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Show •8- the building during the night and had eaten the better part of a case of eggs which had been stored there. Little Twirp asked in a quavering voice, "Are they going to die?" Dad assured him they would recover. Toward the end of summer tragedy struck which is so often the case with pets. I'll never forget that day. We children were scattered around the place doing different things. 1 watched a car coming along our farm road and then stop suddenly in front of our place. Two teen-aged boys jumped out, picked up clubs and began to flail the ground unmercifully- Mother saw it too. She whistled to get their attention and called to ask what they were doing. Mother's whistle was like an army bugle. We all stopped what we were doing and snapped to attention, then ran to the road where they were. 1 think we knew before we got there. Little Twirp screamed and threw himself to the ground and sobbed beside the beaten and bloody body of his friend. Pet was dead and Pal had escaped. I'll never forget either, the look of utter bewilderment and dismay on the faces of those two boys as we all burst into tears. Each one repeatedly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. 1 didn't know what they were or that they were your pets." We knew they would have given anything to undo their deadly deed but it was too late. Mother said tearfully, "Animals we understand, but it's hard to understand the killer instinct in man." Pal seemed to lose his desire to communicate with us after Pet died. He hung around for a time but gradually reverted back to his natural wild state. We saw less and less |