  GUESS he must be awful old; we had him years and years, And he’s so old the ends were worn all off of both his ears. He couldn’t hardly eat, because his teeth were all worn out, And all his legs got stiff, so he could hardly drag about. One day he lay down by the house, right near the cellar door, And gasped and gasped for breath, until he couldn’t any more; So I went out and patted him, and when he heard me call He looked at me and wagged his tail, which died the last of all. My! he was black and curly once, when he was new and young, And he would open up his mouth at us and curl his tongue, Just like he laughed, and play with us; and he would go into The creek, and bring our hats to us, or anything we threw. In winter we would hitch him up, and he would haul our sled, So when he wagged his tail at me I laid him right beside The cellar door, and then I went behind the barn and cried. He was a friend of all the boys, and when they came to play He’d wag his tail and bark and look at them the smartest way; And he’d pretend to bite at them and nip their pants, but he Would never bite, ’cause he was just as kind as he could be. And Henry Watson looked at him beside the cellar door, And said, “He’ll never haul us boys on our sled any more.” He turned his ears back straight and nice; he liked him awful well; Because he had tears in his eyes, and then a big one fell. So after while we got a spade, and Billy Gibson came, And Tommy Dean and Eddie Brink, and they all felt the same. We dug some turf up in the yard, right underneath a tree, And laid him in and left him there, all covered carefully; He’d got worn out and couldn’t eat, we boys all liked him so; And Eddie Brink, he didn’t think the Lord would really care If we boys sang a hymn for him and said a little prayer. My! it was awful sad that day! And Tommy said he thought We wouldn’t play that afternoon, because he’d rather not. And Mamma made some nice ice-cream, which cheered us up, but when We wanted her to eat she said she couldn’t eat just then. And Amy Robbins heard of it, and brought some leaves and flowers To scatter over him, because he was a friend of ours; And I told her I patted him, and when he heard me call He looked at me and wagged his tail, which died the last of all. |
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