By Edgar A. Guest, in Detroit Free Press.

I'VE never known a dog to wag His tail in glee if he did not feel,

Nor quit his old-time friend, to tag At some more influential heel.

The yellowest cur I ever knew

Was, to the boy who loved him, true.

I've never known a dog to show

Halfway devotion to his friend. To seek a kinder man to know,

Or richer; but unto the end The humblest dog I ever knew Was, to the man who loved him, true.

I've never known a dog to fake

Affection for a present gain, A false display of love to make

Some little favor to attain. I've never known a Prince or Spot That seemed to be what he was not.

But I have known a dog to fight

With all his strength to shield his friend,

And, whether wrong or whether right, To stick with him unto the end.

And I have known a dog to lick

The hand of him that men would kick.

And I have known a dog to bear Starvation's pangs from day to day,

With him who had been glad to share His bread and meat along the way.

No dog, however mean or rude,

Is guilty of ingratitude.

The dog is listed with the dumb, No voice has he to speak his creed.

His messages to humans come By faithful conduct and by deed.

He shows, as seldom mortas do,

A high ideal of being true.