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Much later, still hard at work, Wellman was still dictating and I noticed a flicker of something out of the corner of my right eye and turned to look out the window.  I stiffened in shock and the director yelled at me: "Why don't you answer me?" I turned to look at him and at the look on my face he rushed over to look out the window.  One of the engines was engulfed in flames! I watched the color leave his face and then I WAS TERRIFIED! This man had been a pilot in France during W.W.II and had survived a disastrous air crash.  He rang for the stewardess.  She came, listened, looked, then bolted for the pilot's cabin.  We made an emergency landing in Texas and were grounded for two hours.

When we registered in the Albany Hotel in Georgia many of our company refused to double up and rooms were not available for so many singles at that particular time. I found I was sharing a small room with two gals-the dog trainer and a trainee assigned to me.  A double bed had been exchanged for three cots pushed tight together leaving about a foot of space around the beds in which to walk.  Our luggage was stacked in one corner and I was absolutely dumfounded to see the three cages with the basenjis stacked alongside our luggage. Frosty was yipping and running from one to the other of us.

We couldn't unpack.  The closet was too small for the wardrobe of three gals.  One chest of drawers could not hold the amount we had packed for a 6-weeks stay.  The only good thing about all this was that the basenjis were quiet. They were fascinated with this comedy routine and watched our movements like spectators at a tennis match.  All the dogs had to be fed, watered and walked.

Showered and finally bedded down, we turned out the lights and then suddenly a very wet tongue slurped across my face and Frosty walked across my chest to the next cot. She showed no partiality at all - slurped all three faces, then turned around for the return trip.  She couldn't make up her mind on the choice of a bed partner.  It was hilarious. The basenjis woke up, and we didn't get to sleep until midnight.

While the Basenji is often called the barkless dog, it has a most blood-curdling howl.  The wrinkled forehead makes you think the dog is wrinkling its forehead in deep thought much as humans do.  It has extraordinary hearing and sense of smell. It is a hunter. But the most fascinating aspect is its POINT when it scents birds.  Other hunting dogs freeze in a standing position with one paw lifted, tail straight out and nose pointing to the hidden prey.  But the Basenji does something quite different.  It lowers the front portion of its body to the ground and the rear remains up. It freezes in this stance and remains so until the birds are flushed.

James Street had been engaged to act as advisor on the film, but he died while the film was in the preparatory stage.  The director filmed exactly what was written - a most unusual thing to happen in Hollywood and a real tribute to the author.  If you dog lovers want to read an engaging story about the Basenji dog -look in your public library for the book entitled:"Good-bye, My Lady" written by James Street.

Sincerely Yours,
Hazel H. Hall