The Day of the Dog

The Day of the Dog

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Title: The Day of the Dog
Author: George Barr McCutcheon
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THE DAY OF THE DOG
by
GEORGE BARR MCCUTCHEON Author of "Grauslark" "The
Sherrods etc"
With Illustrations by Harrison Fisher and decorations by Margaret &
Helen Maitland Armstrong
New York 1904

ILLUSTRATIONS
SWALLOW (in color) Frontispiece CROSBY DRIVES TO THE
STATION THE HANDS HAD GONE TO THEIR DINNER THE BIG
RED BARN THE TWO BOYS MRS. DELANCY AND MRS.
AUSTIN MR. AUSTIN MRS. DELANCY PLEADS WITH
SWALLOW THEY EXAMINE THE DOCUMENTS "SHE
DELIBERATELY SPREAD OUT THE PAPERS ON THE BEAM" (in
color) SWALLOW SHE WATCHES HIM DESCEND INTO
DANGER MR. CROSBY SHOWS SWALLOW A NEW TRICK
"SWALLOW'S CHUBBY BODY SHOT SQUARELY THROUGH
THE OPENING" (in color) THE MAN WITH THE LANTERN MR.
HIGGINS "HE WAS SPLASHING THROUGH THE SHALLOW
BROOK" (in color) HE CARRIES HER OVER THE BROOK MRS.
HIGGINS THEY ENJOY MRS. HIGGINS'S GOOD SUPPER
LONESOMEVILLE THE DEPUTY SHERIFF CROSBY AND THE
DEPUTY MRS. DELANCY FALLS ASLEEP THEY GO TO THE
THEATRE "'GOOD HEAVENS!' 'WHAT IS IT?' HE CRIED. 'YOU
ARE NOT MARRIED, ARE YOU?'" (in color) "CROSBY WON

BOTH SUITS"

THE DAY OF THE DOG

PART I
"I'll catch the first train back this evening, Graves. Wouldn't go down
there if it were not absolutely necessary; but I have just heard that Mrs.
Delancy is to leave for New York to-night, and if I don't see her to-day
there will be a pack of troublesome complications. Tell Mrs. Graves
she can count me in on the box party to-night."
"We'll need you, Crosby. Don't miss the train."
[Illustration: Crosby Drives to the Station]
"I'll be at the station an hour before the train leaves. Confound it, it's a
mean trip down there--three hours through the rankest kind of scenery
and three hours back. She's visiting in the country, too, but I can drive
out and back in an hour."
"On your life, old man, don't fail me."
"Don't worry, Graves; all Christendom couldn't keep me in Dexter after
four o'clock this afternoon. Good-by." And Crosby climbed into the
hansom and was driven away at breakneck speed toward the station.
Crosby was the junior member of the law firm of Rolfe & Crosby, and
his trip to the country was on business connected with the settlement of
a big estate. Mrs. Delancy, widow of a son of the decedent, was one of
the legatees, and she was visiting her sister-in-law, Mrs. Robert Austin,
in central Illinois. Mr. Austin owned extensive farming interests near
Dexter, and his handsome home was less than two miles from the heart
of the town. Crosby anticipated no trouble in driving to the house and
back in time to catch the afternoon train for Chicago. It was necessary
for Mrs. Delancy to sign certain papers, and he was confident the
transaction could not occupy more than half an hour's time.
At 11:30 Crosby stepped from the coach to the station platform in

Dexter, looked inquiringly about, and then asked a perspiring man with
a star on his suspender-strap where he could hire a horse and buggy.
The officer directed him to a "feed-yard and stable," but observed that
there was a "funeral in town an' he'd be lucky if he got a rig, as all of
Smith's horses were out." Application at the stable brought the first
frown to Crosby's brow. He could not rent a "rig" until after the funeral,
and that would make