Great Stories of Humor - All About A Dog - A.G. Gardiner (Abridged and Simplified)

Great Stories of Humor - All About A Dog 
A.G. Gardiner 

(Abridged and Simplified)

It was a bitterly cold night. The east wind was cutting the passengers in the bus like a knife. On the way the bus stopped and two women and a man got in. The younger woman was dressed in sealskin. She carried a little pekinese dog. 

The conductor came in and took the fares. He eyed the dog with ill-will. I saw trouble brewing. This was the opportunity he was waiting. He decided to make the most of it. He was the type of a 'Resentful Employee'. 

He was a man with a general ill will against everything and a particular ill-feeling towards passengers who came and sat in his bus while he shivered at the door. You must take the dog out', he said with sour venom.

                             

'I shall certainly do nothing of the kind. You take my name and address', said the woman, who had obviously expected the challenge and knew the reply.

                              

You must take the dog out - that's my orders'.

                               

'I won't go to the upper deck in the biting cold', said the woman. Certainly not', said her lady companion. 'You've got a cough as it is'. 'It's nonsense,' said her male companion.

                              

The conductor pulled the bell and stopped the bus. "This bus doesn't go on until that dog is brought out'. And he stepped on the footpath and waited. 

It was his proud moment of grand victory. Having the law on his side, he was keeping the passenger under his mercy. His angry soul was enjoying itself like a person enjoying a real holiday.

                               

The storm inside rose high. 'Shameful'; He's no better than a German', 'Why Isn't he in the army?' 'Call the police'; 'Let's all report him'; Let's make him give us our fares back'; 'Yes, that's it, let's make him give us our fares back'.

                                

That little dog sat blinking at the dim lights knowing that he was the cause of the disturbance in the bus.

                                 

The conductor came to the door. One of the passengers demanded the conductor's number. He would report him to the authorities. ‘There's my number', said the conductor calmly. ‘Give us our fares back - you've engaged to carry us. You can't leave us here all night. 'No. fares back', said the conductor.

                                  

Two or three passengers got out and disappeared into the night. The conductor took another turn on the pavement, then went and had a talk with the driver. The stranded passengers of the bus tried to stop another bus coming in their route. But the driver of the bus sped away without minding the shouts of the helpless passengers.

                                  

Someone pulled the bell violently. "Who's the new conductor of this bus?" The driver said sarcastically and passed for a while. A policeman came into the bus. He went away quietly after knowing the cause of trouble.

                                    

The little dog went on blinking its eyes at the street lights and the conductor kept walking up and down the pavement. He looked like a captain of the ship which has gained a victory. 

A young woman, whose voice had risen above the noisy outbursts inside, got out of the bus and approached the conductor as if she would kill him. She passed on in a great anger of importance to the three policemen who stood like a collection of statues watching the drama. 

Then she came back, imperiously beckoned to her 'young man’ who had sat a silent witness of her rage, and vanished. Others followed. The bus was emptying. Even the smart young fellow who had demanded the number, and who had declared he would know what the thing was even if he had to sit there all night, had taken an opportunity to slip away. 

                                     

Meanwhite the Pekinese party were passing through every stage of opposition to helpless surrender. "I'll go on the top, said the sealskin lady at last. "You mustn't. It will' 'You'll have pneumonia'. 

'Let me take it' (This from the young man). "Certainly not' - she would die with her dog. When she had gone to the top of the bus, with her pet, the conductor came back, pulled the bell, and the bus started. He stood looking victorious but still with a grievance while his conduct was discussed in cruel language in his face by the passengers remaining in the bus.

                                    

Then the engine stopped working and the conductor went to the help of the driver. It was a long job, and presently the lady with the dog quietly came down the stairs and re-entered the bus. 

When the engine was put right, the conductor came back and pulled the bell. Then he saw the lady with the dog and his hand went to the bell-rope again. The driver looked around, the conductor pointed to the dog, the bus stopped and the whole drama was enacted once again - the conductor walking the pavement, the driver hitting his arms on the box. 

The little dog blinking at the lights, the sealskin lady declaring that she would not go on the top and finally going. "There are rules which I have to carry out", said the conductor to me when I was the last passenger left behind. 

He had won his victory, but felt that he would like to justify himself to somebody. and Rules', I said, 'are necessary things, but there are different types of rules. Some rules are to be respected under all conditions, like the rule of the road, which cannot be broken without danger to life and limb. 

But some are only rules for our guidance, which you can apply or overlook, as commonsense dictates - like that rule about the dogs. They are not be used as a whip to punish your passengers with, but as a tool to be used in an emergency. 

They are meant to be observed in the spirit, not in the letter - for the comfort and not the discomfort of the passengers. You have kept the rule and broken its spirit. You have to apply the rules in such a way that you show good will and courtesy to the passengers'.

                                       

He took it very well and did not quarrel. When I got off the bus he said, "Good-night' in a friendly manner.

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