This little beagle dog and his family live on Railroad Street in Livingston. Linus shares the home with a mom and a dad and four children. On Friday morning, Linus was supposed to go outside just long enough to take care of personal business, but when the mom went out to find him and bring him back in before she left for work, there was no Linus. She looked for him as long as time allowed her to before going on to work. Sometime later that morning, Linus ended up on a very busy street in town, and being only eight months old, and not experienced enough to avoid vehicles that many times are going too fast in the first place, he ran out in front of a lady, and even though she did everything possible to try and miss the dog, he was struck by her car. It was a completely unavoidable accident. She was kind enough to stop and was very upset about the little dog running out in front of her. Others nearby who either saw or heard the dog get hit came to his aid, and it was immediately decided that he should be taken to Ragland and Riley Veterinarian Hospital. After arriving, x-rays revealed two fractured bones, but luckily, neither required surgery. In addition, the little dog had several cuts and abrasions that were treated, and just to be on the safe side, Linus was required to spend a night in the hospital. The next morning, he was picked up by the same kind hearted fellow who took him in to be treated. Now reality sets in. What will become of Linus? The fellow who came to his aid and his wife already have four cats and a dog, and don’t believe they can possibly care for another animal. In the meantime and while trying to decide what to do next, a bed is made for Linus in the garage (by the way, at this particular time, not only it is not known who the dog belongs to, but no one know his name either.) Instructions for Linus’ care for the next week were to keep him confined and as quiet as possible. It was necessary for the man and his wife who are now caring for the dog to be away from home part of the same day that he came home from the vet, and before leaving, Linus is checked on and made as comfortable as possible. But the heartbreakingly sad look on his little face said it all. After suffering a terrible accident that resulted in nearly broken bones, plus having painful cuts and scrapes, then being taken to a strange place where all kinds of things were done to him and he didn’t understand why, here he was in another strange place with nothing familiar or no one around he really cared about. And now, the people who have put him in the garage are about to go away and leave him all alone. It was just the next thing to the end of the world for him. But hold on, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes stories do have happy ending after all and this is definitely the case with this story. It seems that when the man and wife returned to their home later that same afternoon, the first thing they planned to do was to check on the little dog. But wait, when they get to the front door what do they find but a note that had been left there. Here’s what it said: "Hello, our names are Brad and Shirley Lockhart. The vet said you had a beagle that got hit yesterday. Please, can we come see if it is our beagle? Call us at ..." Very quickly, the call was made, and a very excited young lady answered the phone, and in what seemed like only a few seconds, both the Lockharts arrived at the home where the dog was staying. But only one of the came in a car. That was the young husband. The wife ran every step of the way. It seems the husband had gone out in the car on an errand when the anxiously awaited phone call came in, and the young wife didn’t want to wait for him to get back. So she called her husband on his cell phone, and then left home on foot, running all the way, and the two of them ended up arriving at the same time. The walk to the garage where the puppy dog was being kept was both exciting and anxious at the same time, but it seemed that everyone was already convinced the dog was theirs even before they even saw him. And it didn’t take but one look at the little dog’s face to know it was definitely his owners who had come for him. It was hard to know who was the happiest ... the dog, the young couple, or the husband and wife who had been caring for Linus. Now for the rest of the story. After looking everywhere for Linus Friday afternoon, Shirley Lockhart went to the ballpark that night. While she was there, she asked everyone she came in contact with if they had seen a little beagle dog, and eventually someone told her about a beagle being hit on a busy street in town. She then called the vet’s office and was told who had brought the dog in. Next, a call was made to the home of the man who brought the dog in for treatment, but no one was home. After making many more phone calls, the Lockharts gave up and drove over to the house and left the note in the door. A very happy reunion was the result that eventually took place later that day.