The Hold Up
by Floyd the Dog
by Floyd the Dog
John was, of course, on duty at his pub when I padded my way there to have a chat with him, and see if there was any food in need of ‘looking after’.
Marco, John’s human, was busy. The big bus had just left for its lair at the crossroads farther up the mountain. The humans who had got off it were making their usual stop at the bar before going home to dinner. Tonight was a special occasion, the end of the month. Everybody appeared to be very pleased about it, barking away at each other and drinking lots of wine and beer. Nobody took any notice of me. I crept in and lay down beside John. He was in his usual position at one end of the bar.
“I’m glad you dropped by,” John said. “Could you hold on for a while? You see that human over there? He has been here a lot recently, but he isn’t local. Nobody seems to know him. He sits alone in the corner drinking a glass of beer. He just watches everything. I don’t like the sniff of him.”
I looked over to the corner. John was quite right. I had to agree that the big man sitting there had a strange, nervous, sniff about him. “Yes, I think we better keep an eye on him, John.”
The customers began to drift away. They settled their bills for the month with Marco, and went home. When the last had gone, the stranger came over to the bar. Marco told him the price of the beer. The man reached inside his fur. All at once, he was holding something in his paw and telling Marco to “Hand it over!”
Marco stepped back in surprise and looked very frightened. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot!” he exclaimed, giving his cash box to the robber.
John gave me a look and snarled, “Grab him!” while leaping up to catch the bandit by the hand holding the box.
I barked and jumped up to hold onto the other hand as the robber struck out at John. There was a sudden loud bang, and something dropped to the floor. John and I kept tight hold despite the man’s struggles. Marco had picked up the thing that had dropped to the floor and pointed it at the villain.
“Now you! Hold still!” Marco barked. “The boot is on the other foot now! Someone call the Police!”
Attracted by the noise, some people had come back into the bar. One of them put a paw up to his face and started to bark at it. Others held the robber captive so John and I let go, but stood close, looking fierce and baring our teeth at him. Soon we saw flashing lights and heard a car making a wailing sound as it raced toward the bar. The Police arrived and took charge of the prisoner as soon as Marco had explained the situation.
“He is going to be our guest for a long, long time, “ the biggest Policeman said grimly as they took the villain away in their car.
It took a while for all the excitement to calm down. Marco said that John had saved his money, and I had saved his life. That came as rather a surprise, but I wasn’t going to argue. Marco finally closed the bar that night, and took me home to explain to the Boss why I was late.
“This big, brave dog saved my life,” he said. “He deserves a lot of extra rations.” I certainly agreed with that!
The next morning, the Aristocrats that I live with, called me over to their territory. “We want to hear all about your single-pawed capture of the desperate criminal who tried to murder Marco and John. We heard it being barked about all night.”
I put on a very bashful expression and said that the reports had all been much distorted. They didn’t seem to believe me.
Roza, the senior Doberman, was the first to comment. She said that I had acted above and beyond the call of duty. Just the same, she would have expected no less of me. “Loyalty to friends is very commendable,” she told me.
My friend Nancy, the other Doberman, said that she was most impressed, and hoped that the humans would award me a Victorious Cross.
Mr. and Mrs. Uggypuggy were both very interested in the details of the fight. They made a whole load of suggestions as to what I should do the next time it happened. That was a prospect that appealed much more to them than it did to me.
The Chihuahuas, Skippy and Brodie, asked if I had been very frightened by the man with the bang stick. I told them that everything had happened far too quickly for me to even think of being frightened. “We can all sleep much safer in our kennels now that we know that you are around and can protect us,” Miss Brodie said. She seemed to have quite overlooked the fact that she lived with two fierce Doberman guard dogs!
Skippy said, “I’m only sorry that I missed it all. I bet he doesn’t come back here in a hurry. You and I, Floyd my friend, would soon show him off the premises!”
Big Mac, the Top Dog, came to call me to the bottom of the drive.
“I am very impressed,” he said. “In fact we are all very proud of you, young Floyd. You are a credit to the Pack. Keep up the good work!”
His personal assistant, Stumpy, was with Big Mac. When he had finished talking she added:
“Well done lad. I’m glad everything turned out as it did. I now know that you can behave very well in a crisis. I will not tolerate robbers in our territory!”
Later I went to the pub to see how John was getting on. Even he seemed to think that I was the hero of the hour. “It wasn’t your job, but I am grateful that you jumped in to save my human. I am proud to be your friend.”
,br>I tried hard to be modest and bashful, but I guess you can’t keep a good dog down. In the end, I came to accept the praise even though I really did not think that I deserved it all that much. Anyway, John and I were not going to refuse when Marco presented each of us with a piece of steak for our lunch. He even invited me to drop by any time I felt a little hungry!
Nurse Hortense had asked Popsy and me to go on a picnic to celebrate the end of my Medical Course. I had to collect Popsy from the hole in the wall that she had made into her own comfortable den.
She was full of praise for my exploit. “You are such a brave boy, Floyd! I am sure all the other girls will be full of envy to see me with you! Weren’t you just a teeny bit scared of that gang of men with the machine guns? I am sure that I would have fainted away with terror!”
I was looking forward to the picnic that Nurse Hortense had planned for Popsy and me. When we got to her house, she was telling the ducks about the hold up at John’s pub the previous evening.
“The robbers begged for mercy, and called out the army to protect them. They wanted to give themselves up to the armed services rather than face our Floyd’s terrible punishment.”
Every time I heard the story, it was getting farther and farther away from the truth. It was becoming more and more difficult for me to set the record straight. Everybody was trying to make it sound as dramatic as possible, regardless of what had really happened.
It made me wonder how many other events get somewhat exaggerated in the telling!
Copyright Floyd the Dog 2004. All rights reserved
Marco, John’s human, was busy. The big bus had just left for its lair at the crossroads farther up the mountain. The humans who had got off it were making their usual stop at the bar before going home to dinner. Tonight was a special occasion, the end of the month. Everybody appeared to be very pleased about it, barking away at each other and drinking lots of wine and beer. Nobody took any notice of me. I crept in and lay down beside John. He was in his usual position at one end of the bar.
“I’m glad you dropped by,” John said. “Could you hold on for a while? You see that human over there? He has been here a lot recently, but he isn’t local. Nobody seems to know him. He sits alone in the corner drinking a glass of beer. He just watches everything. I don’t like the sniff of him.”
I looked over to the corner. John was quite right. I had to agree that the big man sitting there had a strange, nervous, sniff about him. “Yes, I think we better keep an eye on him, John.”
The customers began to drift away. They settled their bills for the month with Marco, and went home. When the last had gone, the stranger came over to the bar. Marco told him the price of the beer. The man reached inside his fur. All at once, he was holding something in his paw and telling Marco to “Hand it over!”
Marco stepped back in surprise and looked very frightened. “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot!” he exclaimed, giving his cash box to the robber.
John gave me a look and snarled, “Grab him!” while leaping up to catch the bandit by the hand holding the box.
I barked and jumped up to hold onto the other hand as the robber struck out at John. There was a sudden loud bang, and something dropped to the floor. John and I kept tight hold despite the man’s struggles. Marco had picked up the thing that had dropped to the floor and pointed it at the villain.
“Now you! Hold still!” Marco barked. “The boot is on the other foot now! Someone call the Police!”
Attracted by the noise, some people had come back into the bar. One of them put a paw up to his face and started to bark at it. Others held the robber captive so John and I let go, but stood close, looking fierce and baring our teeth at him. Soon we saw flashing lights and heard a car making a wailing sound as it raced toward the bar. The Police arrived and took charge of the prisoner as soon as Marco had explained the situation.
“He is going to be our guest for a long, long time, “ the biggest Policeman said grimly as they took the villain away in their car.
It took a while for all the excitement to calm down. Marco said that John had saved his money, and I had saved his life. That came as rather a surprise, but I wasn’t going to argue. Marco finally closed the bar that night, and took me home to explain to the Boss why I was late.
“This big, brave dog saved my life,” he said. “He deserves a lot of extra rations.” I certainly agreed with that!
The next morning, the Aristocrats that I live with, called me over to their territory. “We want to hear all about your single-pawed capture of the desperate criminal who tried to murder Marco and John. We heard it being barked about all night.”
I put on a very bashful expression and said that the reports had all been much distorted. They didn’t seem to believe me.
Roza, the senior Doberman, was the first to comment. She said that I had acted above and beyond the call of duty. Just the same, she would have expected no less of me. “Loyalty to friends is very commendable,” she told me.
My friend Nancy, the other Doberman, said that she was most impressed, and hoped that the humans would award me a Victorious Cross.
Mr. and Mrs. Uggypuggy were both very interested in the details of the fight. They made a whole load of suggestions as to what I should do the next time it happened. That was a prospect that appealed much more to them than it did to me.
The Chihuahuas, Skippy and Brodie, asked if I had been very frightened by the man with the bang stick. I told them that everything had happened far too quickly for me to even think of being frightened. “We can all sleep much safer in our kennels now that we know that you are around and can protect us,” Miss Brodie said. She seemed to have quite overlooked the fact that she lived with two fierce Doberman guard dogs!
Skippy said, “I’m only sorry that I missed it all. I bet he doesn’t come back here in a hurry. You and I, Floyd my friend, would soon show him off the premises!”
Big Mac, the Top Dog, came to call me to the bottom of the drive.
“I am very impressed,” he said. “In fact we are all very proud of you, young Floyd. You are a credit to the Pack. Keep up the good work!”
His personal assistant, Stumpy, was with Big Mac. When he had finished talking she added:
“Well done lad. I’m glad everything turned out as it did. I now know that you can behave very well in a crisis. I will not tolerate robbers in our territory!”
Later I went to the pub to see how John was getting on. Even he seemed to think that I was the hero of the hour. “It wasn’t your job, but I am grateful that you jumped in to save my human. I am proud to be your friend.”
,br>I tried hard to be modest and bashful, but I guess you can’t keep a good dog down. In the end, I came to accept the praise even though I really did not think that I deserved it all that much. Anyway, John and I were not going to refuse when Marco presented each of us with a piece of steak for our lunch. He even invited me to drop by any time I felt a little hungry!
Nurse Hortense had asked Popsy and me to go on a picnic to celebrate the end of my Medical Course. I had to collect Popsy from the hole in the wall that she had made into her own comfortable den.
She was full of praise for my exploit. “You are such a brave boy, Floyd! I am sure all the other girls will be full of envy to see me with you! Weren’t you just a teeny bit scared of that gang of men with the machine guns? I am sure that I would have fainted away with terror!”
I was looking forward to the picnic that Nurse Hortense had planned for Popsy and me. When we got to her house, she was telling the ducks about the hold up at John’s pub the previous evening.
“The robbers begged for mercy, and called out the army to protect them. They wanted to give themselves up to the armed services rather than face our Floyd’s terrible punishment.”
Every time I heard the story, it was getting farther and farther away from the truth. It was becoming more and more difficult for me to set the record straight. Everybody was trying to make it sound as dramatic as possible, regardless of what had really happened.
It made me wonder how many other events get somewhat exaggerated in the telling!
Copyright Floyd the Dog 2004. All rights reserved