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Page 14
Here certainly was food for wonder and astonishment. Two dog people had
met outside this lonely cave the night before; and here there were
seven. The new-comers were, with one exception, black and golden-brown
in color, like their mother; yet their short coats were sensibly
different from hers in texture. The exception was black as to his saddle
and head, but iron-gray for the rest, a blend one sometimes sees in
other hounds. And Finn noticed that this exception was somewhat larger
than either of his four brothers and sisters. (Two of them were
brothers, and two sisters; the black-and-gray fellow was a brother.)
Finn gently licked the round back of one of the pups. A moment before
Desdemona's tongue had crossed the same fat back. Yet its blind little
owner whimpered instant complaint at the very gentle touch of Finn's
tongue.
"Be very careful!" whined the mother.
So Finn turned to the bigger pup, the black-and-gray, and licked him
carefully. There was no sign of a whimper from this sturdy chap. On the
contrary, he wriggled over on his round back and presented his equally
round, gray belly for the same treatment. So Finn gravely licked his
largest son all over in the approved maternal fashion, while Desdemona
looked on with a quaint mixture of expressions in her pain-drawn eyes.
The mixture was of pride and jealousy, approval and solicitude,
motherhood and matehood--quite a curious little study in expression.
And then came an odd, rather touching little incident. Using infinite
care to avoid disturbing or unsettling her full-fed little ones, the
bloodhound mother slowly, gently, and with much effort, raised her
aching body from the ground and stood a moment tremulously resting. Then
she nudged Finn with her nose, and gently, but quickly, nervously, edged
him out to the mouth of the cave. There the appeal of her liquid eyes,
no less than the meaning little whine which escaped her, said, plainly:
"Don't go inside! Stay there, on guard!"
And with a rush (despite her pain-racked state) Desdemona ran down the
slope in obedience to an imperative natural call. A few seconds later
and she stood drinking eagerly, quickly, beside the dew-pond. But for
all her haste and her parched throat and aching body, the mother bitch
was careful not to wet her coat, since that might have made their bed
chilly for the pups. Returning hotfoot, she found Finn immovable beside
the mouth of the cave, a formidable sentry.
But while yet distant some ten or twelve yards, Desdemona heard a
whimper from within-sides (doubtless a pup had turned over on its back
and forgotten how to roll round again); and accordingly her weary limbs
must lift her up the steep slope almost at a bound, leaving her no time
for thanks to Finn, and care for nothing but her little ones.
To see her lower herself again to make of her aching body a nest and
bulwark for the pups was to see a really beautiful study of animal
motherhood. The deep wrinkles of her long forehead were all twisted from
the pains of the night; but not by one hair's-breadth did she
miscalculate the place for her descent to earth, or the nice disposition
of her body to secure the maximum of comfort and shelter for her brood.
If her mate looked for any companionable attention now, he looked in
vain. Each of the five young ones must be scrupulously washed and
groomed once more to make up for the neglect of the past few minutes.
And by that time they were greedily pounding at her dugs for another
meal. However, Finn understood now; and as sentry he spent the rest of
the forenoon by the cave.
IX
THE LONE MOTHER
Through many, many generations past the forebears of the Lady Desdemona
had been wont at all such crises in their lives as she was now
experiencing to receive the closest and most unremitting human care and
supervision. In the Shaws breeding-kennels, for example, there would
always be at such times an abundance of fresh warm milk, clean, warm
bedding for the new arrivals and their mother, and every other sort of
comfort and attention which men-folk have devised for the benefit of the
aristocrats among dog-folk.
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