LUCKY ON THE LOOSE

Chapter One

This is a story about a little black dog named Lucky. Lucky was part terrier and part Chihuahua. When he was fully grown, he weighed only about sixteen pounds. He was born in a very large city and lived there for the first three years of his life. When he was three he moved to the country with his human family.

Lucky's owner was a young girl named Misty. The other members of his human family were Misty's parents, Daddy and Mommy.

When Lucky and his human family lived in the big city, Misty had to go to school, just as almost all children do. And Daddy and Mommy both worked, just as many parents do. Lucky had to stay home, like most dogs do.

The sad thing about Lucky's life in the city was that when Misty was in school and when Daddy and Mommy were at work, Lucky had to spend those days in the basement. He didn't like that at all. There was nothing for him to do but sleep. He was lonesome. He didn't like being alone in that basement one bit.

Evenings and weekends were another matter. Lucky and Misty would play and play. They would play tag, hide-and-seek, chase-the-ball, and many other fun, fun games. How Lucky loved those evening and weekend romps with Misty.

Lucky's life changed a great deal when he moved to the country. Mommy no longer worked. She stayed home with Lucky almost every day. And because they lived on a small farm a long way out in the country, Lucky was allowed to roam around, something he was never allowed to do in the city because of the danger of traffic and other dangers that lurk about for a small dog in a big city.

The air was fresh and clean on the farm. There were many new sights and smells, things that a city dog never sees and never smells. It was an exciting and very different life for Lucky, a life filled with adventure for this little black dog.

Not long after Lucky moved to the farm with his human family, he was out on a fine, sunny day when he noticed another farmhouse across a big field. He wanted to see if there was a dog he could make friends with or a cat he could chase; how he loved to chase cats. It was such fun. He would growl his most vicious and deep growl and the chase would begin.

Of course, it only worked if the cats weren't too big or if they actually ran. One time a big cat didn't run. It stood its ground, hissed, arched its back and scratched Lucky a fierce scratch, right on the nose. That was no fun. It hurt.

Lucky remembered all of this while he was trotting to the fence dividing the farms. He decided to be very careful. He decided to sneak up on the place, just in case there was a big, mean cat or an unfriendly dog there.

He slipped under the fence and trotted across the field toward the house, sniffing here, there, and everywhere as he went. He wanted to know all of the smells of this new field, and he wanted to be able to find his way back home, quickly if necessary. Also, he wanted advance warning if a cat, an unfriendly dog, or other dangers were there. He moved carefully.

As lucky neared the farmhouse, he began to hear some very strange noises. Then he saw several funny looking creatures. Some of them were white and some of them were grey and white. Each of them had a heavy body, a long, skinny neck, and a funny looking head with a large, orangish beak.

Lucky had once had great fun chasing some chickens, when he, Misty, Daddy and Mommy were visiting some friends on a farm. These creatures were larger than the chickens by quite a bit, but they looked awkward and slow, just the thing for a little dog to chase and have fun with.

Lucky was quite close to the creatures. So close, in fact, that the creatures had spotted him. They began making an awful squawking sound. One began to stretch its long neck out toward Lucky and to hiss loudly. All of them began to waddle toward Lucky.

Lucky pranced toward them and began to bark. The creatures stopped coming toward him. This increased his courage. He ran toward them, barking with glee.

Then they began to come toward Lucky. They moved quite fast, even with their awkward, waddling walk. They squawked even louder and several hissed. They looked big, angry and dangerous.

Lucky paused. He stopped barking. He took a couple of quick steps back. The creatures kept coming. There must have been a dozen of them. Their beaks looked dangerous. More of them stretched their necks out and hissed loudly. They looked positively menacing.

Lucky ran away from them a little way. He turned and barked some more. He reared up on his hind legs as he barked, to make himself look bigger. It didn't work. They kept coming, moving faster and faster.

Lucky turned tail and ran as fast as he could. He slipped through the hole in the fence. He was glad he had approached the farmhouse slowly and that he had carefully studied the trail, just in case something like this happened, so he could make a quick retreat. He ran hard. He ran straight for home. The squawks of the creatures stopped. He was safe, but he did not stop running until he was on his own porch, barking to be let in.

Wow, that was a close call for Lucky. He would stay away from that place. He would mind Misty and stay home where he belonged.

The 'creatures,' of course, were geese, and they can be mean and dangerous. They are at least as good as watchdogs, in some ways. Lucky was smart to run. They could have hurt him with their powerful beaks.

Chapter Two

Lucky's experience with the geese did not entirely dampen his curiosity. Soon he was out exploring more of his own farm. He was about to have an adventure he would never forget.

On this particular day, he had wandered to the far end of one of the pastures on the farm. As usual, his nose had led him there. Like most dogs, he used his nose a great deal. One smell led to another, and to another, and to another.

He was quite near some woods, which were just over the fence from the pasture. Lucky new he should not go through that fence. Misty had told him that a number of times. He just couldn't resist. There were too many strange and interesting odors, especially one that stood out from the rest. Strong. Unpleasant. Interesting. Different.

He slipped through the fence and went on into the woods. He seemed to be quite near to what ever it was that was making that odor. It was near, much to Lucky's later regret.

Lucky was moving along wit his nose to the ground, sniffing and snuffing at his very best. He wasn't looking ahead with as much attention and caution as he should have been. Suddenly, the thing that had made the odor was right there. It was just a few feet away.

It was busy sniffing and digging at an old, decayed log. It was very busy and it had its back to Lucky. It did not even know Lucky was near.

Lucky had seen quite a few cats in his time. But he had never seen one quite like this cat. It was big, bigger than the one that had scratched Lucky's nose. It was a deep, shiny black with some white stripes running along its back.

Lucky hesitated. He remembered the big cat and the pain of that scratch. He didn't want any more of that. And this was a very big cat. Lucky had to admit one thing: this was the prettiest cat he had ever seen. How that cat's coat did shine; how pretty those white stripes were.

However, this cat did not see Lucky. Lucky saw this as an advantage. Perhaps he could sneak close, bark loudly and get the cat to run. The chase would be on. Oh, what fun that would be! It seemed worth a try. Lucky could always run back through the fence and back across the field to the porch, if the cat didn't run.

The plan seemed safe enough. It seemed foolproof to Lucky.

Lucky had no trouble sneaking up on the creature because it was busy with its sniffing and digging. It seemed to be digging something out of the log and eating it.

Lucky got quite close. He was fairly bursting with the thought of how he would surprise and scare the cat. He could hardly wait for the chase that was sure to follow, as the cat panicked and ran.

He barked his loudest and most ferocious bark.

Do you know, that creature didn't run. It wasn't the least bit scared. It just turned its back fully toward Lucky, sort of looked around, and sprayed the most awful smelling stuff you could ever imagine toward Lucky's face. A little bit of the stuff got in Lucky's eyes and burned them. A tiny bit of the stuff got in his throat and choked him. He was scared, confused and somewhat hurt. He panicked.

Lucky turned and ran for the fence, yipping as he went. He found the hole in the fence and raced through it. He ran across the pasture, toward the house. He raced up on the porch and barked loudly to be let in. Mommy came to the door, but she wouldn't let him come in. She scolded him and shut the door. Lucky barked again and again. It didn't do any good.

After a few minutes, Mommy came out on the porch. She had changed into some old clothes and she carried a tub full of stuff. She walked right by Lucky and down to the little pond, which was some way from the house. Lucky followed her. He wondered why she seemed to be ignoring him.

She filled the tub with water. Then she grabbed Lucky and stuck him into the tub. She rinsed him with the water and began to wash him with a mixture of water and vinegar. She washed him again and again.

The black and white 'cat' was a skunk. Lucky had no way of knowing that it was a skunk. And he didn't know what skunks do.

When Misty and Daddy got home later that day, they both turned up their noses at Lucky. Misty scolded him and told him to stay away from skunks. She gave him another bath with the vinegar and water and one final bath with a sweet-smelling soap.

Lucky later smelled that odor on the wind, and he saw the skunk from a distance from time to time. When he did, he would run to the porch and bark to be let in. He had learned all he wanted to know about skunks.

Sometimes we make plans which seem foolproof but which in reality are just foolish. Lucky's plan to scare the skunk and to chase it was just such a plan. You might say it 'backfired.'

Chapter Three

As time went by at the new home in the country, Lucky learned something new almost every day. What a wonderful place the country was for Lucky, for Misty and for Daddy and Mommy, too. Lucky liked the country a lot compared to the noisy, crowded city.

There was a time when Lucky was strolling in the pasture, up along the old dirt road that passed by the farm. All of the sights, sounds and smells seemed to be quite ordinary. But Lucky had his nose to the ground sniffing and snuffing his very best anyhow.

Then there was a new smell. Lucky stopped and sniffed his best sniff. It certainly was not an odor Lucky could remember. He couldn't quite figure it out. One thing seemed certain, whatever made the smell was quite close; Lucky was sure of that. He stopped and looked around cautiously.

Next, Lucky sniffed the air and listened carefully. He didn't want any surprises like the surprises the geese and the skunk had given him. He wanted to see the source of the odor before it saw him, no matter whether it was dangerous or not. Lucky sensed that the odor belonged to some animal, but what sort, he couldn't tell.

Lucky moved forward slowly, listening, looking and sniffing. He was hoping it might be something he could catch, or at least chase. He wasn't hungry, so an exciting chase was what he really hoped for. He wanted to surprise it, not the other way around. If it was something that might run, he didn't want it to get a head start.

Then he saw it. It was a funny looking creature. It was luck that Lucky saw it as soon as he did. It was crouched down in some dry weeds. Almost all of its body was a grayish brown. Its color matched the color of the weeds very closely, except for some white on the underside of the creature's body.

The part of the creature that Lucky saw first, and the part that looked the strangest, was the creature's ears. They were long and they were sticking straight up when Lucky first saw them. The ears looked to be about six inches long.

Since the creature itself looked to be about a foot long, the way it was hunched down, the ears looked even bigger and more spectacular than they really were.

Lucky didn't have a chance to sneak up on the creature or decide whether he should chase it or not. It saw him about the same time that he saw it. It jumped up and started a long, loping run.

The chase was on.

Lucky leaped forward, eager for the fun of the chase. The creature was just about his size and it didn't look at all dangerous. This is fun, thought Lucky.

Away they went. Under the fence. Down the road. Back under the fence. Across the pasture. They weaved back and forth, and in and out. It was some chase, the best Lucky ever had.

The creature would pull away from Lucky. Lucky would try harder and would get nearer. The creature would slow down until Lucky was nearly able to nip at its tail. Then it would turn to the right or the left and run very fast, leaving Lucky far behind.

Time and time again Lucky would get close, only to have the creature pull away again. Sometimes the creature would get so far in front that it would be able to stop and rest while Lucky got close. Then the creature would easily lope away once again.

It was a hot day and Lucky had been out in the pasture quite a while before he spotted this thing. That meant that Lucky had not had a drink for a while. Little black dogs get hot and thirsty on such days and on such adventures. Running is very thirsty work. Lucky began to run slower. The creature began to rest more often. Lucky never got a chance to rest.

Lucky began to get the idea that the creature wasn't really worried about getting caught, or about getting away either. With all of the running they did, they really weren't going anywhere. They had been making a series of big circles and had come back several times near the place where Lucky first saw the creature. Lucky began to get very suspicious.

He began to realize that the creature was making him look rather silly.

Lucky was a very tired, very thirsty little black dog by then. It seemed that he had been running a long time. That creature had rested many times. Lucky had not. Lucky had been running steadily and as fast as he could most of the time.

Lucky slammed on his brakes. He stood there panting heavily. His tongue hung out. His sides heaved as he tried to get his breath. His throat was so dry it hurt. He was tired and hot. He had been made to look foolish.

What was this creature, anyway?

When Lucky stopped, so did the creature. It lay down in the shade on some cool, green grass and stretched out casually. It didn't seem tired, hot or thirsty. It wasn't even breathing hard. Not only that, it wasn't paying any attention to Lucky.

Lucky found some shade and sat down himself. He was feeling somewhat better but he failed to see the humor in the joke the creature had played on him.

Of course, the 'creature' was a jackrabbit, one of the very fastest and trickiest of runners among small animals. It had been having its own fun with the chase, just as Lucky had wanted to have his fun when the chase first began.

Finally, Lucky felt rested enough to trot back home. He went to the pond first and took a long, long drink of that nice cool pond water. When he got into the house, he plopped down in a comfortable spot and took a very long nap.

Lucky saw the jackrabbit and others like it many times after that. He just went on his way. One chase like that was enough for him. He remembered well the jackrabbit's little game. If a jackrabbit sat still and let Lucky come close, Lucky would just walk on by. If a jackrabbit ran, Lucky would walk slowly the other way.

A little black dog as smart as Lucky can be fooled once the way that the jackrabbit fooled him, but only once. Lucky had more important things to do. There was too much to learn on the farm. Besides, Lucky decided, anything that could run that fast would have hard muscles. It would not be good to eat.

Chapter Four

Several days after Lucky met the jackrabbit, he was sniffing and snuffing his way around the pasture when he came upon a bird. Lucky was near the pond, nosing along the little stream that empties into the pond, when he first saw the bird.

The bird was several yards away from Lucky when Lucky first saw it. The bird was acting strange. One of the bird's wings hung down at an angle from its body.

The bird would run a few feet, crouch, run a few more feet and crouch again. It would remain quite still; then it would repeat the running and crouching.

Lucky decided to investigate this strange bird with its unusual behavior. He trotted toward the bird at a brisk pace. As he got close to the bird, it moved away with its wing dangling on the ground. Lucky chased it.

Lucky got the idea that the bird was injured and could not fly. Maybe it would be good to eat. He chased it again. It ran away again. Lucky had lots of experience chasing birds. Even when he lived in the city, he would chase birds, hoping to catch and eat one. He was used to chasing sparrows and robins. Actually, he had never caught a bird in his whole life. This was a very different situation, though. This bird looked as if it would be easy to catch.

Here was his big chance. Surely the bird couldn't fly. If it could fly, it would have flown away at Lucky's first charge.

Lucky moved quickly toward the bird. He ran as fast as he could. The bird moved farther away. Lucky charged. The bird moved. On and on they went, far across the pasture, away from the little stream and the pond.

Lucky made one last run for the bird. He got close, closer than at any other time. He could almost touch the bird. He could almost taste it. He hoped it would taste as good as the chicken scraps Misty and Mommy often gave him. He lunged forward just as the bird took off and flew far across the field. It then circled around and flew back near the stream and the pond where he had first seen it. It landed in some weeds and disappeared.

No flutter. No injury. No broken wing. It flew quickly and gracefully away.

Lucky was very puzzled by that bird and its crazy behavior. It didn't make any sense to him. Why would the bird pretend to be injured? Why would it lead him on such a chase? Why couldn't he catch it? If it could fly, why would it risk getting caught?

Lucky never learned the answers to those questions. If he had, he would have known that the bird was a mother pheasant. She was protecting her young by leading Lucky on that wild chase. All the time Lucky thought he was close to catching the bird, she was leading him farther and farther away from the places where the babies were hiding in the grass and weeds along the ditch, not too far from the pond. She flew back to her young, to see how they were, when she had lured Lucky far enough from where the young were hiding.

Lucky saw the bird often after that. He tried a couple of times to catch her. Each time she was able to elude him, just as she did the first time. He finally gave up. He had better things to do than to be fooled by that crazy bird with the faked broken wing.

Lucky decided he would be satisfied with Mommy's fried chicken scraps. They tasted so good. He was sure the wild bird could never taste anywhere nearly so good. And Mommy's chicken scraps were a lot easier to come by.

Chapter Five

One day Lucky was down at the pond, trotting along with his nose to the ground, sniffing and snuffing as only a little black dog can do. This was the same pond where he got washed when the skunk sprayed him, and the pond he was near when the mother pheasant led him away from her young.

Lucky was still new to the farm and he was still learning new things. His days were filled with excitement and with joy. What a difference moving to the country had made in his life.

Lucky stopped his sniffing and snuffing. He stood very still. He looked carefully along the shore of the pond. He saw something he had never seen before. It was sitting on the edge of the pond, just where the ground was wet and squishy.

Lucky was pretty close before he saw the creature. In fact, he was lucky to see it. It was small, maybe only three or four inches long. It was sitting low in the grass. Not only was it small and sitting low in the grass, it was also hard to see because its coloring was green and yellow. The green and yellow blended in with the green and yellow of the grasses and weeds, and with the sand at the pond's edge. "Old Mother Nature" sure had been clever when she gave that creature its colors.

Lucky continued to stand quietly and to look carefully at the creature. The creature, for its part, remained very still. Nothing about the creature made it seem alive. That is, nothing except an occasional blink of its eyes.

Lucky wanted to find out what sort of creature it might be. He also wanted time to work out a plan for catching the creature. After all, it might taste good, if he could catch it and eat it. Little black dogs naturally want to eat things, even if they are well fed by their owner, which Lucky certainly was.

The creature was quite near the water and it was crouched on very soft ground. Lucky knew he would have to be very quick and clever, if he were to catch so small a creature on such soft ground. Even a little black dog would sink into that mud.

Lucky could see the creature clearly. It had large eyes, for such a small creature. Its front legs were short and rather bowed. Its hind legs were quite long and they were folded along its body. Even with its legs folded along the body, its knees still stuck out, making it look rather awkward. In fact, the back legs were longer than the creature's body.

Long legs meant long, quick jumps to Lucky. He remembered the jackrabbit with its long legs and its long strides. Yes, if he were to catch this creature, he would have to be quick and clever, indeed. He crouched low and began to inch forward, slowly, ever so slowly. Through the wet grass he crawled. Closer and closer.

Lucky stopped and gathered himself for the final lunge. He tensed every fiber of every muscle in his small, powerful body, ready to spring forward and onto the creature.

The creature seemed to be waiting calmly for Lucky's leap and its own death.

Kerplunk! The creature suddenly leaped far out into the pond and disappeared under the water.

Lucky jumped at the same time. Splash! Into the water he went. He stirred up a lot of mud. The water was very cold. The creature was gone.

Lucky was wet. He was cold from the cold water and he was greatly disappointed. He trembled. Lucky climbed out of the water and onto the bank. Squish. Squish. He walked up the bank, through the mud and onto dry ground. He was humiliated and outwitted by such a small, insignificant looking creature.

Humbug!

Lucky shook himself vigorously, trying hard to get the cold water and the mud out of his coat. He started for home. Perhaps he could get Mommy to take one of her big towels and rub him dry.

The 'creature' was a frog. Many of them lived in the pond. Lucky saw them often, but he never tried to catch another one. One dunking in the pond was enough for him. Besides, how could anything that ugly be good to eat?

Lucky had to admit one thing, though: It was lovely to sit on the patio on warm summer evenings with Misty, Daddy and Mommy and listen to the frogs on the pond. Their croaking was a restful, pleasant, country sort of sound.

Chapter Six

Misty would sometimes go with Lucky on his sniffing and snuffing trips around the farm. When she did, they would have great fun. Misty would pick up some old stick and throw it as far as she could.

Lucky would run after the stick, jump on it as if it were something good to eat, pick it up in his mouth and race back to Misty with it. What fun it was. After all, Lucky was a hunting dog, since he was part terrier and part Chihuahua.

When Lucky returned the stick, Misty would praise him: "Nice doggie, good doggie, nice Lucky, good boy." And she would scratch his ears as she praised him. He loved to have his ears scratched. Misty knew just how to scratch Lucky's ears. In fact, she could scratch his ears better than anyone, as far as Lucky knew.

One day, as they were playing this "fetch the stick" game, Misty threw the stick out especially far. Lucky ran hard to get the stick. The stick was still sailing through the air as he ran. He was watching it arch through the air, hoping to catch the stick before it hit the ground.

Then, it happened.

He stepped on something cold and wiggly, slithering through the grass. Whatever it was, it was large.

Lucky jumped and yipped. He was one very surprised and scared little dog. He ran several feet away before he turned to see what he had stepped on.

There it was. It was a large snake. It had coiled at once when Lucky stepped on it. Lucky knew what snakes were. He had seen several of them even before he and his human family had moved to the farm. The important question was: Was this snake a harmless snake or a dangerous snake? What kind of snake was it?

Slowly, and with great care, Lucky moved toward the coiled snake. He barked loudly at it, partly out of fear and partly to warn Misty, who was coming over to see why Lucky had stopped chasing the stick.

Lucky pointed his nose toward the snake (from a safe distance) and lifted his left front leg in the classic pose of the hunting dog pointing to game. He stood still except for some small, excited quiverings and growled his most fierce and threatening growl.

Misty circled the snake carefully and at a very safe distance. She was trying to see what kind of snake it was. She told Lucky to stand back, because she could see that it was either a very large bullsnake -- and harmless -- or a very large and deadly poisonous rattlesnake. The markings of both of these snakes are similar, but that is where the similarity ends. The bull snake has a small head and no rattles on the tip of its tail. (But it does shake its tail sometimes, much like a rattlesnake.) The rattlesnake has a large, flat, diamondshaped head. And, of course, rattles on the end of its tail, unless they have somehow been snipped off. That is why the head must be checked, as well as the tail.

Misty tried to see the head and the tail of the snake, while continuing to stay well back.

Lucky moved toward the snake, growing bolder with Misty's presence. He wanted to protect Misty from the snake.

Misty grabbed Lucky and picked him up. She held him tightly. She had not yet determined whether it was a bullsnake or a rattlesnake, because the snake had coiled in such a way that Misty could not see either the head or the tail.

Misty held Lucky under one arm. With her free hand, she picked up a small stick and threw it toward the snake. She aimed the stick so it would hit near the snake. She did not want to hit the snake and make it mad, if it was a rattlesnake, or injure it, if it was a bullsnake.

The snake began to uncoil and to move away from Misty and her armful of dog. This allowed Misty to see both the head and the tail. There were no rattles on the tail. And, more importantly, the head of the snake was small, relative to the size of the body of the snake.

It was a harmless bullsnake. But Misty had been very cautious, just as she should have been, until she was very sure. She knew just what to look for to tell the difference between a harmless and a dangerous snake. Had she not known what to look for and why, or if it had been a rattlesnake, she would have gone for her father at once.

Bullsnakes are not only harmless to humans, they are also very good to have around farms because they kill rodents and other destructive farm pests. They are also quite pretty -- in their own way -- and they are interesting to watch. It is amazing how smoothly snakes glide along the ground and how quickly they can move when they need to.

Misty was going to pick up the snake, since she had determined that it was, indeed, a bullsnake. However, the snake hissed loudly and shook its tail vigorously, trying to act and to sound just like a rattlesnake. The snake was very angry.

Misty wisely changed her mind. She walked away, still holding Lucky under her arm. Even though the bullsnake's bite is not poisonous, it can be painful and it can cause infection. It has small, sharp teeth which are not always clean and which can easily break human skin.

It is sad that so many people fear snakes and kill any snake they see. Most snakes are harmless and almost all snakes are beneficial. They should be left alone, not killed. People are funny about things they don't understand. Snakes want to live as much as any other creatures do, including humans. Since snakes help mankind by eating destructive pests, they should be allowed to live.

Chapter Seven

As he was apt to do every day, if the weather was nice, Lucky was out making the "rounds." He was sniffing and snuffing here and there, to make sure there were no strange smells or unwanted visitors in "his" territory. He considered this one of his jobs, keeping unwanted visitors away and keeping tabs on all the odors on the farm. After all, he was the farm's only dog and he was therefore the watchdog, even if he was only a little black dog. And for such a small dog, he did have a very loud, very fierce bark. A loud, fierce bark is important for a small watchdog to have.

Lucky was quite a long way from the farmhouse. In fact, he was clear down at the far end of the farm. He was having such a good time with his sniffing and his snuffing.

When Lucky came to the property fence, he was so interested in the odors he slipped under the fence and continued on, walking into a large field of sagebrush and other wild plants and flowers. Occasionally he would stop and look carefully around and listen for any new or dangerous sounds.

He had just come up to a rather large sage bush and he was peering under it. Suddenly, he heard the beat of large wings. He jumped to one side, as if by instinct, and crouched down as low as he could. That jump and the crouch probably saved his life.

Large claws raked across his back, leaving one very painful wound and two smaller scratches. However, Lucky's quick moves had caused the eagle to miss its mark. Lucky was still on the ground.

Lucky was really very scared. He had let out a mighty howl as the eagle's claws scraped his back. The howl was partly from pain, but mostly from fright. The eagle came circling back. Lucky scooted back under the sage bush as far as he could. He faced the eagle with bared teeth and his deepest growl.

The eagle landed just a few feet away and started toward Lucky with a sort of hopping walk. The eagle was a very large, dark bird. It was much bigger than Lucky. It looked very fierce and dangerous, indeed. Lucky's heart was thumping against his ribs from fear. His back hurt where those claws had raked across it. He could feel some blood coming from the deepest wound.

What was he to do? If he left the shelter of the bush, the eagle would fly over him, scoop him up and take him to its nest. He would be dead. The eagle and its babies would eat him.

If he stayed under the bush, things would be no better. The eagle was moving in to peck him and to claw him to death. To Lucky, the eagle seemed to grow even bigger and to look even fiercer as it moved closer and as Lucky's situation became more and more difficult.

He had to think fast. His instinct took over again. It came to him instantly.

Attack!

He jumped up, barked loudly, snarled as best he could and jumped toward the eagle. The eagle backed off and fluttered its wings as if it might fly away. Lucky stopped just short of the eagle. He was just out of reach of that terrible beak and those long, sharp claws. He barked again, as loudly as he could. He reared on his hind legs, snarling and barking and moving forward a little. The eagle backed off a bit and fluttered its wings vigorously, again as if it might take off.

It didn't work. Suddenly the eagle jumped at Lucky, reaching out with its terrible claws as it did.

Lucky ran back under the bush. He turned and snarled as best he could. And just in time, too. The eagle was almost upon him. Just then, Lucky heard a shout. Daddy was running across the pasture as fast as he could. He waved his arms in the air and yelled at the eagle.

That did it. The eagle took off quickly. It flew away and out of sight as fast as it could.

Lucky was glad to see Daddy. Daddy picked Lucky up carefully and carried him home. Later, he took Lucky into town to the veterinarian, who stitched the deepest wound and bandaged all of them.

The wounds that Lucky received in his battle with the eagle healed quickly, but he never forgot that encounter. He would still go out on his sniffing and snuffing rounds. But when he did, he would stop frequently to look all around in the sky for any sign of the eagle. He loved his home in the country and his human family too much to leave them through carelessly letting an eagle slip up on him again. Also, he stayed away from the field where the eagle had found him. It was too far from the house and it was not part of the farm.

Lucky didn't blame the eagle for what it did. It was following its instincts for survival by trying to provide food for itself and its young. Eagles are good birds. They prey mostly on old, sick or injured animals. They serve a useful role in Nature's scheme of things. Lucky lived up to his name in the scrape with the eagle. But his luck was to run out.

Chapter Eight

Now we come to the end of the story of Lucky and his experiences on the farm. It is a sad ending to a very happy story. But the story must be told to its end.

Lucky was making his sniffing and snuffing rounds as usual, checking for new odors and intruders. In other words, he was doing his job as watchdog for the farm.

A small rabbit, a cottontail, not a jackrabbit, jumped up and began to run from Lucky. Instinct took over. Blind instinct which Lucky had inherited from the earliest times, from the time dogs as we know them today first appeared on the Earth.

Lucky ran after the rabbit. He ran as fast as he could. The rabbit ran as fast as it could, but the rabbit was very young and very small. They both ran and ran. The rabbit dodged this way and that. Lucky followed as best he could.

Just as Lucky pounced on the rabbit, a large dog from a neighboring farm came up. The large dog tried to take the rabbit from Lucky.

Lucky's instincts took over again. He snarled and lunged at the large dog to protect the newly killed rabbit. The large dog snarled and attacked Lucky with all of the ferocity of its own instincts. Lucky did not have a chance.

It was all over in an instant.

Lucky lay dead in the pasture, beyond the pond and the little stream. The large dog took the rabbit away.

Mommy missed Lucky after an hour or so. He had never stayed out on his rounds for such a long time. She called and called to him. She looked for him as best she could. Finally she called Daddy at work. He went to school and picked up Misty.

Misty, Mommy and Daddy looked and looked for Lucky. Finally, late in the afternoon, they found his body lying in the field. They could tell by the way he lay and by his wounds that he had died instantly from those wounds. They were relieved to know that he had not suffered and that finding him sooner would have made no difference.

Misty and Mommy cried and cried. Daddy carried Lucky to a place near the pond where the ground was soft. He dug a grave and buried Lucky as Misty and Mommy stood tearfully by. Misty placed Lucky's favorite collar and his favorite toys in the grave with the little black dog. Lucky was Misty's favorite playmate both in the city and in the country.

Lucky would not make his sniffing and snuffing rounds any more. He would never again be Lucky on the Loose.