It’s disgraceful I can’t recall the name of the beagle who came to live with our family of five in our ranch house in Elmhurst on or about 1962. He left the morning after we welcomed him into our enclave.

This one-night stand indicates:
1. My family showed no propensity for changing one whit to accommodate any other creature, ever.
2. Beagles don’t show a great propensity for overcoming such odds.

Right off the bat, he looked suspicious of us, my two brothers and I yelping around him and making the sounds one might in the presence of a new bike.

So, he barked all night, pausing only long enough to gulp air in-between.

The next morning, in what might be called a rash and reactionary move, he was sent back to the neighbor’s home, where he had been born. One thing you have to say about beagles. Their bark has volume and what I would call a churlish quality, considering their squat size.