His name was Benjamin, but he was always called Benjy. Most boys are very nice, indeed.A kind and polite boy is a most charming companion, but Benjy, I am sorry to say, was not that kind of boy. He was ill-tempered and impolite. But the worst of all his faults was his cruelty to animals. He thought it great fun to hurt them and see them in pain. He threw stones at frogs and birds, and tied tin cans to dogs’ tails.

Of course, Benjy had no friends, because the other boys disliked him for his cruelty. So he spent all his time with Tom, the coachman’s son, who was as cruel as Benjy himself. To be sure, he had two sweet little sisters, but he cared nothing for them except to tease them. They were very kind to him, and kept his garden in order for him, while he played baseball. One little sister said, “Benjy does not care for us,because we are only girls. So we shall take Nox for our brother.”

Nox was a big dog, as black as night, except for his paws, which were brown. Nox kept himself very clean, which Benjy did not do. He never came into the living room with muddy paws, and he was always gentle with the little girls.

Benjy did not like Nox, and Nox did not like Benjy. And this is the reason why. Near Benjy’s home there was a deep, broad river with a willow tree hanging over the water. Here it was that Benjy and Tom, the coachman’s boy,often threw an animal into the water to watch it drown. Now, Nox, being a good swimmer,never allowed any animal to drown if he could help it. He would jump into the water and rescue it, and then lay it on the bank under the willow tree.

Anything else that he saw in the water he would carry out, too — an old shoe, a broom handle, an old hat, or anything that did not belong in the water. The ground under the willow tree was always covered with all kinds of queer things that Nox had rescued. He kept very close guard of that part of the river. Of course Benjy hated this.

There was another dog belonging to Benjy’s father, a little brown terrier with stiff, coarse hair, small pointed ears, and a short tail. If Benjy had a kind feeling for any animal, it was for “Mister Rough,” though that did not keep the boy from treating the terrier badly.He kicked him whenever he felt ill-tempered,but Mister Rough did not seem to mind hard knocks, and liked Benjy in spite of everything.No one could understand why.

One morning Benjy was in a very bad humor.He was ready for any kind of mischief. Perhaps he was not well. He was cross to everybody,and even played a mean trick on good old Nox.

Nox’s favorite place in the house was on the rug before the open fire. He had had a good deal of exercise in the open air that morning, and so he came into the house and stretched himself out on the rug before the open fire. Soon he was fast asleep, and dreaming. You could tell that he was dreaming by the way he was twitching and making funny little noises in his throat.

Seeing Nox so comfortable and happy was too much for Benjy; he pulled a needle out of his mother’s work-basket and began pricking Nox’s lips with it. At first Nox would grunt a little, rub his lip with his paw, and then go to sleep again.

At last Benjy gave a very hard prick, which made Nox jump so quickly that the needle broke, and a piece was left in the poor dog’s lip.Of course he whined with pain, and Benjy’s two little sisters came running to him. The braver of the two held his lips and pulled out the needle. Nox moaned with pain, but sat quite still. As soon as the needle was out, he licked the hands of his little friend.

After Benjy had treated Nox so cruelly, he went out to find Mister Rough. He knocked him around so unkindly that even Mister Rough ran away. Then Benjy saw Tom, the coachman’s boy, throwing stones at a Scotch terrier that belonged to a neighbor. Of course Benjy joined in the chase. He threw a stone which struck the dog in the head, and he fell dead. That night Benjy sneaked out and threw the dead dog into the river. WFZ6JR35yypeZPErgcvxpb0DfMULZ0yQOnAdtMhx6RvHMgzNcvZ8Xp6a6huMGSe6