Gryphon 1962 - Adm.monash.edu

THE BIRTHDAY WATCHDOG
II was Dad 's birthday next wee k a nel you wa nted
lO give h im a wo nderful surprise lO make the
occasion. You were only six at the time an d conseq
uently you had no money wit h which to b uy him
a present.
Yo u searched your mind ceaselessly for a n idea
of so me gift which would make a suitable impressio
n. Perhaps you could re tu rn the pipe-suitably
gi fr-wrapped-c-borrowed from the bureau draw er
one af ternoon. Dad di d n't seem to h ave noticed
its d isa ppearance. But no. Besid es, eve n if he
didn't re member the features of h is old smoky
fri end there wou ld be q ues tio ns lO answer. Such
as "Where d id you get the mon ey" and " H ow
d id you kn ow this is my favo urite brand of pipe"
Q uestions whi ch cou ld not be an swe red by merely
shrugging you r shoulde rs or stating th a t " It m ust
be your favou r ite b rand. You bough t it once."
T he prob lem was difficul t in the ex treme.
O n th e afternoon of Dad's Birthda y cam e a furry
solu tion to what h ad now becom e a very ha zy
dilem ma . It took the form of a very batter ed a nd
d isreputable looking dog which met up wi th you
wh ile you were mo ping hom e from school. It s
bod y was gr ot esq ue, cove re d with evil-sme lling
matted hair, th a t is, apart from a large, grey ,
hairl ess sca r on the left foreleg- which had obvio
us ly been b roken at some stage-a nose scarred
to ba ldness b y much fighting a nd a whi tened, bli nd
eye which ca used t he a nimal to kee p its h ead
coc ked to one side . You said, " Here, boy!" . made
an unsuccessful six-year-old attempt a t clicking
yo u r fingers and instantly won a fr iend for life .
No t that yo u yourself wa nted a dog more th an
anything else in the worl d. You \vere takin g th is
d og, mistreated and misunderstood by h u ma ns and
canines ali ke to j udge fr om the scars, horne for
Dad 's Bi rthda y P resen t.
M um di dn't understand. Soo n after th e argument
th e do g was sen t howling d own the street
and you were sen t h owling to bed to, "wait till
you r Fa ther gets home ".
The d og cringed back la ter in th e eveni ng and
Mum re len ted under (h e stare from its one sad
eye, go t you up ou t of bed and you wa tched as
she Ied it a couple of left-over chops-which were
consumed hungrily. As it at e a small thrill of
ho pe burst through your heart as she sa id cornpass
iona tely, " Poo r hun~ry beast; he's nearly
starved ". You almost said, "Yo u bet " , as she
wondered aloud whether he 'd be a good wa tchdog.
She immediately sensed - and squashed t he feeling
of hopeful joy b y adding, " O f co u rse , the
decision is up to yo u r Father to make."
H alf-past ten . You h ad be en asleep for abou t
an hour. Suddenly li ghts were bei ng switched on
- Dad was yelli ng, a dog was yow li ng and Mum
was shaking yo u back fro m d rea ms of ru nni ng
th rough end less green fields with a doggy companion.
By the time you were fully aware of
the situatio n , Dad; whitefaced a nd sha king ; was
seated JIl the mos t comforta b le chai r drin king a
rattling cup o n a vib rating sa uce r of tea, vivi d ly
re-e n ac ting a nd tryin g to ex p la in a most vicious
attack. " Oh ! Look wh at it di d to m y leg-loo k
at my trousers- v-both torn to pi eces." A dog! It
was l yjn ~ by th e back door gr ow ling wh en I cam e
in . I said , "Gam! Get o u t of it! Nex t thi ng i t's
go t me by the leg. I wel ted it a cou ple of times
wi th th e broom and th rew the m on grel over th e
back gate. It comes to somethi ng when a man
can't ge t in to his ow n hom e."
" I'd like to know whose dog it was and what it
was doing in my yard!" When the reaso n for its
presence was explained, th e dog became an unme
ntionable word in the ho use, th a t is; u n til th e
morning Mrs . Edward's ho use u p th e street was
broken into. Dad's po in t o f view cha nged as from
that moment. " Yo u know, t hat mi ght have beeu
a first-class watchdog I threw over the fence. Tell
yo u what," said Dad, " J'll give you te n bo b if
yo u can find that dog again. "
You spent every night after school searching
the streets and al though Da d brough t home a
yo ung fox terrier pup in h is pocket one eveni ng
as a sort of conso lation, you always wo ndered what
happened to the wa tchdog that you gave to Dad
for hi s Bi rt hday.
3'i