Man's Best Friend
The best friend a man has in the world
may turn against him
and become his enemy. His son or daughter that he has reared with loving
care may prove ungrateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us,
those whom we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become traitors to
their faith. The money that a man has made he may lose. It flies
away from him, perhaps, when he needs it most. A man's reputation may be
sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. The people who are prone
to fall on their knees to do us honor when success is with us may be the first
to throw the stone of malice when failure settles its clouds upon our
heads.
The one absolutely unselfish friend
that man can have in this selfish world,
the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or
treacherous is his dog. A man's dog stands by him in prosperity and
poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground when
the wintry winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his
master's side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will
lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the
world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master, as if he were a
prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When riches
take wings and reputation falls to pieces he is as constant in his love as the
sun in its journey through the heavens.
If fortune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of accompanying him, to guard against danger, to fight his enemies; and when the last scene of all comes, and death takes the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by the graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his paws, his eyes sad, but open in watchfulness, faithful and true even in death.
I love you Jake & Billy!