimony ’ & ranchman in the northwest that a goose is no fool, and still less is a gander. Indeed, 5t is clamed the particular gander herein referred to possessed a real sense of humor, and evinced a predilection for practical jokes.:The ranchman had a little dog, Harry, very round and fat, very annoying to the -geese, and* unfortunately, quite near-sighted. He used to be Called to his supper about the time the geese were called to theirs. He had to go through a gate to get his supper, while the geese took theirs on the outside. Now the gander, a most observant bird,-was not long In noticing thejfact of Harry’s appearance simultaneously with his own, and at once proceeded to utilize that discovery. He arranged his females on two lines on each side of the gate and leading thereo. Not dreaming of anything untoward, the trustful Harry trotted briskly between the lines, and there made an awful error. . The first goose nipped him as cwply a goose can, and then the opposite goose, and so on alternately. The unhappy dog ran the gantlet, howling with anguish «until he finally got through the gate. Then the geese gave utterance to divers shrieks of demoniac laughter, long and loud. Three times did the wretched Harry fall a the wiles of his enemy, till finally he would stop short, raise one paw, regard his tormentors sadly, and* then run around to the other side of the inclosure, where a friendly hole In the fence gave him entrance. In time Harry was succeeded by a pug who thought his chief duty in life was to rash upon the geese unexpectedly and drive them from their supper. He was a great success till his fate overtook him. One afternoon fie tackled the gander and seized him by the tail.

The gander immediately made for the pond, half-running and half-flying, but. with such speed that the astonished pug did not dare to let go. The feathers were strong, and the dog performed most of the transit in the air. When the pond was reached the gander, with undlmlillshed speed, reached the middle, where the pug got a chance to let go and struck out for the shore. The gander was behind him, and before he reached land he was the recipient of the most scientific and colossal thrashing an offending creature ever endured. A sad little dog reached the shore, where he sat down and lifted up his voice and wept. After that he thought it not to his interest to-meddle with the geese.