Collie to the Rescue

Not one of my favorite books by Terhune as there was not enough dog in it. Published in 1928. He does throw in a good rescue toward the beginning, I guess to justify the title:

'At the same moment, Kay Cormick heard the muted thunder of hoofs on the soft turf behind her. She turned to find the Holstein bearing down upon her, less than forty feet away. No scope for flight nor even for dodging from the path of that bovine cyclone! White as ashes, the girl stood waiting her fate.

Then, past her, whizzed the streak of sunlit gold, as Thane flew straight at the charging monster’s lowered black head.

It was a gallant spectacle—the sixty-pound collie rushing ta meet the onslaught of a creature nearly forty times his weight and many times show more his size—a creature whose horns and hoofs were terrible weapons of offense as opposed to the single set of jaws which are a dog’s only armament.

The book is about Brent Hildreth and his chum Denny Blayne who buy a small two newspaper and are on a crusade to clean up the corruption. Denny is described as having been a 'pork-and-beans prize fighter. Brent coming back also puts him in the path of his old love Kay Cormick, who is the sister of a local politician against whom the Bugle is crusading.

I liked the writing of Terhune in his day. I will give you some quotes to get a feel for the writing.

Here is a bit when Brent is being threatened to run out of business by the villain Coult. Coult is described as wearing 'his city-going black suit and he wide-brimmed hat and string tie which gave him the look of a western statemen of 1890.' (What? No black mustache to twirl?) When an offer from Coult is rebuffed he says:

“You rat!” he said, with almost a caress in his soft tone “So that’s the trick? Reform stuff, hey? I thought you had more sense. But I see I’ve got to step on you, just the way I stepped on young Mayne. Only, with you, it won’t take so long. I give you a month, at most. Maybe a lot less. I’m going to smash you and your tin-pan paper as easy as my car would run over a sick cat. Now go ahead with the notes your stenographer has been taking. Print them all over the county. Your number is up. And you're on the tobog. One month, at the most.”

It is a fun adventure story with several times looking like things are going to end badly. But I like the way they are encouraged to not give up:

“That courthouse outfit ain’t been able to nail our skins to their barn door—yet. We're still on our hind legs and we still got the use of our fists and the use of our brains—if any. So what’s the crapehanging about? Time enough to squeal and to frame alibis when our seconds drag us out of the ring, feet forwards. Till then, we’re fighting, Bo. And the others is due to know there’s been a fight, before they down us.”

And another example later:

"Don’t cry, kid!” he begged, his rough voice wondrous gentle. “Whatever’s happened, it ain’t bad enough to be worth killing yourself for. There’s a whole swad of bad things that can happen to folks in this bum old world. But not a one of em, and not the whole passel of ’em, is worth sooiciding for. Take the word of a guy who knows the game, on that, kid. Nothing’s worth it. And there’s nothing that can’t be cured. It’s a quitter’s cowardly and plumb crazy way to try to end a trouble. By bumping himself off to some place where he'll sure be in a worse fix than he is now, and where there ain’t any cure. Keep on remembering that. Besides, at your age, you can’t be a failure or a wreck, even if you try to. Too many cards is still left in the pack. There’s too much time ahead of you. Luck’s always waiting for you, just ahead. Buck up!”

So I liked the ole timey storytelling. The dog does help find another evil thing (that I think was uncommon then but a widespread scourge now) that the villain was up to which is discovered when Coult's German Shepherd and or hero Collie mix it up.

Fun enough story, but not one my favorites of Terhune's. Fortunately, no Kleenex is needed for any dogs dying. show less

Not one of my favorite books by Terhune as there was not enough dog in it. Published in 1928. He does throw in a good rescue toward the beginning, I guess to justify the title:

'At the same moment, Kay Cormick heard the muted thunder of hoofs on the soft turf behind her. She turned to find the Holstein bearing down upon her, less than forty feet away. No scope for flight nor even for dodging from the path of that bovine cyclone! White as ashes, the girl stood waiting her fate.

Then, past her, whizzed the streak of sunlit gold, as Thane flew straight at the charging monster’s lowered black head.

It was a gallant spectacle—the sixty-pound collie rushing ta meet the onslaught of a creature nearly forty times his weight and many times show more his size—a creature whose horns and hoofs were terrible weapons of offense as opposed to the single set of jaws which are a dog’s only armament.

The book is about Brent Hildreth and his chum Denny Blayne who buy a small two newspaper and are on a crusade to clean up the corruption. Denny is described as having been a 'pork-and-beans prize fighter. Brent coming back also puts him in the path of his old love Kay Cormick, who is the sister of a local politician against whom the Bugle is crusading.

I liked the writing of Terhune in his day. I will give you some quotes to get a feel for the writing.

Here is a bit when Brent is being threatened to run out of business by the villain Coult. Coult is described as wearing 'his city-going black suit and he wide-brimmed hat and string tie which gave him the look of a western statemen of 1890.' (What? No black mustache to twirl?) When an offer from Coult is rebuffed he says:

“You rat!” he said, with almost a caress in his soft tone “So that’s the trick? Reform stuff, hey? I thought you had more sense. But I see I’ve got to step on you, just the way I stepped on young Mayne. Only, with you, it won’t take so long. I give you a month, at most. Maybe a lot less. I’m going to smash you and your tin-pan paper as easy as my car would run over a sick cat. Now go ahead with the notes your stenographer has been taking. Print them all over the county. Your number is up. And you're on the tobog. One month, at the most.”

It is a fun adventure story with several times looking like things are going to end badly. But I like the way they are encouraged to not give up:

“That courthouse outfit ain’t been able to nail our skins to their barn door—yet. We're still on our hind legs and we still got the use of our fists and the use of our brains—if any. So what’s the crapehanging about? Time enough to squeal and to frame alibis when our seconds drag us out of the ring, feet forwards. Till then, we’re fighting, Bo. And the others is due to know there’s been a fight, before they down us.”

And another example later:

"Don’t cry, kid!” he begged, his rough voice wondrous gentle. “Whatever’s happened, it ain’t bad enough to be worth killing yourself for. There’s a whole swad of bad things that can happen to folks in this bum old world. But not a one of em, and not the whole passel of ’em, is worth sooiciding for. Take the word of a guy who knows the game, on that, kid. Nothing’s worth it. And there’s nothing that can’t be cured. It’s a quitter’s cowardly and plumb crazy way to try to end a trouble. By bumping himself off to some place where he'll sure be in a worse fix than he is now, and where there ain’t any cure. Keep on remembering that. Besides, at your age, you can’t be a failure or a wreck, even if you try to. Too many cards is still left in the pack. There’s too much time ahead of you. Luck’s always waiting for you, just ahead. Buck up!”

So I liked the ole timey storytelling. The dog does help find another evil thing (that I think was uncommon then but a widespread scourge now) that the villain was up to which is discovered when Coult's German Shepherd and or hero Collie mix it up.

Fun enough story, but not one my favorites of Terhune's. Fortunately, no Kleenex is needed for any dogs dying. show less

A man comes back to his hometown to edit the local newspaper and to expose corruption in the local government. This puts him at odds with the girl with whom he's madly in love and also exposes him to increasing threats and danger from those he's trying to expose. The title is misleading: the collie does rescue the girl from an attack by a bull in the first chapter, but after that the collie virtually disappears from the story.