The Lost Dog is a mystery short story by Isaac Asimov.
Part of the Union Club series, it was first published in the June 1988 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and later as part of the Mysterious Menagerie collection.
Summary[]
In the Union Club, a conversation about pets leads Griswold to recount a story from his youth. A nurse he knew, Katherine Adelman, was caring for a dying derelict who had been found on the street. The man, who could only manage to say his name was "Jeff," was in a semi-coma. Before losing consciousness, he scrawled a desperate, unfinished note pleading for someone to retrieve his dog from the pound, stating the dog would answer to its name, which he failed to write.
The nurse, deeply moved, went to the pound but could not identify the dog, as she had no name to call out. She appealed to Griswold for help. At the pound, faced with a kennel of dogs and no information other than the owner's name was Jeff, Griswold deduced a possible name. He recalled the long-popular comic strip "Mutt and Jeff." Reasoning that a man named Jeff might name his shaggy, nondescript mongrel "Mutt" after the comic, he called out that name. One dog responded excitedly.
They retrieved the dog and smuggled it into the hospital room. The dying man regained consciousness just long enough to recognize his dog and touch it before he died. The nurse later adopted the dog, which lived for another year.
Characters[]
- Griswold
- Club Member (the narrator)
- Baranov
- Jennings
- Katherine Adelman
- Jeff
- Mutt, the dog
Literary Fictional Figures Mentioned[]
- Rumpelstiltskin (from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale)
- Mutt and Jeff (from the comic strip)
See Also[]
List of short stories by Isaac Asimov