| I'm not sure if Grandmother brought the brownie to | | | | that he had selected us to be his family, but she was |
| live in the coal bin when she came to stay with us. | | | | cautious. |
| Perhaps he was a built-in feature of the house at 145 | | | | "We don't know anything about him," she said. "He |
| Madeline Street in Pittsburgh. I do know that he was | | | | could belong to someone on the very next street." |
| there until we moved away, and I imagine that he still | | | | "Then why doesn't he go home?" I countered. |
| bedevils the inhabitants of the house - unless they | | | | Grandmother thought for a moment, then went to |
| have replaced the old coal furnace with a | | | | the kitchen closet and drew out a burlap sack. "We'll |
| new-fangled gas heater. | | | | put this on the back porch and leave the gate open. |
| All winter long, I could hear him skipping about in the | | | | If the dog wants to stay, he'll let us know by coming |
| coal bin as I played above him in the living room, | | | | into the yard and sitting down." |
| never straying far from the hot air register where | | | | From his distant spot on the cold ground, Rex |
| the furnace updraft warmed me on very cold days. | | | | watched Grandmother place the sack on the porch. |
| My invisible friend, Dahlia Brown, heard the brownie | | | | No sooner had she come inside than he bounded |
| too. We never crept close enough to talk with him, | | | | through the gate and onto the porch, his tail wagging |
| but when we surprised him by descending the cellar | | | | tentatively. |
| steps very softly, we could glimpse the shadow of | | | | "I guess we'd better give him something to drink," |
| his peaked cap flit across the cement block wall and | | | | she mused. She found an unused bowl, filled it with |
| disappear into the depths of the coal bin. | | | | water, and placed it by the doorway. He lapped it |
| Each morning, I faithfully served him a saucer of cold | | | | dry. |
| milk, as Grandmother instructed, and when I returned | | | | Close up, we could see the outline of his ribs. "That |
| later in the day, it was lapped clean as a whistle. | | | | dog needs some nourishment," Grandmother |
| Grandmother was an expert on brownie behavior. | | | | declared. |
| Having had numerous brownies in her background, | | | | She located scraps in the icebox. As soon as she put |
| she knew that families who treat them with kindness | | | | them out, he consumed them. By the time Father |
| and share their homes peaceably will be rewarded by | | | | returned from work, Grandmother and I had decided |
| good luck. | | | | that the dog deserved to come indoors. Mother was |
| The only time the brownie expressed displeasure | | | | less certain. The dog was scruffy from his bout with |
| with our household was when he was compelled to | | | | the elements, she pointed out. There was no telling |
| share it with a dog. The first pet we acquired was | | | | what kinds of germs he harbored. Mother regarded |
| Pal, the while collie puppy. Pal seemed friendly enough | | | | germs as her mortal enemy. At other times, mere |
| the day he arrived by crate from my aunt's farm in | | | | mention of germs silenced further discussion of |
| West Virginia, but it did not take the brownie long to | | | | whatever subject was at hand, but now that my |
| convert him into a monster. | | | | chin was trembling and tears were welling in my |
| For neatness' sake, Mother tried to relegate Pal to | | | | eyes, she looked to Father for help. With none |
| the basement at night. As soon as she hustled him | | | | coming from that direction, she placed her hands on |
| down the cellar steps and closed the door, leaving | | | | her hips and ruled that the dog could not enter our |
| him in the dark, the brownie began pestering him | | | | clean house without a bath. |
| unmercifully. By morning, Pal was in a state of | | | | Smiles reappeared all around. Father had little trouble |
| perpetual animation. The moment the cellar door was | | | | coaxing the dog into the cellar through the basement |
| opened, he raced out of the depths howling and | | | | door. With some effort, he lifted Rex into the |
| began throwing himself about the living room as if | | | | laundry tub and Mother, clad by now in her oldest |
| trying to shake off an invisible little man riding on his | | | | house dress, scrubbed him down. After Rex dried |
| back. | | | | next to the warm furnace, he proved to have a |
| The larger Pal grew, the wilder he became. My father | | | | sleek, handsome coat, and after a few weeks of |
| built a rugged, twelve-foot fence surrounding our | | | | steady meals elapsed, his ribs disappeared and he |
| backyard. It could not contain Pal. So distraught was | | | | acquired a distinguished air, not unlike the of the royal |
| he after his nightly encounters with the brownie that | | | | coach dogs from which he was descended. |
| he ripped down the fence and fled destructively | | | | Rex was a kind and gentle dog and would not have |
| through the neighborhood. The third time he escaped, | | | | harmed the brownie for anything, but the brownie, |
| he found a friend in Reo, the localautomobile | | | | remembering how Pal had invaded his sanctuary, was |
| mechanic. | | | | petulant. In his insidious way, he worked on Rex until |
| Reo chewed great chunks of tobacco. I mistook | | | | the morning Mother opened the cellar door and found |
| them for Hershey chocolate bars and eagerly nodded | | | | him frothing at the mouth, sad of eye, as if to say, |
| in assent each time he offered me a "chaw." He was | | | | "The brownie did it." |
| happy to provide a corner for Pal in his greasy | | | | Our next dog traveled all the way from Parkersburg, |
| garage and could not understand why we had trouble | | | | West Virginia on the B&O baggage coach. He was a |
| with such a calm creature. We knew that the | | | | birthday gift from my Great Aunt Jen who visited us |
| brownie was the problem. | | | | twice each year while her hair transformation was |
| Our next dog, a beautiful Dalmatian, came to our | | | | being renovated at Joseph Horne's Department |
| house when I was six. Rex first appeared one late | | | | Store. |
| winter evening when my father was taking out the | | | | A "grass widow" (Grandmother's refined euphemism |
| ashes. Rex approached him timidly, wagging his tail. | | | | for "divorcee"), Aunt Jen was oblivious to the clock. |
| "Hi there, fellow," my father said, before returning to | | | | She routinely sat up all night devouring books on |
| our warm house. | | | | astrology and underlining key prophecies. On this |
| Snow was still on the ground, but it had begun to | | | | occasion, she telephoned us at three o'clock in the |
| wear off the earth in random patches, and it was in | | | | morning to announce that a puppy was on the way. |
| one of those barren, muddy spots, on a strip of land | | | | "He's full-blooded," she assured my drowsy father. |
| next to the alley that Rex spent the night. My father | | | | "His mother was a full-blooded Scottie and his father |
| noticed him there again the next morning and | | | | was a full-blooded Bulldog." |
| thought it strange the dog had not gone home. | | | | Aunt Jen never did understand that her assessment |
| He was there the following night...and the next. By | | | | of the dog's lineage was flawed, but despite his |
| now, my parents were certain that he had been | | | | mixed parentage Bruce was primarily a black, bonny |
| dropped nearby on purpose and needed shelter. | | | | little Scotsman whose only traits inherited from his |
| During the Depression, money was scarce and food | | | | errant sire were short hair and bowed front legs. |
| for such a large dog cost dearly, perhaps depriving a | | | | From the day we brought him home from the train |
| needy family of basic meals. Father believed that the | | | | station, Bruce refused to stay in the cellar with the |
| dog's owners delivered him to our neighborhood | | | | brownie. He earned his freedom by scratching the |
| hoping he would find a good home there. | | | | door and chewing a chunk out of the top step. |
| During the day, Rex sat forlornly in our alley avoiding | | | | Horrified at the thought of having to account for |
| the ash man, as well as the iceman and the baker | | | | damage in our rented house, Mother relented and |
| who hawked their wares at the kitchen doors facing | | | | outfitted a box for Bruce under the Chippendale legs |
| the alley. Grandmother and I watched him from the | | | | of the kitchen stove. There he found peace, just as |
| comfort of our overstuffed chair. I was convinced | | | | the brownie was granted solitude. |