THE HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-SIXTH PAGE

Did I think for a moment that this was part of a continuing campaign of counterstrike? You betcha. But what would he do if he stopped the car? Park in the front yard, break down the door when I did not answer it, overpower the dozing dog, and horsewhip me? I was prepared; I still had the remaining gun purchased on my Maine odyssey. Those who shot intruders in my neck of the woods, were not considered criminal. Perhaps My Editor could be mistaken for a bear or other Catskill wildlife in the dim winter light.

I did wish the dog has slightly better protective tendencies.

His only demonstration of interest in the outside world was when helicopters began to pass over the house two or three times a day. It was a new, recent occurrence and his unfamiliarity with the sound probably activated his infrequent baritone bark. At sunset one day, the copter came particularly close and grazed the old television antenna, which was no longer connected to a television set. The neighbors might have been deemed it eccentric in the age of dish and cable; the truth was I didn’t have the money for its removal. I’d given it no thought since selling the television set, and was reminded of it only when the dog was set off by the low-flying machine. Long after the lone copter had flown away, he continued to bark.