An old Hound

An old man lived in a run-down shack on the outskirts of town. He had no family but a hound dog, Mace, who simply loved chewing grass. Whenever the old man was in town doing some odd jobs, Mace would spend the day in front of the shack, chewing away on the lawn.

One day, the old man met a lady in town who had a plumbing job that would pay for a week's food. Delighted, he followed the lady home and was about to start work when he discovered that his wrench was missing. Without a wrench, he couldn't do the job!

Walking dejectedly back home, the old man saw that Mace was not chewing grass on the lawn as he usually did, but was chewing away on a grass patch by the side of the road. Kneeling beside the hound, the man, with tear-filled eyes, told the dog that there would be no dinner that night. The future looked bleak too as he had no money to buy a new wrench.

Then, he caught a glimpse of something shining in the grass. It was his wrench! The old man had dropped it on his way out that morning. It would have been lost forever had Mace not chewed on that grass patch beside the road. The old man hugged the dog with joy, picked up the wrench and ran back to town to complete the job.

That night, the old man wrote a moving tribute to his canine companion. Few people have ever heard these words until now...

"A grazing Mace, how sweet the hound that saved a wrench for me."