Outlaw in India by Philip Roy Page A

WAS AS CAUTIOUS as a wise old man, he really was. He was
     curious, of course, but didn’t take the kinds of risks that many dogs do. He had
     been the runt of the litter and was thrown from a wharf with a rope around his
     neck, tied to a stone. So, his start in life was pretty bleak. And yet he
     carried a lucky star, too, because he had landed in a dory, not the sea, and
     somehow that dory untethered and drifted free and I found it. Since then, he has
     travelled around the world in relative comfort. Still, he doesn’t ask for
     much.
    I couldn’t figure out what had happened to him. Now that I knew that the snake
     was not poisonous it must have been something else. Had he been spooked by
     something? Butwhat? I hadn’t seen anything. He was with us
     one minute, gone the next. I had been so preoccupied with Radji I didn’t even
     notice. I ran back to where we had come out of the woods. I checked the ditch
     all the way. The thought that he might have been struck by a car came to me but
     I tried not to think that. Images of finding him lying on his side jumped into
     my head and I had to push them out. When I reached the woods, I started calling
     his name. I tried to follow exactly the same path but I wasn’t sure it was
     right. I couldn’t remember well enough because we had come through in a panic. I
     thought I would recognize the bush where the snake had bitten Radji but suddenly
     there were so many of them. I yelled Hollie’s name all the way through the woods
     but there was no sign of him. I felt discouraged. I was worried sick. I just
     wanted him back. You could keep all the money in the world, I just wanted my dog
     back.
    Maybe I was going the wrong way. I wasn’t sure. I just kept going. Eventually I
     reached the river. Then I discovered I had travelled too far upstream. I ran
     down to where the sub was and entered the woods again. Now it looked familiar. I
     found the woods where the snake had been. Then I recognized the bush. Then, I
     saw the tool bag, and there, curled up inside the bag, was Hollie.
    But there was something wrong with him. He didn’t bark. He wagged his tail but
     he didn’t get up. “Hollie? Are you okay?” His face was a little swollen. I
     examined him very closely. I think maybe he had been bitten by the snake too,
     and it causedhis face to swell. The poor thing. I scooped him
     up in my arms, threw the bag over my shoulder and headed back towards the
     clinic. I was worried about him but I was so happy I found him.
    Back at the clinic Radji was still sleeping. The doctor was so kind she even
     examined Hollie for me. She said, yes, he had also been bitten, and being such a
     small dog, a bite in the face by a large snake would cause swelling and take
     awhile to heal. He would be sore and lethargic for a few days but would heal
     just fine. She gave me some medication to put in his food that would make him
     feel better. I held Hollie on my lap and stroked his fur and talked to him while
     the doctor saw other patients. She even let us stay after the clinic closed
     while she did her paperwork.
    We talked. I asked her about Untouchables. She said things were changing slowly
     for them, but it was still a very big problem. “Mahatma Gandhi, our first
     leader, tried to make it better for them. He was a pacifist. He went on hunger
     strikes for political change. He did so much for our country, but it is very
     hard to go against so many centuries of tradition. At least Untouchables have
     legal rights now that they never had before. But there is still violence and
     discrimination against them. India is a complicated country with many peoples.
     And we have not only Hindus here; we have Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians,
     and many others too.”
    Then I asked her about the save-the-girl-child poster. She made a sad face.
     “It’s a program to stop the euthanasia, the killing of baby girls, before and
     after they are born.”
    “But why would anyone kill