A farmer had some puppies he needed to
sell.
He painted a sign advertising for 4
pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he
was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls.
He looked down into the eyes of little boy.
"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one
of your puppies."
"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed
the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine
parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment.
Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change
and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that
enough to take a look?"
"Sure," said the farmer. And with that
he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse
and down the ramp ran
Dolly followed by four little balls of
fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His
eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the
fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the
doghouse.. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably
smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the
little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch
up....
"I want that one," the little boy said,
pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said,
"Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play
with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back
from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his
trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides
of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at
the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he
will need someone who understands."
With tears in his eyes, farmer reached
down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully handed it
to the little boy.
"How much?" asked the little boy.
"No charge," answered the farmer,
"There's no charge for love."
Submitted by Kermit
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