BEAUTIFUL JOE is a real dog, and "Beautiful Joe" is his real
name. He belonged during the first part of his life to a cruel
master, who mutilated him in the manner described in the story.
He was rescued from him, and is now living in a happy home with
pleasant surroundings, and enjoys a wide local celebrity.

The character of Laura is drawn from life, and to the smallest
detail is truthfully depicted. The Morris family has its counterparts
in real life, and nearly all of the incidents of the story are founded
on fact.

THE AUTHOR.



INTRODUCTION

The wonderfully successful book, entitled "Black Beauty," came
like a living voice out of the animal kingdom. But it spake for the
horse, and made other books necessary; it led the way. After the
ready welcome that it received, and the good it has accomplished
and is doing, it follows naturally that some one should be inspired
to write a book to interpret the life of a dog to the humane feeling
of the world. Such a story we have in "Beautiful Joe."

The story speaks not for the dog alone, but for the whole animal
kingdom. Through it we enter the animal world, and are made to
see as animals see, and to feel as animals feel. The sympathetic
sight of the author, in this interpretation, is ethically the strong