"But when the hot days come, I think they might remember that those are the dog days, and leave a little water outside in a trough, like they do for the horses," says Kid, the bull terrier protagonist in Richard Harding Davis' short story "The Bar Sinister." The tale, a true "rags to riches" story, follows the adventures of a street dog who comes into is own as a prized show dog. During this part of the story, Kid, newly adopted into a wealthy home, is thinking about his estranged mother running the hot streets, going mad with thirst.

Davis was a popular writer of fiction and drama during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also a journalist famous for his coverage of the Spanish-American War and World War I. He served as managing editor of Harper's Weekly and also worked for the New York Herald, The Times and Scribner's Magazine.

"The Nineteenth Century in Print" presentation featured in the Library's American Memory collections features more than 30 short stories written by Davis and included in Harper's, among other publications.

The term "dog days" doesn't actually derive from Harding's book, though. The ancient Romans coined the phrase, calling the hot sultry weather of early July through September "caniculares dies" or "days of the dogs" after the constellation of Canis Major, within which Sirius, the Dog Star, is found. As the hottest and most humid days of summer generally coincided with the period Sirius rose and set with the sun, the Romans believed that heat from Sirius was increasing the heat of the sun.