Ranson's Folly (Fiscle Part 3) by Richard Harding Davis (best black authors .TXT) 📖

When I Hears That My Legs Breaks Under Me,  For I Knows All

About Judges. Twice,  The Old Master Goes Up Before The Judge For

Part 3 Title 1 (Ranson's Folly) Pg 63

Fighting Me With Other Dogs,  And The Judge Promises Him If He Ever

Does It Again,  He'll Chain Him Up In Jail. I Knew He'd Find Me Out. A

Judge Can't Be Fooled By No Pipe-Clay. He Can See Right Through You,

And He Reads Your Insides.

 

The Judging-Ring,  Which Is Where The Judge Holds Out,  Was So Like A

Fighting-Pit,  That When I Came In It,  And Find Six Other Dogs There,

I Springs Into Position,  So That When They Lets Us Go I Can Defend

Myself,  But The Master Smoothes Down My Hair And Whispers,  "Hold

'Ard,  Kid,  Hold 'Ard. This Ain't A Fight," Says He. "Look Your

Prettiest," He Whispers. "Please,  Kid,  Look Your Prettiest," And He

Pulls My Leash So Tight That I Can't Touch My Pats To The Sawdust,

And My Nose Goes Up In The Air. There Was Millions Of People A-

Watching Us From The Railings,  And Three Of Our Kennel-Men,  Too,

Making Fun Of Nolan And Me,  And Miss Dorothy With Her Chin Just

Reaching To The Rail,  And Her Eyes So Big That I Thought She Was A-

Going To Cry. It Was Awful To Think That When The Judge Stood Up And

Exposed Me,  All Those People,  And Miss Dorothy,  Would Be There To See

Me Driven From The Show.

 

The Judge,  He Was A Fierce-Looking Man With Specs On His Nose,  And A

Red Beard. When I First Come In He Didn't See Me Owing To My Being

Too Quick For Him And Dodging Behind The Master. But When The Master

Drags Me Round And I Pulls At The Sawdust To Keep Back,  The Judge

Looks At Us Careless-Like,  And Then Stops And Glares Through His

Specs,  And I Knew It Was All Up With Me.

 

"Are There Any More?" Asks The Judge,  To The Gentleman At The Gate,

But Never Taking His Specs From Me.

 

The Man At The Gate Looks In His Book. "Seven In The Novice-Class,"

Says He. "They're All Here. You Can Go Ahead," And He Shuts The Gate.

 

The Judge,  He Doesn't Hesitate A Moment. He Just Waves His Hand

Toward The Corner Of The Ring. "Take Him Away," He Says To The

Master. "Over There And Keep Him Away," And He Turns And Looks Most

Solemn At The Six Beautiful Bull-Terriers. I Don't Know How I Crawled

To That Corner. I Wanted To Scratch Under The Sawdust And Dig Myself

A Grave. The Kennel-Men They Slapped The Rail With Their Hands And

Laughed At The Master Like They Would Fall Over. They Pointed At Me

In The Corner,  And Their Sides Just Shaked. But Little Miss Dorothy

She Presses Her Lips Tight Against The Rail,  And I See Tears Rolling

From Her Eyes. The Master,  He Hangs His Head Like He Had Been

Whipped. I Felt Most Sorry For Him,  Than All. He Was So Red,  And He

Was Letting On Not To See The Kennel-Men,  And Blinking His Eyes. If

The Judge Had Ordered Me Right Out,  It Wouldn't Have Disgraced Us So,

But It Was Keeping Me There While He Was Judging The High-Bred Dogs

That Hurt So Hard. With All Those People Staring Too. And His Doing

It So Quick,  Without No Doubt Nor Questions. You Can't Fool The

Judges. They See Insides You.

 

But He Couldn't Make Up His Mind About Them High-Bred Dogs. He Scowls

At 'Em,  And He Glares At 'Em,  First With His Head On The One Side And

Then On The Other. And He Feels Of 'Em,  And Orders 'Em To Run About.

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And Nolan Leans Against The Rails,  With His Head Hung Down,  And Pats

Me. And Miss Dorothy Comes Over Beside Him,  But Don't Say Nothing,

Only Wipes Her Eye With Her Finger. A Man On The Other Side Of The

Rail He Says To The Master,  "The Judge Don't Like Your Dog?"

 

"No," Says The Master.

 

"Have You Ever Shown Him Before?" Says The Man.

 

"No," Says The Master,  "And I'll Never Show Him Again. He's My Dog,"

Says The Master,  "An' He Suits Me! And I Don't Care What No Judges

Think." And When He Says Them Kind Words,  I Licks His Hand Most

Grateful.

 

The Judge Had Two Of The Six Dogs On A Little Platform In The Middle

Of The Ring,  And He Had Chased The Four Other Dogs Into The Corners,

Where They Was Licking Their Chops,  And Letting On They Didn't Care,

Same As Nolan Was.

 

The Two Dogs On The Platform Was So Beautiful That The Judge Hisself

Couldn't Tell Which Was The Best Of 'Em,  Even When He Stoops Down And

Holds Their Heads Together. But At Last He Gives A Sigh,  And Brushes

The Sawdust Off His Knees And Goes To The Table In The Ring,  Where

There Was A Man Keeping Score,  And Heaps And Heaps Of Blue And Gold

And Red And Yellow Ribbons. And The Judge Picks Up A Bunch Of 'Em And

Walks To The Two Gentlemen Who Was Holding The Beautiful Dogs,  And He

Says To Each "What's His Number?" And He Hands Each Gentleman A

Ribbon. And Then He Turned Sharp,  And Comes Straight At The Master.

 

"What's His Number?" Says The Judge. And Master Was So Scared That He

Couldn't Make No Answer.

 

But Miss Dorothy Claps Her Hands And Cries Out Like She Was Laughing,

"Three Twenty-Six," And The Judge Writes It Down,  And Shoves Master

The Blue Ribbon.

 

I Bit The Master,  And I Jumps And Bit Miss Dorothy,  And I Waggled So

Hard That The Master Couldn't Hold Me. When I Get To The Gate Miss

Dorothy Snatches Me Up And Kisses Me Between The Ears,  Right Before

Millions Of People,  And They Both Hold Me So Tight That I Didn't Know

Which Of Them Was Carrying Of Me. But One Thing I Knew,  For I

Listened Hard,  As It Was The Judge Hisself As Said It.

 

"Did You See That Puppy I Gave 'First' To?" Says The Judge To The

Gentleman At The Gate.

 

"I Did. He Was A Bit Out Of His Class," Says The Gate-Gentleman.

 

"He Certainly Was!" Says The Judge,  And They Both Laughed.

 

But I Didn't Care. They Couldn't Hurt Me Then,  Not With Nolan Holding

The Blue Ribbon And Miss Dorothy Hugging My Ears,  And The Kennel-Men

Sneaking Away,  Each Looking Like He'd Been Caught With His Nose Under

The Lid Of The Slop-Can.

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We Sat Down Together,  And We All Three Just Talked As Fast As We

Could. They Was So Pleased That I Couldn't Help Feeling Proud Myself,

And I Barked And Jumped And Leaped About So Gay,  That All The Bull-

Terriers In Our Street Stretched On Their Chains,  And Howled At Me.

 

"Just Look At Him!" Says One Of Those I Had Beat. "What's He Giving

Hisself Airs About?"

 

"Because He's Got One Blue Ribbon!" Says Another Of 'Em. "Why,  When I

Was A Puppy I Used To Eat 'Em,  And If That Judge Could Ever Learn To

Know A Toy From A Mastiff,  I'd Have Had This One."

 

But Jimmy Jocks He Leaned Over From His Bench,  And Says,  "Well Done,

Kid. Didn't I Tell You So!" What He 'Ad Told Me Was That I Might Get

A "Commended," But I Didn't Remind Him.

 

"Didn't I Tell You," Says Jimmy Jocks,  "That I Saw Your Grandfather

Make His Debut At The Crystal--"

 

"Yes,  Sir,  You Did,  Sir," Says I,  For I Have No Love For The Men Of

My Family.

 

A Gentleman With A Showing Leash Around His Neck Comes Up Just Then

And Looks At Me Very Critical. "Nice Dog You've Got,  Miss Wyndham,"

Says He; "Would You Care To Sell Him?"

 

"He's Not My Dog," Says Miss Dorothy,  Holding Me Tight. "I Wish He

Were."

 

"He's Not For Sale,  Sir," Says The Master,  And I Was That Glad.

 

"Oh,  He's Yours,  Is He?" Says The Gentleman,  Looking Hard At Nolan.

"Well,  I'll Give You A Hundred Dollars For Him," Says He,  Careless-

Like.

 

"Thank You,  Sir,  He's Not For Sale," Says Nolan,  But His Eyes Get

Very Big. The Gentleman,  He Walked Away,  But I Watches Him,  And He

Talks To A Man In A Golf-Cap,  And By And By The Man Comes Along Our

Street,  Looking At All The Dogs,  And Stops In Front Of Me.

 

"This Your Dog?" Says He To Nolan. "Pity He's So Leggy," Says He. "If

He Had A Good Tail,  And A Longer Stop,  And His Ears Were Set Higher,

He'd Be A Good Dog. As He Is,  I'll Give You Fifty Dollars For Him."

 

But Before The Master Could Speak,  Miss Dorothy Laughs,  And Says,

"You're Mr. Polk's Kennel-Man,  I Believe. Well,  You Tell Mr. Polk

From Me That The Dog's Not For Sale Now Any More Than He Was Five

Minutes Ago,  And That When He Is,  He'll Have To Bid Against Me For

Him." The Man Looks Foolish At That,  But He Turns To Nolan Quick-

Like. "I'll Give You Three Hundred For Him," He Says.

 

"Oh,  Indeed!" Whispers Miss Dorothy,  Like She Was Talking To Herself.

"That's It,  Is It," And She Turns And Looks At Me Just As Though She

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Had Never Seen Me Before. Nolan,  He Was A Gaping,  Too,  With His Mouth

Open. But He Holds Me Tight.

 

"He's Not For Sale," He Growls,  Like He Was Frightened,  And The Man

Looks Black And Walks Away.

 

"Why,  Nolan!" Cries Miss Dorothy,