This Dog is a Hero

Doin’ anything for beefsteaks 🥩

This little comic is based on one of my favorite headlines of all time, taken from the NYT all the way back in 1908:

It reads: DOG A FAKE HERO: Pushes Children Into the Seine to Rescue Them and Win Beefsteaks

Yes, this is the story of the goodest boy who became the naughtiest boy.

Back in 1908, there was a Newfoundland dog who lived with his owner near the river Seine. According to reports, one day the dog heard splashing and general sounds of distress coming from the direction of the water. He bounded over and plunged into the current to rescue a child from drowning.

The parents and community were so grateful to the dog that they treated him to a celebration, complete with full beefsteak dinner. He was regarded as a hero by the local community.

A few weeks later, to the shock of the entire community, the same near-tragic thing happened. A child playing on the banks of the Seine apparently fell in and was rescued by Hero Dog. The community was astounded--how lucky that he was there at the right place and the right time, yet again. And yet Again, Hero Dog was treated to a full beefsteak dinner.

But then… it happened again… and again… and again… and again. The locals began to worry that there was some kind of psychopath on the loose, shoving unsuspecting children into the Seine and trying to drown them. Members of the community decided to keep watch on the riverbanks to see who was causing all these children to nearly drown.

Lo and behold, it was not some deranged, child-hating psychopath shoving kiddies into the river.

It was Hero Dog, and he just wanted some more beefsteak.

I’m not sure what happened to Hero Dog after that. The near-drownings did come to an end, so either Hero Dog was relocated to some less-watery location or he was re-trained to NOT PUSH CHILDREN INTO RIVERS. 

Even though this was one of the naughtiest things a dog could do, I hope Hero Dog still got the occasional beefsteak. The first rescue was, after all, genuine. And for that, he deserves all the beefsteaks.

I hope you enjoyed this comic, and that you’re doing OK out there. It’s summer here, and the heat has descended in full force. I have always described summertime in the desert as oppressive, but I’m trying to make the most of it by gardening every morning, and reading in the hammock every evening once the sun has fallen behind the tops of the mountains.

One thing I’ve been enjoying these days is Dracula Daily, which is a delightful Substack that delivers snippets from the novel Dracula in “real” time. If you’ve read it before, you’ll know that the original novel is not organized by date, so it’s been fun to watch the plot unfold in a fresh way. I like imagining Jonathan Harker and his dear little fiancee living out their spooky converging timelines, and then getting a peek into their letters and diaries as though everything had only just happened.

Reading the book like this has filled my head with inky visions—bats and cobwebby dungeons, sickly gentlemen and moonstruck young ladies. Someday I’d like to do my own illustrated take on Bram Stoker’s story, so taking my time with the book has just been the tastiest thing. I’m making notes and filling pages with sketches of vampires and bats and craggy old castles. I’ll share some of them with my paid readers a couple of days—as a treat.

If it’s hot where you are, I hope you’re finding ways to stay cool. In the heat of summer, it can sometimes feel like the whole world is on fire.

Sending love and bountiful beefsteaks,

🥩Becca Lee, the Haunted Librarian🥩