A LETTER FROM ALICE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 8 June 1945, Page 3

A LETTER FROM ALICE

RUFF GIVES A LESSON Dear Boys and Girls, Ruff is a large, dignified collie with a very thick white and yellow coat, and, long, bushy tail. He got his queer name from the white ruff hair around his neck. Ruff is getting old now and j he finds hot summer days very trying and lies panting on the turf under the trees in the shade in the garden, which is at the side of the house, whenever his mistisess does not need him to go out with her. It docs not matter how hot the day is, Ruff never neglects his duty; whenever he hears the doorbell ring, or even strange footsteps approaching, up jumps Ruff and runs through an open side door into the house, straight to the inner glass door, which is kept closed, and looks through at the stranger, barking loudly all the while until the visitor is answered. Many people and some children are 1 afraid of Ruff, but he is the gentlest of; dogs, and . his loud bark is only his' way of saying: “Mistress! here is some, j one at the door. lam doing my best, but they don’t understand. Come quickly!” Should the visitor be a well-known friend, then Ruff barks louder than ever with pleasure. Ruff goes to church each Sunday i evening with his mistress, but not into j the building. He stays in the yard j until the church service is over and his | mistress reappears. I can’t tell you j what he does all the while, but he ne v e r barks or fights. I think he trots around the large church and the yard, and sometimes even pays a visit to a farm not far off, where he is petted by the farmer’s wife. Whatever he does, he is always back by the door waiting for h*s mistress when she comes out. No, I am wrong, not always! One evening, when the other folk came out in the usual crowd and his mistress did not appear, Ruff walked into the church, up to her pew where she was talking to a friend, gazed reproachfully at her, then turned slowly towards home, leaving his mistress to overtake him. “I can wait for her no longer; this is too bad!” he must have thought in his doggie mind, and what do you think he did next Sunday evening? He must have remembered what had happened the Sunday before, and this time he was nowhere to be found when his mistress came out of the church, though she whistled and called him for quite a while. When she sadly reached home, there was Mister Ruff lying quietly at the front door. He’s a very knowing dog isn’t he? With love until next Friday from your friend, ALICE.