Starlight Hill Farm

HOW MUCH IS A DOG WORTH?
By Paul Hoover, 1956

The question’s asked around the earth,
“Just how much should a dog be worth?”
I do not know, now to be true,
So I will here be asking you.

There’s a neighbor, George, a one-armed man
Who does his work the best he can,
And chasing cows is not the fun
It used to be when he was young.

He bought a young black Shepherd dog
To help him through his daily bog.
Now when George has his supper ate,
Shep and the cows are at the gate.

Would thirty-five sound rather cheap
For a dog that works just for his keep?

Jolly Charley, across the way
Was cultivating corn one day.
You should have seen his troubled look
When he first missed his pocket-book.

He walked and hunted round by round
Until he covered all that ground.
But his long search was all in vain,
So he went to plowing corn again.

One time he glanced out to the south,
Saw something strange in his dog’s mouth.
And when he gave the second look,
He was bringing him his pocket-book.

Would Tig be worth right on the spot
What he brought in, on just one shot?

Widow Effie, just down the line,
I used to farm her place one time.
A sable colored dog had she
And Guernseys to keep her family.

I was impressed, I give my vows,
The way that dog maneuvered those cows.
In afternoon, around five o’clock,
She ‘moised’ toward the pasture lot.

Without a sound, quite unconcerned,
But had the cows when she returned.
If one would stop to get a meal,
She got a snitch right at her heel.

Say, would you fifty dollars mind,
For that good step-saving kind?

When I was just a little lad,
It was the bestest dog I had.
For every boy so rich and free
Enjoys that kind of company.

I never walked far from the home
Unless I took that dog along,
Of fear the Giggums might be out,
Or Wonks, Jim Riley talked about.

I always kept my dog nearby
‘Specially where the grass was high.
I walked along beside his track,
With my hand upon his back.

Slowly we two would trudge along,
Watchin’ fer the worst to come.
Just one strange move or some weird sound,
Just one ‘sigum’ and one bound,

The poor things always met their fate
By just one snap right at the nape.
Some a bunny, or a rat,
And often times a neighbor’s cat.

But do you think that you could buy
Those memories of my dog and I?

A few miles down the road from me
Lived such a pleasant family.
They had three girls and just one boy.
It was their hope and constant joy.

With some reverses they had met,
And were struggling with a little debt.
But what I want to tell about,
The man went to lead the sire out –

As quick as a wink the poor man found
That he was struck down to the ground.
And with the vengeance of a mob,
Went on to finish up the job.

The helpless man began to fear
His end on earth was very near.
But just in time and in the rough
Shep made one bound across the trough,

And set his teeth in that beast’s heel,
And Ferdinand began to reel.
Battered and bruised with ruffled hair,
Joe crawled acrossed the manger there.

What price, dear friends, would you think right,
To have Daddy in the home that night?

Would a thousand dollars sound too dear?
No, figures I don’t want to hear.
I could not tell for all the earth,
Now, really what a dog is worth.