THE DEVIL BABY AT HULL-HOUSE _Jane Addams_ 52
EVERY MAN'S NATURAL DESIRE TO BE SOMEBODY ELSE _Samuel McChord Crothers_ 78
THE TEMPLE'S DIFFICULT DOOR _Robert M. Gay_ 95
EXILE AND POSTMAN _Jean Kenyan Mackenzie_ 109
THE LIFE OF ADVENTURE _Edgar J. Goodspeed_ 121
AN INDICTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS _William T. Foster_ 134
STUDIES IN SOLITUDE _Fannie Stearns Gifford_ 173
IN PRAISE OF OLD LADIES _Lucy Martin Donnelly_ 217
A MEMORY OF OLD GENTLEMEN _Sharlot M. Hall_ 227
VIOLA'S LOVERS _Richard Bowland Kimball_ 235
THE ACROPOLIS AND GOLGOTHA _Anne C. E. Allinson_ 273
THE BAPTIZING OF THE BABY _Elizabeth Taylor_ 292
There are men and women in the world who, of their own free will, live a dogless life, not knowing what they miss; and for them this essay, securely placed in the dignified _Atlantic_, there to remain so long as libraries and books shall endure, is chiefly written. Let them not pass it by in scorn, but rather stop to consider what can be said of the animal as a fellow being entitled to their sympathy, and having, perhaps, a like destiny with themselves.
As to those few persons who are not only dogless but dog-haters, they should excite pity rather than resentment. The man who hates a good dog is abnormal, and cannot help it. I once knew such a man, a money-lender long since passed away, whose life was largely a crusade against dogs, carried on through newspapers, pamphlets, and in conversation.
He used to declare that he had often been bitten by these animals, and that, on one occasion, a terrier actually jumped on the street-car in which he was riding, took a small piece out of his leg (a mere soupçon, no doubt), and then jumped off--all without apparent provocation, and in a moment of time. Probably this story, strange as it may sound, was substantially true. The perceptions of the dog are wonderfully acute. A recent occurrence may serve as the converse of the money-lender's story. A lost collie, lame and nearly starved, was taken in, fed, and cared for by a household of charitable persons, who, however, did not like or understand dogs, and were anxious to get rid of this one, provided that a good home could be found for him. In the course of a week there came to call upon them in her buggy an old lady who is extremely fond of dogs, and who possesses that combination of a masterful spirit with deep affection which acts like witchcraft upon the lower animals. The collie was brought out, and the story of his arrival was related at length. Meanwhile the old lady and the dog looked each other steadfastly in the eye. 'Do you want to come with me, doggie?' she said at last, not really meaning to take him. Up jumped the dog, and sat down beside her, and could not be dislodged by any entreaties or commands--and all parties were loath to use force. She took him home, but brought him back the next day, intending to leave him behind her. Again, however, the dog refused to be parted from his new and real friend. He bestowed a perfunctory wag of the tail upon his benefactors--he was not ungrateful; but, like all dogs, he sought not chiefly meat and bones and a comfortable place by the fire, but affection and caresses. The dog does not live that would refuse to forsake his dinner for the companionship of his master.