Beautiful Joe | Page 4

in the "Meadow Mouse," and by our own Longfellow in songs of many
keys.
Kindness to the animal kingdom is the first, or a first principle in the growth of true
philanthropy. Young Lincoln once waded across a half-frozen river to rescue a dog, and
stopped in a walk with a statesman to put back a bird that had fallen out of its nest. Such
a heart was trained to be a leader of men, and to be crucified for a cause. The conscience
that runs to the call of an animal in distress is girding itself with power to do manly work
in the world.
The story of "Beautiful Joe" awakens an intense interest, and sustains it through a series
of vivid incidents and episodes, each of which is a lesson. The story merits the widest
circulation, and the universal reading and response accorded to "Black Beauty." To
circulate it is to do good, to help the human heart as well as the creatures of quick
feelings and simple language.
When, as one of the committee to examine the manuscripts offered for prizes to the
Humane Society, I read the story, I felt that the writer had a higher motive than to
compete for a prize; that the story was a stream of sympathy that flowed from the heart;
that it was genuine; that it only needed a publisher who should be able to command a
wide influence, to make its merits known, to give it a strong educational mission.
I am pleased that the manuscript has found such a publisher, and am sure that the issue of
the story will honor the Publication Society. In the development of the book, I believe
that the humane cause has stood above any speculative thought or interest. The book
comes because it is called for; the times demand it. I think that the publishers have a right
to ask for a little unselfish service on the part of the public in helping to give it a
circulation commensurate with its opportunity, need, and influence.
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.
(Of the committee of readers of the prize stories offered to the Humane Society.)

BOSTON, MASS

CONTENTS
Chapter I.
ONLY A CUR
Chapter II.
THE CRUEL MILKMAN
Chapter III.
MY KIND DELIVERER AND MISS LAURA
Chapter IV.
THE MORRIS BOYS ADD TO MY NAME
Chapter V.
MY NEW HOME AND A SELFISH LADY
Chapter VI.
THE FOX TERRIER BILLY
Chapter VII.
TRAINING A PUPPY
Chapter VIII.
A RUINED DOG
Chapter IX.
THE PARROT BELLA
Chapter X.
BILLY'S TRAINING CONTINUED
Chapter XI.

GOLDFISH AND CANARIES
Chapter XII.
MALTA THE CAT
Chapter XIII.
THE BEGINNING OF AN ADVENTURE
Chapter XIV.
HOW WE CAUGHT THE BURGLAR
Chapter XV.
OUR JOURNEY TO RIVERDALE
Chapter XVI.
DINGLEY FARM
Chapter XVII.
MR. WOOD AND HIS HORSES
Chapter XVIII.
MRS. WOOD'S POULTRY
Chapter XIX.
A BAND OF MERCY
Chapter XX.
STORIES ABOUT ANIMALS
Chapter XXI.
MR. MAXWELL AND MR. HARRY
Chapter XXII.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE TEA TABLE

Chapter XXIII.
TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS
Chapter XXIV.
THE RABBIT AND THE HEN
Chapter XXV.
A HAPPY HORSE
Chapter XXVI.
THE BOX OF MONEY
Chapter XXVII.
A NEGLECTED STABLE
Chapter XXVIII.
THE END OF THE ENGLISHMAN
Chapter XXIX.
A TALK ABOUT SHEEP
Chapter XXX.
A JEALOUS OX
Chapter XXXI.
IN THE COW STABLE
Chapter XXXII.
OUR RETURN HOME
Chapter XXXIII.
PERFORMING ANIMALS
Chapter XXXIV.

A FIRE IN FAIRPORT
Chapter XXXV.
BILLY AND THE ITALIAN
Chapter XXXVI.
DANDY THE TRAMP
Chapter XXXVII.
THE END OF MY STORY

BEAUTIFUL JOE
CHAPTER I
ONLY A CUR
MY name is Beautiful Joe, and I am a brown dog of medium size. I am not called
Beautiful Joe because I am a beauty. Mr. Morris, the clergyman, in whose family I have
lived for the last twelve years, says that he thinks I must be called Beautiful Joe for the
same reason that his grandfather, down South, called a very ugly colored slave-lad Cupid,
and his mother Venus.
I do not know what he means by that, but when he says it, people always look at me and
smile. I know that I am not beautiful, and I know that I am not a thoroughbred. I am only
a cur.
When my mistress went every year to register me and pay my tax, and the man in the
office asked what breed I was, she said part fox-terrier and part bull-terrier; but he always
put me down a cur. I don't think she liked having him call me a cur; still, I have heard her
say that she preferred curs, for they have more character than well-bred dogs. Her father
said that she liked ugly dogs for the same reason that a nobleman at the court of a certain
king did namely, that no one else would.
I am an old dog