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Interpret the Text Using Close reading
aCTIVITY 2.3
continued
15 At the gate the park guard checked me out. “You didn’t stay long. Where’s the dog?”
16 “Locked up back there. And I owe you an apology. That dog has the heart and soul of a bear-killer and I didn’t know it. Heretofore he has been a little tender- hearted toward an underdone steak.”
17 “Yea!” he said. “That happens sometimes. That’s why I warned you. A bear
dog would know his chances, but I’ve seen a Pomeranian go up like a puff of smoke. You my Notes know, a well-favored bear can bat a dog like a tennis ball.”
chunk 6
18 I moved fast, back the way I had come, and I was reluctant to camp for fear
there might be some unofficial non-government bears about. That night I spent
in a pretty auto court near Livingston. I had my dinner in a restaurant, and when I had settled in with a drink and a comfortable chair and my bathed bare feet on the carpet with red roses, I inspected Charley. He was dazed. His eyes held a faraway look and he was totally exhausted, emotionally no doubt. Mostly he reminded me of a man coming out of a long, hard drunk—worn out, depleted, and collapsed. He couldn’t eat his dinner, he refused the evening walk, and once we were in he collapsed on the floor and went to sleep. In the night I heard him whining and yapping, and when I turned on the light his feet were making running gestures and his body jerked and his eyes were wide open, but it was only a night bear. I awakened him and gave him some water. This time he went to sleep and didn’t stir all night. In the morning he was still tired. I wonder why we think the thoughts and emotions of animals are simple.
My notes
Unit 2 • The Power to Change • Part 2: Travels with Charley 65
heretofore: before now
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