Quotes by Esther Birdsall Darling

“Dogs is dogs’ and it wouldn’t make any difference to ‘em what they were doing if it was for somebody they love. And I’ll bet the biggest sled dog in Alaska’s go the same feelings as little Blarney.” As usual, Dolan was ready with a comforting case in point. “Why, only the other day I was reading an old magazine I found in the basement, about a guy name Leonard Seppala and the dogs that helped him carry the diphtheria cure to Nome. They did double shift, made the longest and hardest run on the whole trail; feet raw and bleeding and frostbites on their sides, but willing to keep on till they dropped, because they loved their driver.””

“These here city rooms ain’t big enough fer a decent kennel. I wish you could’a had him; but if you can’t, mebbe somebody else here’d like t’ own a dog that’s showed what a good friend he kin be- feedin’ an’ takin’ care o’ that pore little terrier. Speak up, folks. Here’s your chance fer a chum that’ll stick t’ you through thick an’ thin. Even” – he cleared his throat slightly – “even when your’re dead. Who says he’s theirs?””

“You’re gittin’ a rich claim in this here pup. Guts and brains; an’ I reckon affection the way he took t’ you right off the bat. And believe me,” with the vivid memory of the dog’s bristling hair and bared fangs as he had defended the body of Pluck, “he’s a claim that no one else is goin’ t’ jump neither. He kin,” with an admiring glance at the powerful build of Luck, “lick his weight in wildcats.””

“Only I eased it down a mite when I told her how I feel about women handling dogs. It just ain’t in their natures to do it proper. They spoil ‘em something awful; even her, and she’s about the best she-driver in Nome. But women can’t ever seem to learn that the dogs in this country are workers and not pets.””