it is this. She says that cruel and vicious owners of animals should be
punished; but to merely thoughtless people, don't say "Don't" so much.
Don't go to them and say, "Don't overfeed your animals, and don't starve
them, and don't overwork them, and don't beat them," and so on through
the long list of hardships that can be put upon suffering animals, but
say simply to them, "Be kind. Make a study of your animals' wants, and
see that they are satisfied. No one can tell you how to treat your
animal as well as you should know yourself, for you are with it all the
time, and know its disposition, and just how much work it can stand, and
how much rest and food it needs, and just how it is different from every
other animal. If it is sick or unhappy, you are the one to take care of
it; for nearly every animal loves its own master better than a stranger,
and will get well quicker under his care."

Miss Laura says that if men and women are kind in every respect to their
dumb servants, they will be astonished to find how much happiness they
will bring into their lives, and how faithful and grateful their dumb
animals will be to them.

Now, I must really close my story. Good-bye to the boys and girls who
may read it; and if it is not wrong for a dog to say it, I should like
to add, "God bless you all." If in my feeble way I have been able to
impress you with the fact that dogs and many other animals love their
masters and mistresses, and live only to please them, my little story
will not be written in vain. My last words are, "Boys and girls, be kind
to dumb animals, not only because you will lose nothing by it, but
because you ought to; for they were placed on the earth by the same Kind
Hand that made all living creatures."

END OF TEXT

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Beautiful Joe, by by Marshall Saunders

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEAUTIFUL JOE ***

***** This file should be named 10226.txt or 10226.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.net/1/0/2/2/10226/

Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Clytie Siddall and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team.

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United Sta