A DOG'S TALE
"
When Little Joe started a conversation with those words, Ben
Cartwright knew he was in for a long story and so he sank down into
his comfortable armchair, and reached for the coffee pot, which Hop
Sing had thoughtfully provided for him.
"Carry on, son, I'm all ears," said Ben, sipping his coffee, in
which
he'd put an extra spoonful of sugar, as he felt he needed the
strength to get through this.
"I was in town, with Hoss, collecting
the
supplies like ya told us
to,but
Mr Cass was busy and so we had to wait a
while," began
16 year
old Joe. "Hoss wanted to talk to
said I was gonna go find Seth, as I
knew he was
in town, cos I'd seen
his horse tied up by the mercantile. Well, I did find him, he was
in
the Bucket of Blood, and he offered me a beer, jest the one, mind.
I
drank that and was about to leave, but then Mitch and Will and
Johnny
came in and we got to talking and then this guy asked if anyone was
int'rested in a few hands of
poker. Now,
I know ya don't me like me
gamblin', Pa, but I reckoned
it was jest
gonna be a few friendly
hands, so me and Seth agreed to play. I had a few dollars on me,
seein' as it's
jest bin pay day, and I was doing pretty well. But
then, things started to go wrong and I was losing, quite a bit.
Seth
was still in, but he said I oughta
back out while
I still had my
shirt on my back, but you know me, I jest kept thinking that the
next
hand was gonna solve all my problems.
But it
didn't, it jest gave me
them," and Joe jerked his thumb over at the hound dogs, who were
sitting on the stairs, as they had been since Joe unloaded them off
the wagon.
"But how did you losing at cards, gain you a pack of dogs?" asked
Ben, beginning to feel a pounding in his temples, as a headache
started to take hold.
"The guy who owns 'em, a mean, ornery
looking guy called Jake
Collins, is entering them in a competition on Saturday, at the
City
that brings in the most game, at the end of the day, is the winner.
Trouble is, he can't find anywhere to
stay that'll
allow him to keep
the dogs inside, so he said if I lost to him at cards, I had to
board
the dogs until the competition. And I lost,
"What did Hoss say when you told him
about
the dogs?" said Ben.
"He was mad at me for gambling and said you was
likely to wanna skin
me alive for doing so," said Joe.
"Well, we'll discuss that aspect of this mess, later," said Ben.
"But
what did he say about you bringing the dogs
home?"
Joe's heart sank at the mention of a discussion, but he bravely
carried on and answered his father's question.
"When I explained that Mr Collins said
I hadta keep the dogs 'til
Saturday, Hoss had a word with him and
tried to
pay off the debt for
me, but he wasn't having any of it. Said he'd got a real good deal,
having me feed, board and exercise his dogs for him, and he didn't
want no payoff. So Hoss
said we'd havta bring 'em
home and here they
are."
"So, you've not only got to give these dogs
free board and lodging,
but you've got to exercise them, too, have you? And when are you
planning on fitting that into your day, when you have chores to do?
And what about the cost of feeding them?
Have you got the money?"
"No sir, I ain't and Mr
Collins says they havta eat the best grub
to
have them in tip top shape for the competition. He said if'n
they
were looking peaky when he picked them up on Saturday, then he'd
nail
my hide to the barn door."
"I might just beat him to it," said Ben, glaring at Joe.
"Now, you
get these animals bedded down in the barn and you see to it that no
harm comes to any of our livestock, or our property, while they are
staying here. If it does,then
you will be paying the bill to replace
whatever is damaged, understood? Once the dogs are settled, we will
eat supper and then you and I will be having a discussion in the
barn
about 16 year old boys who defy their fathers and gamble,
particularly when they don't fully know what the stakes are."
"Yes sir, understood," said Joe, and he herded the dogs outside.
While he was gone, Adam arrived home and was brought up to date on
his youngest brother's latest exploit. Hoss
tried
to calm Ben down a
bit and promised to help Joe take care of the dogs.
"I guess it's kinda
ma fault, too," said the big man. "I should've
bin keepin' a closer eye on Joe,
instead of talkin' ta
Nancy,
although it was business, too, cos I
saw her Pa
about those extra
fence panels you wanted,Pa."
"Joe is now 16 years old, Hoss, and he
keeps
telling me that he
doesn't need a keeper and he can look out for himself, so he can't
go
back on that and try and blame you, when he messes up," said Ben.
"I
am guessing that is what he tried to do, make you feel that it was
your fault for not watching him, that caused
him to get
into this
mess. Am I right?"
As that was exactly what Joe had tried to do, on the trip home from
town, Hoss saw no point in denying it.
"Yeah, it was summat like that, but I
should've bin lookin' out fer
him, he gets into so much trouble whenever he's on his own."
The family sat down and enjoyed a lovely meal, prepared by Hop Sing,
well all of them did, except for Joe, who was fretting about the
upcoming discussion in the barn, with his father.
When it came, it was as he'd expected it to be, a rather painful
one,
and he returned to the house and went straight up to bed. Adam and
Hoss watched him go, without
comment,
but both of them exchanged
sympathetic glances with their little brother, as they both knew
what
it was like to be on the receiving end of one of Pa's 'necessary
talks'
Over the next few days, Joe's older brothers helped him as much as
they could with the dogs and they all became quite fond of them.
On the morning of the competition, Mr
Collins
arrived to collect his
hounds and was pleased to see that they were all looking fit.
"You've done a grand job there, young 'un," said Collins. "I
reckon
ma dogs have enjoyed their stay at the Ponderosa."
"My son has honoured the arrangement, Mr Collins, but I would thank
you not to try and take advantage of my boy, again. If you see him
in
the saloon, offering to play poker with you, I would prefer it if
you
refused. If you don't, then you will have me
to answer
to,
understood? He is just a boy and I feel that he was set up in
all of
this, but as I can't prove it, I am not going to pursue the matter.
Good day to you, Mr Collins," said Ben.
"Understood, Mr Cartwright," said
Collins. "Let's hope he's learned
his lesson and won't try and play with the big boys, until he has
improved his technique. Good day."
Mr Collins and the hound dogs
left and
Joe went over to the barn to
clean it out, now that the dogs were not going to be sleeping there
any more.
Adam and Hoss finished their morning
chores, then offered to take Joe
over to
permission and the three boys set off.
Unknown to Joe, Adam had placed a bet on the outcome of the hunting
competition and when Mr Collins' dogs
won, Adam
made quite a nice
profit. He used some of the money to pay off the food bill for the
dogs, while they had been staying at the ranch, and with the rest,
he
took Hoss and Joe out to dinner in a
fancy
restaurant in
As they sat enjoying their meal, Joe leaned back on his chair and
said, "Things didn't work out too badly, after all, did they?"
"No, little buddy, they didn't, but Hoss
and
I aren't always going to
be there to bail you out," said Adam.
"Well, one day I'll be such a good poker player that I won't need ya
to bail me out," bragged Joe.
"Huh? Do ya wanna
bet?" said Hoss, and they all laughed.
THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne