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diff --git a/30667.txt b/30667.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..524a8a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/30667.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2551 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Old Dog Spot, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Tale of Old Dog Spot + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Illustrator: Harry L. Smith + +Release Date: December 13, 2009 [EBook #30667] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, dpcfmander and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT + + _SLUMBER-TOWN TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + BY + ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + + AUTHOR OF + _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + _TUCK-ME-IN TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + THE TALE OF THE MULEY COW + THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT + THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG + THE TALE OF HENRIETTA HEN + THE TALE OF TURKEY PROUDFOOT + THE TALE OF PONY TWINKLEHEELS + THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT + + + + + _SLUMBER-TOWN TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + [Illustration: Old Dog Spot Teases Miss Kitty Cat. + + _Frontispiece (Page 8)_] + + + + + THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT + + BY + + ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + + Author of + "SLEEPY-TIME TALES" + (Trademark Registered) + + AND + + "TUCK-ME-IN TALES" + (Trademark Registered) + + ILLUSTRATED BY + HARRY L. SMITH + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + Made in the United States of America + + COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I ALMOST TWINS 1 + + II TEASING THE CAT 7 + + III A WILD DOG 12 + + IV THE WOODPILE 18 + + V A DEEP SECRET 22 + + VI BURIED TREASURE 27 + + VII SWIMMING 32 + + VIII WHAT RED DID 37 + + IX A BUNDLE OF CLOTHES 42 + + X DROPPING HINTS 48 + + XI MRS. GREEN'S MISTAKE 52 + + XII RIGHTING A WRONG 56 + + XIII HUNTING 60 + + XIV MISSING HIS MASTER 65 + + XV A BASKETFUL OF FUN 70 + + XVI MRS. WOODCHUCK RUNS 75 + + XVII THE DANGER SIGNAL 80 + + XVIII A CROWDED HOUSE 85 + + XIX OFF FOR THE CIRCUS 91 + + XX SPOT GOES TO TOWN 96 + + XXI THE CIRCUS PARADE 101 + + XXII THE CIRCUS GROUNDS 106 + + XXIII SPOT SEES THE SHOW 111 + + XXIV HOME AGAIN 115 + + + + + ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE + + + OLD DOG SPOT TEASES MISS KITTY CAT _Frontispiece_ + + SPOT BOLTED THROUGH THE BARN DOOR 16 + + SPOT STARTED AFTER FRISKY SQUIRREL 44 + + SOMETIMES THE PUPPY WOULD BITE SPOT'S TAIL 72 + + + + +THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT + + + + +I + +ALMOST TWINS + + +Nobody ever spoke of old Spot's master as "old Johnnie Green." Yet the +two--boy and dog--were almost exactly the same age. Somehow Spot grew up +faster than Johnnie. He had stopped being a puppy by the time his young +master learned to walk. And when Johnnie was big enough to play around +the farm buildings his parents felt sure that he was safe so long as +"old Spot," as they called the dog, was with him. + +Spot thought himself years older than the small boy; or at least he +always acted so. If a goose hissed at little, toddling Johnnie Green, +old Spot would drive the goose away, barking in a loud voice, "Don't you +frighten this child!" If Johnnie went into the stable and wandered +within reach of the horses' heels Spot would take hold of his clothes +and draw him gently back out of danger. And if Johnnie strayed to the +duck pond the old dog wouldn't leave him even to chase the cat, but +stayed right there by the pond, ready to pull his young charge out of +the water in case he happened to fall in. + +Spot seemed to enjoy his task of taking care of Johnnie Green. It wasn't +all work. A great deal of pleasure went with his duties, for Johnnie +Green never wanted to do anything but play. And Spot wasn't so grown up +that he couldn't enjoy a lively romp. For that matter, he never did get +over his liking for boisterous fun. + +Still, there were some kinds of sport that he didn't care for. He wasn't +fond of having such things as tin cans tied to his tail. He disliked to +be harnessed to a toy wagon. He hated to have his ears pulled. Yet there +was only one offense that ever made him growl. When Johnnie Green took a +bone away from him Spot couldn't help warning him, with a deep, rumbling +grumbling, that he was going too far, even between friends. But he never +snapped at Johnnie. That growling was only Spot's way of teaching +Johnnie Green manners. + +Fond as he was of his young master, Spot did not care to spend all his +time playing childish games. There were grown-up things that he liked +to do--things in which a toddler like Johnnie Green couldn't take part. +Around the farmhouse there were always the cat to be teased and +squirrels to be chased into trees. In the pasture there were woodchucks +to be hunted; and even if he couldn't catch them it was fun to see those +fat fellows tumble into their holes. + +Then there were the cows. Spot loved to help Farmer Green drive them +home late in the afternoon. He acted very important when he went for the +cows, always pretending that it was hard work, though he really thought +it great sport. + +Sometimes when Johnnie Green wanted to play with Spot the old dog +couldn't be found anywhere. He might be over the hill, visiting a +neighbor's dog. He might be in the woods, looking for birds. He might +even have followed a wagon to the village. + +As Johnnie Green grew older he roamed through the woods with Spot. And +when Johnnie's father at last let him own a gun, old Spot was as pleased +as Johnnie was. + +"I've been waiting for this event for several years," Spot told the +Muley Cow. + +She did not share his delight. + +"For pity's sake, keep that boy and his gun out of the pasture!" she +bellowed. "It frightens me to have him come near me with his +blunderbuss." + +Old Spot gave her a pitying look. + +"It's plain," he said, "that you don't come from a sporting family, as I +do, or you'd never speak in that fashion of a nice new shotgun. You know +I'm a sporting dog. I'm a pointer. I point out the game for the +hunters." + +The Muley Cow gave a sort of snort and tossed her head. + +"It's lucky for Johnnie Green," she sniffed, "that I'm not a sporting +cow, or he might not have any butter on his bread." + + + + +II + +TEASING THE CAT + + +When Miss Kitty Cat came to the farmhouse to live she soon showed old +dog Spot that she could fight like a vixen. The first time he cornered +her she put some scratches on his nose that he never forgot. And after +that he always took great pains to keep out of reach of Miss Kitty's +claws. + +So long as Miss Kitty Cat ran away from him Spot would follow her, +yelping madly. But when she stopped, he stopped too, digging his own +claws into the dirt in order to leave a safe distance between Miss Kitty +and his nose. + +He quickly discovered that there were ways in which he could tease Miss +Kitty Cat that annoyed her greatly, while keeping his nose out of harm's +way. Growling always made her tail grow big. Barking made her spit at +him. But there was something else that angered her still more. When Spot +stood stock still one day, with his tail stuck straight out behind him, +and pointed at her with his nose, he made her almost frantic. + +"What are you pointing at with that long nose of yours?" Miss Kitty Cat +snarled. + +Spot didn't say a word. For the moment he didn't move any more than the +iron dog did, that stood in a yard on the outskirts of the village and +never so much as wagged his tail from one year's end to another. + +Somehow Spot's queer behavior gave Miss Kitty Cat an odd, creepy +feeling along her back. Her fur rose on end. She glared at Spot and spat +at him in a most unladylike fashion. + +Spot found it very hard to stand still and never let out a single yelp. +Once he almost whined. But he managed to stifle the sound. + +"If she swells up much more she's likely to burst," he thought. + +"Go away!" Miss Kitty scolded. "Don't you know better than to stare at a +lady?" + +Never an answer did old Spot make. + +It was a little more than Miss Kitty Cat could endure. With a yowl that +had in it something of anger and something of fear, too, she jumped off +the doorstep where she had been sitting and whisked around the corner of +the house. + +With Miss Kitty's first leap Spot came suddenly to life. He barked +joyfully and followed her. Miss Kitty Cat ran up a tree in the yard and +stayed there until Spot went off chuckling. + +"I'm glad I played that trick on her," he said to himself. "It seems to +bother her more than anything else I've ever tried." + +Thereafter Spot often pointed at Miss Kitty when he met her, either +inside the house or about the yard. And she never failed to fly into a +passion. + +"Such manners I never saw!" she spluttered when she talked one day with +a cat from the nearest farmhouse. + +"I'd soon cure the old dog of that unpleasant trick if he tried it on +me," her neighbor remarked. + +"What would you do?" Miss Kitty Cat wanted to know. + +"I'd chase him." + +"He can run faster than I can," said Miss Kitty. + +"When he's pointing at you, jump at him before he can turn around. If +you drag your claws across his nose just once he'll be careful after +that to look the other way when he sees you." + +"Your plan sounds as if it might be worth trying," said Miss Kitty +thoughtfully. + + + + +III + +A WILD DOG + + +Old dog Spot felt greatly pleased with himself. He had told everybody +that would listen to him how he could make Miss Kitty Cat angry just by +standing still and pointing at her. + +"You'd better leave that cat alone," the old horse Ebenezer advised him. +"Don't you remember how she clawed you when you cornered her in this +barn one day?" + +"I remember--yes!" Spot admitted, as he looked cross-eyed at his nose, +which still bore the marks of Miss Kitty's claws. "I'm careful not to +stand too near her," he explained. "I don't try to grab her. I just +stare at her. And she gets wild." + +"A wild cat," old Ebenezer warned him, "is a dangerous creature." + +"Nonsense!" said Spot. "She always sneaks away after I've pointed at her +for a few minutes. It's the funniest sight! If you could see it once +you'd know she was terribly afraid of me." + +"Nonsense!" said the old horse Ebenezer. But he couldn't make Spot +believe there was the slightest danger in teasing Miss Kitty Cat. + +"She always runs up a tree after I've been pointing at her," Spot went +on. + +"You'd better look out!" Ebenezer cautioned him. "She'll have you +climbing a tree the first thing you know." + +Well, that made Spot laugh. And he went out of the barn feeling even +more pleased with himself than ever. He was sorry that Miss Kitty Cat +wasn't in the yard. He felt just like bothering her. + +"I'll go up to the pasture and find me a woodchuck to chase," Spot said +to himself, for he was in such high spirits that he simply had to have +fun of some sort. + +First, however, he decided to stop and dig up a bone that he had buried +in the flower garden. So he trotted across the yard. And as he drew near +the farmhouse he changed his plans all at once. He forgot his bone and +he forgot his woodchuck, too. For he caught sight of something that had +escaped his eye before. Stretched on the ledge outside one of the +kitchen windows Miss Kitty Cat was enjoying a nap in the sunshine. + +"Aha!" said Spot very softly. "Aha! Here's a bit of luck." And he turned +sharply aside and hurried towards the house, to come to a dead stop +beneath the window and stand there motionless with his nose pointing at +the sleeping form of Miss Kitty. + +Though Spot didn't make the slightest noise the sleeper suddenly opened +her eyes. + +"_Tchah!_" she exclaimed, springing to her feet and glaring at her +annoyer. + +If the window hadn't been closed no doubt Miss Kitty would have slipped +through it into the kitchen. But there was no escape that way. + +"It's a pity," she muttered, "that a person can't take a cat nap without +being stared at by this old dog. I think it's about time I took my +neighbor's advice and taught him to keep his eyes and his nose where +they belong." + +Then Miss Kitty Cat jumped. She jumped off the window ledge straight at +old dog Spot, who was still gazing up at her from below. + +When he saw her coming he gave a startled yelp and tried to dodge her. +But he was too slow. Miss Kitty Cat landed squarely on his back and +clawed him savagely. + +Old Spot dashed half way across the farmyard, then dropped suddenly and +rolled over and over on the ground. + +The next instant he was on his feet again and tearing toward the barn. +Though Miss Kitty had dropped off his back and was already on her way to +the house he did not look around to see what had become of her. + +Spot bolted through the barn door and scurried into an empty stall, +where he jumped into the manger and cowered down in the hay that half +filled it, and moaned. + +[Illustration: Spot Bolted Through the Barn Door. + +(_Page 16_)] + +It was the stall next to the old horse Ebenezer's. And that mild fellow +peered over at him in wonder. "What has happened?" he inquired. + +"The cat scratched me," Spot told him. "I was teasing her and she wasn't +at all nice about it." + +"What were you doing--pointing at her?" Ebenezer asked him. + +"Yes!" + +"I suppose it made her wild," the old horse remarked. "And a wild cat is +a dangerous creature." + +Spot whined fretfully. He wished he could lick his wounds. But how can +one lick scratches when they are behind one's ears? + +"I was a wild dog for a few moments," he groaned. "I never dreamed she +would plump down on me like that." + +"Haven't you ever heard of it's raining cats and dogs?" Ebenezer said. +"Well, to-day it rained cats." + + + + +IV + +THE WOODPILE + + +Farmer Green always had a woodpile in the back yard. Sometimes it was +big. Sometimes it was little. Sometimes it was mostly made up of +four-foot logs. Sometimes the logs were all split and sawed, ready to +burn. + +When Farmer Green and the hired man had nothing more pressing to do they +set to work on the woodpile. It was surprising how fast the big sticks +grew into firewood under their axes and saws. + +One day they started sawing and splitting when Johnnie Green and old dog +Spot were roaming through the woods. And when Johnnie and Spot came +back home, just in time for dinner, they found a great heap of firewood +lying on the ground where there had been nothing but dirt when they +started for the woods some hours before. + +Old dog Spot ran straight to the woodpile and began sniffing and +scratching and whining. + +If Johnnie Green hadn't been hungry he would have paid more heed to +Spot's behavior. But the men had already gone into the house. And +Johnnie hurried after them, leaving Spot to nose about the woodpile as +he pleased. + +"Humph!" Spot growled. "Seems to me Johnnie Green might stay here a +while and help me. I've been chasing woodchucks and squirrels for him +all the morning. And I showed him a few birds, too." + +Spot never once left the woodpile while Johnnie was eating his dinner. +When Johnnie and his father and the hired man came out of the house +later old Spot began to yelp. He made frantic efforts to burrow down +beneath the pile of firewood, stopping now and then to run up to his +young master and bark. + +Now that he had had his dinner, Johnnie Green was all ready for any sort +of fun. + +"Spot smells some kind of game in the woodpile!" Johnnie exclaimed. + +"Perhaps he does," said his father. "But I don't see how he's going to +get hold of it unless we move the woodpile. And I don't believe we'll +quit work to help the old dog catch a chipmunk--or maybe a rat." + +"Come on!" Spot begged Johnnie, as plainly as he could bark. "Move some +of this wood for me! There's something under it that I want to get my +teeth on." + +"All right! All right!" Johnnie told him. And to his father Johnnie +said, "Do you care if I throw some of the stove wood over on the other +side of the pile?" + +"If you're going to move any wood--" Farmer Green replied with a wink at +the hired man--"if you're going to move any wood you might as well move +it into the woodshed and pile it up neatly." + +When he heard that suggestion Johnnie Green looked very glum. For a +minute or two he thought he wouldn't bother to help old Spot find what +he was looking for. But Spot teased and teased. And Johnnie couldn't +help being curious to know what it was that Spot was after. + +"Maybe there's a muskrat here," he said to himself. "If there is, I'll +have his skin to pay me for my trouble." + + + + +V + +A DEEP SECRET + + +Old Spot wouldn't let Johnnie Green alone. He kept jumping against him +and whining, begging him to move some of the wood, because there was +something very, very interesting beneath it. + +Still Johnnie hesitated. He hadn't intended to do any work that +afternoon. + +"After all," he thought, "I'll have to help carry in this wood sooner or +later. Really, I might as well take some of it into the woodshed now." + +To Spot's delight he bent over and began gathering an armful of wood. + +"Wow! Wow!" Spot howled. "Thank goodness I'm going to get what's under +this pile, after all." + +Johnnie Green carried armful after armful of wood from the yard and +piled it in the shed back of the kitchen. All the time old dog Spot was +urging him with yelps and barks and whines and moans to move faster. And +all the time Johnnie Green was working as spryly as he could. + +Whatever it might be that Spot wanted to get under the woodpile in the +yard, Johnnie hoped it wouldn't escape through the crevices between the +sticks. + +"I don't want to get myself all tired out for nothing," Johnnie said to +himself. "I was going fishing this afternoon." + +While Johnnie hurried back and forth between the woodpile and the shed +Spot clawed away at the edge of the pile. He thrust his nose beneath +loose sticks and pushed them about. He uttered pitiful sounds. + +"I never saw that dog take on so," Farmer Green remarked. + +"And I never saw Johnnie work so hard," said the hired man. "When +there's wood to be carried in he's usually a mile away." + +Farmer Green laughed. + +"He'll quit as soon as Spot gets what he wants," he replied. "It's too +bad this sort of thing doesn't happen oftener. Except for driving the +cows home, this is the first time I ever knew a boy and a dog to do much +besides play, when they're together." + +Turkey Proudfoot, the huge gobbler, came hurrying around the corner of +the barn to see what was going on. He had an idea that he ruled the +farmyard. + +"What's all this row about?" he gobbled at old Spot. "Have you lost +something?" + +"Yes!" Spot told him. "Johnnie Green's helping me to find it. We're +moving part of the woodpile." + +"What did you lose?" Turkey Proudfoot demanded. + +Old Spot pretended not to hear him. He began barking again at Johnnie +Green. + +Mr. Catbird, who loved to play jokes on everybody, started mewing from +his hiding place under the lilac bushes. He had noticed Spot's antics. +And he hoped to fool him into thinking there was a strange cat around +the place. For Spot was a famous chaser of all cats--so long as they +kept running away from him and didn't turn around and try to scratch +him. + +To Mr. Catbird's astonishment old Spot paid no heed to his catcalls. + +"This is queer," Mr. Catbird muttered. "Whenever I've mewed before he +has always come a-running. There must be something uncommonly +interesting under that woodpile." + + + + +VI + +BURIED TREASURE + + +Henrietta Hen, who was one of the busiest busybodies on the farm, came +along and stood and watched old dog Spot while he dug and scratched and +howled about the woodpile. + +"What on earth is the matter with you?" she asked him. "I don't make +half that fuss when I've just laid an egg and really have something to +cackle about." + +"I've no time to talk with you now," Spot told Henrietta Hen. "Can't you +see that Johnnie Green and I are moving the woodpile?" + +"Why are you doing that?" Henrietta inquired. + +"There's something beneath it that I want," he said hurriedly. + +Henrietta Hen gave a sudden start. + +"I wonder if it's a weasel!" she exclaimed. And since he didn't reply, +and she had learned to be mortally afraid of weasels, she ran off +squawking, to hide high up in the haymow in the barn. + +Johnnie Green hadn't carried away much more of the woodpile when old dog +Spot began to dig furiously in the dirt. And in a few seconds' time he +unearthed a big bone. + +It was a choice bone. He had buried it several days before. And when he +came back from the woods and found a woodpile on top of the place where +he had hidden it, it was no wonder that he made such a howdy-do. + +Johnnie Green looked much upset as he stood stock still and saw Spot +trot away with the bone in his mouth. + +"So _that_ was what he was after all the time!" he cried at last. "I +hoped it was a muskrat." + +His father and the hired man laughed and laughed. + +"I don't see any joke," Johnnie grumbled. "Here I've piled up wood +enough in the shed to last a month. And I might have been fishing all +the time." + +"Well," said his father, "whose fault is it?" + +"Old Spot's, I should think!" Johnnie replied. + +"I don't see how you can blame him," said Farmer Green. "Suppose you had +buried a piece of strawberry shortcake here, expecting to eat it for +your dinner. And suppose there wasn't another piece as good--or as +big--to be had anywhere. And suppose you had come back from a tramp in +the woods, hungry as--well, hungry as you were this noon. Wouldn't you +want that piece of shortcake? If you could get old Spot to move the wood +off it, wouldn't you be glad to have him do it?" + +"Maybe!" Johnnie admitted. "Maybe! But Spot wasn't after a piece of +strawberry shortcake. He was after an old bone. And he fooled me." + +"I should say that you fooled yourself," his father retorted. "Anyhow, +we're going to have strawberry shortcake for supper to-night. I heard +your mother say so. And she made a special cake for you." + +That news made Johnnie Green look a good deal less gloomy. In fact he +almost smiled. + +"I _was_ going to give you that old fishing rod of mine if you'd help +carry in the wood," Farmer Greene went on. "And you _could_ take it now +and go fishing, if you thought you could be home in time for supper." + +"Hurrah!" Johnnie Green suddenly jumped up and down. "Hurrah!" he cried. +"And thank you very much!" + +And when, an hour later, old Spot came swimming across the creek and +joined Johnnie on the further bank, and shook drops of water all over +his young master, Johnnie Green only patted him and called him a "good +old fellow." + + + + +VII + +SWIMMING + + +Old dog Spot liked boys. Somehow they always managed to have a lively +time; and usually they seemed glad to have him join them in their +sports. + +He never could understand why Johnnie Green and the neighbors' boys +didn't want him to play baseball with them. Spot loved to chase a ball. +And sometimes when he was watching a game and somebody hit a slow +grounder he would rush out and grab the ball and run with it. + +Then all the boys would run after him and try to catch him. That always +pleased Spot mightily. And the longer the chase lasted the happier he +was. But it was different with the boys. The harder they had to run +after Spot before they got the ball away from him the more out of +patience they became. + +Whenever Spot took part in a ball game like that Johnnie Green usually +put an end to his fun, for the time being, by tying him to something or +other--perhaps a fence or a tree. But even that was better--so Spot +thought--than being sent home in disgrace. + +Luckily there were other sports in which Spot could romp with the boys +as much as he pleased, without anybody's objecting. Nutting in the woods +in the fall; skating on the mill pond or coasting down the long hill +past Farmer Green's house in the winter; berrying in the summer--and +swimming! Those were only a few of the jolly times that Spot and the +boys enjoyed together. + +Perhaps, of them all, both Spot and the boys liked swimming the most. As +for Spot, he didn't care _where_ he swam, so long as the water was wet. +Broad Brook, Swift River, Black Creek, or the mill pond--any one of +those places suited him as well as another. The boys, however, preferred +the mill pond. It was deep enough, by the dam, to suit the best +swimmers; and it was shallow enough at the upper end for those that were +just learning. + +All the boys thought it great fun when a wagon clattered over the +bridge, which crossed right above the dam. Then they ducked into the +water, with only their heads out, and shouted more or less politely at +whoever was passing. + +At such times Spot barked, because that seemed to him the gentlemanly +thing to do. But he never could see any sense in jumping into the water +if he happened to be out on the bank when a wagon came along. + +The boys threw sticks about the pond for Spot to fetch back to them. +They raced with him. They upset him when he was sunning himself on the +big rock near the dam, and they laughed to see the splash he made when +he struck the water. + +No matter what tricks the boys played on him, Spot never lost his +temper. He took everything good-naturedly. And one day, when Johnnie +Green and his friends were swimming in the mill pond he even took a +bundle of clothes from beneath a big hickory on the bank. Yes! Spot +caught up somebody's clothes in his mouth and started along the road +with them. + +He was surprised to hear a terrible outcry from the water. + + + + +VIII + +WHAT RED DID + + +Old dog Spot was trotting down the road from the mill pond, carrying a +bundle of somebody's clothes in his mouth. When he heard frantic shouts +from the water, where Johnnie Green and his friends were swimming, he +quickened his pace. + +One of the swimmers was known as "Red." And it was a favorite trick of +his to tie hard knots in other boys' garments while the owners of them +were in the pond. Usually he wet the knots, because wetting them made +them harder to untie. + +On this day somebody had turned the tables on Red. Somebody had crept +up behind the big old hickory tree on the bank and had knotted Red's +clothes tightly. That was why old Spot found a bundle under the tree, +all tied up and ready to carry off. + +It was no wonder that the boys began to yell when they saw Spot pick up +those clothes and calmly trot away with them. It was no wonder that they +swam to the bank and scrambled up to the big hickory to find out whose +clothes were missing. + +When they saw that Red was the unlucky one, everybody else began to +whoop and laugh. + +But not Red! He let out a frightened scream and started to follow old +dog Spot. + +To the great delight of his companions, the rattle of a wagon and the +thud of a horse's feet sounded from up the road. And since some one must +soon drive over the bridge, which crossed right above the dam, Red +scurried back again and dived into the pond, into which Johnnie Green +and the others had already plunged. + +Red rose to the surface spluttering. And finding that he could touch +bottom with his feet, he stood with his carroty head out of water, +watching for the wagon. + +It soon came into view, out of the woods, and the horse that drew it +thundered upon the bridge. The horse was old Ebenezer; and Farmer Green +was driving him. + +"Hi!" Red shouted. "Stop! Wait a minute!" + +Johnnie Green's father pulled Ebenezer to a halt. + +"What's going on here?" he inquired. + +"Spot took my clothes," Red explained. "He's run down the road with +them. Get them for me--please!" + +Hoots and catcalls from the other boys followed Red's speech, which was +a wonderfully polite one--for him. + +Farmer Green couldn't help laughing. + +"I'm going to the village," he said. "If I find any clothes along the +road I'll pick them up and put them in the wagon. And if you're here +when I come back I'll give them to you." + +"He'll be here!" Johnnie Green shouted. "Red'll wait for you." + +"If you hurry, maybe you can catch Spot," Red called to Farmer Green as +he drove off. "I can't stay here all day." + +"You'll have to," the boys jeered. + +"Maybe you'll have to wait here till dark," Johnnie Green suggested. + +"I won't!" Red replied, as he swam towards the bank. "Your dog took my +clothes," he cried as he ran up to the big hickory. "And I'm going to +take yours." + +[Illustration: Spot Started After Frisky Squirrel. + +(_Page 42_)] + +It was Johnnie's turn to yell then. He was on the further side of the +mill pond. And long before he could cross it Red had snatched up +Johnnie's clothes from the shade of the hickory and dodged into the +bushes with them. + + + + +IX + +A BUNDLE OF CLOTHES + + +Old dog Spot was trotting down the road with the bundle of clothes in +his mouth--the clothes which belonged to Johnnie Green's friend Red, who +was one of the swimming party in the mill pond. + +Somewhat to Spot's surprise the boys had not come tearing down the road +after him. + +"It's queer," he said to himself. "I wonder why they don't follow me. +This would be fun if they'd only chase me." + +Just then he happened to spy a squirrel on a stone wall. Spot promptly +made for this gentleman. Keeping a firm hold on his bundle, he plunged +through a tangle of blackberry bushes that grew beside the road. + +The thorny brambles caught at Spot's bundle and held it fast. + +"_G-r-r-r!_" he growled. "I don't want to lose sight of that fat fellow. +Unless I'm mistaken, it was Frisky Squirrel. And I've had an eye out for +him for a longtime." + +After a few frantic tugs he let go of the bundle of clothes and dashed +after the squirrel. + +It was Frisky Squirrel. He ran up a tree while Spot was struggling in +the blackberry thicket. And he scampered from one tree top to another +while Spot followed beneath him, barking furiously. + +At last Frisky stopped and sat on a limb, to chatter and scold at old +dog Spot. + +"What are you doing so far from home?" he demanded after a while. + +"I've been swimming in the mill pond with the boys," said old dog Spot. + +"Then you'd better go back there at once, unless you want a punishing +later," Frisky Squirrel told him. "I can hear them whistling for you." + +It wasn't far from the mill pond--that place where they were talking, +for Spot's chase of Frisky Squirrel had led him back up the hill again. +Now Spot cocked his ear in the direction of the pond and listened. Sure +enough! he could hear Johnnie Green's whistle. + +"I'll see you again," he told Frisky Squirrel. + +"Not if I see you first!" Frisky muttered as old Spot started through +the woods for the mill pond. + +"Come here!" Johnnie Green greeted him sternly when, a few minutes +later, he appeared on the bank. "Where are those clothes that you +took?" + +Spot wagged his tail. He acted very, very friendly. Nobody would have +supposed, from his looks, that he had stolen anyone's clothes. + +"This is no joke," Johnnie Green declared. "I haven't anything to wear. +Get those clothes and bring them back here!" + +"I don't know what's the matter with Johnnie," Spot thought. "I didn't +touch his things. I don't see why he's so angry." + +"Good old Spot!" Johnnie coaxed. "Find the clothes! There's a good +fellow!" + +He waded toward the bank and snapped his fingers at Spot. + +The old dog edged away. Johnnie _talked_ pleasantly enough. But he had +a queer look in his eye. Spot thought it safer to keep out of his +clutches. + +Just then the miller came driving up the hill on a load of corn. When he +saw the boys in the pond he stopped his horses. + +"Anybody here lost any clothes?" he asked, holding a bundle up in his +hand. "I found these by the side of the road. I noticed them hanging on +a blackberry bush." + +"I'll take 'em!" Johnnie Green cried. "They belong to Red. But you can +leave them with me." + +The miller tossed the bundle to him. + +The boy Red, wearing Johnnie's clothes, was watching everything that +went on, from behind a tree. He waited until Johnnie had untied the +hard, wet knots in the clothes. Then he stepped out from his hiding +place. + +"Let's swap!" he said. And while they were swapping, old dog Spot took a +swim in the mill pond. Somehow he felt that all was well again. + + + + +X + +DROPPING HINTS + + +On the table in the kitchen of the farmhouse was a leg of mutton. Farmer +Green had left it there and gone away. And Mrs. Green had stepped out of +the kitchen--nobody knew for how long. + +At least old dog Spot and Miss Kitty Cat didn't know. They were left +there in the kitchen alone--alone with the leg of mutton. + +"Ahem!" said Miss Kitty Cat to old dog Spot. "Don't you think you'd +better go and see what's become of Farmer Green?" + +She was unusually pleasant, for her. As a rule she had little to say to +Spot, except to scold at him. + +"I'm comfortable here, thank you," Spot answered. "Farmer Green must be +out of sight by this time. So I won't bother to chase after him." + +"You could smell out his track, couldn't you?" Miss Kitty Cat suggested. + +"Perhaps!" said Spot. "Perhaps! But as I said, I'm comfortable here. I'm +going to stay right here in the kitchen." Out of the corner of his eye +he looked at Miss Kitty Cat. He could see that she was somewhat +displeased by something or other. Her tail was beginning to swell +slightly. And that was a sure sign that she was losing her temper. But +when she spoke again her voice was as sweet as honey. + +"What a beautiful day to go hunting!" she remarked as she sprang into a +chair beside the window and looked out. "The woods must be full of +birds." + +"No doubt!" said Spot dryly. "I went hunting early this morning; and +there was plenty of game then." + +"Ha!" Miss Kitty exclaimed suddenly. "Do I hear the cows in the +cornfield?" + +Now, Spot loved to drive the cows out of the corn. But for a wonder, he +never even moved an ear. + +"I hope the sheep haven't scrambled over the stone wall," Miss Kitty Cat +mewed. "If they have, Farmer Green would want you to get them back into +the pasture for him." + +"Yes!" said Spot with a yawn. "I'm sure he would. And if he needs me he +knows where he can find me." + +Miss Kitty Cat's tail was growing bigger every moment. And the fur on +her back was beginning to stand on end. Still she managed to speak in +her very softest voice. + +"Did you know--" she inquired--"did you know that Johnnie Green had gone +swimming in the mill pond?" + +"No!" said Spot. "Has he? I hope he'll have a good time. I had a fine +swim yesterday in Black Creek. And I almost caught a muskrat there." + +As he spoke he rose and walked across the big, square kitchen and +stretched himself out on the floor right in front of the table where the +leg of mutton lay. + +At that Miss Kitty Cat gave a terrible cry of rage. + +"I know why you won't leave the kitchen!" she yowled. "You think I'm +going to eat some of that mutton. And that's why you've lain down +alongside it." + + + + +XI + +MRS. GREEN'S MISTAKE + + +Old dog Spot never moved from the place where he was lying in front of +the kitchen table. Although Miss Kitty Cat had told him angrily that he +thought she was going to enjoy a luncheon on the leg of mutton that was +on the kitchen table, he didn't lose his temper. + +"Pardon me!" he said. "You are mistaken. I don't think you're going to +have even a taste of this mutton--not while I'm in the kitchen!" + +Miss Kitty Cat was furious. She had done her best to make Spot go away. +She had dropped a number of hints to get him out of doors. But Spot +hadn't taken a single one of them. + +"You're a meddlesome old dog," she scolded. "I've a good mind to drag my +claws across your nose." + +Spot grinned at her. + +"If you do," he warned her, "I shall yelp. Then Mrs. Green will hurry +back here to see what's going on. And you certainly won't get any mutton +while she's in the kitchen. I happen to know that the family's going to +have that leg of mutton for dinner to-morrow." + +"There ought to be enough of it for everybody," Miss Kitty Cat grumbled. +"If I ate a bit of it nobody would ever miss it. And after I've finished +my meal there would be nothing to prevent your helping yourself. I +certainly shouldn't stand in your way--nor lie in it, either." + +Old dog Spot couldn't help sniffing. + +"I never snatch any food when Mrs. Green's back is turned," he told Miss +Kitty Cat severely. "She feeds me all she thinks I ought to eat. And if +I want more, I hunt for it in the woods and fields." + +"Don't I hunt?" Miss Kitty Cat hissed. "I keep the house free of rats +and mice. Mrs. Green could well spare me a bit of that mutton in return +for all I do for her.... I'll thank you, sir, to move away from that +table!" + +Old Spot began to look somewhat anxious. He had once felt Miss Kitty's +sharp claws on his nose. And he didn't care to be scratched by her +again. But there was the leg of mutton! He had to guard that for Mrs. +Green. + +"I wish Mrs. Green would come back," he said to himself. "I don't want a +row with this Cat person." + +Miss Kitty suddenly spat at him. + +Spot knew that that was a danger sign. And he gave a few short, sharp +barks. + +"There!" he muttered. "That ought to fetch Mrs. Green. If she's in the +house she can't help hearing me." + +Spot was right. In about a minute Farmer Green's wife came hurrying into +the kitchen. + +Old dog Spot jumped up and wagged his tail and gave a low-pitched bark +as if to say, "I've saved your leg of mutton for you, Mrs. Green." + +But she didn't understand him. + +"You rascal!" Mrs. Green exclaimed. "You've been teasing the cat again. +I can tell by the way she acts. Out you go!" And she opened the door. + +Spot went. + + + + +XII + +RIGHTING A WRONG + + +Poor Spot! He felt so mournful that he lifted up his muzzle and howled. +Farmer Green's wife had just ordered him out of the kitchen. She thought +he had been teasing Miss Kitty Cat. And instead he had kept Miss Kitty +from tasting the leg of mutton that lay on the kitchen table. + +"It's a sad, sad world!" he howled. "I thought Mrs. Green would praise +me. But she didn't. She scolded me!" + +"Sakes alive!" cried Henrietta Hen as she rushed up to him in the +farmyard. "What's the matter with you? Are you trying to bay the moon in +the daytime?" + +Turkey Proudfoot gobbled at Spot and bade him be still. Turkey Proudfoot +was very pompous, for he had an idea that he ruled the farmyard. + +Old dog Spot felt so meek, after the scolding that Mrs. Green gave him, +that he couldn't find a word to say to anybody that spoke to him. + +"I've expected this for some time," the Rooster told Henrietta Hen. +"Mrs. Green has put old Spot out of the farmhouse. And Farmer Green +intends to put him off the farm. Everyone agrees that he's a nuisance. +It's a wonder the folks in the Green family have kept him all these +years." + +Well, old dog Spot couldn't help hearing what the Rooster said. And he +hadn't even heart enough to answer that impertinent boaster. + +"Maybe he knows what he's talking about," Spot groaned. "I wish Johnnie +Green would come home. _He'd_ stand up for me, if nobody else will." + +Then something happened all at once that helped Spot's spirits +amazingly. The woodshed door flew open and Miss Kitty Cat all but flew +out of it. Farmer Green's wife appeared in the doorway with a broom in +her hand. And with it she helped Miss Kitty into the yard. She helped +her so much that Miss Kitty never touched the broad stone doorstep at +all. + +"Scat!" cried Mrs. Green. "I don't want any thieves in my kitchen." + +It was quite plain that something had displeased Mrs. Green--something +in which Miss Kitty Cat had had a part. And old dog Spot thought he knew +what that something was. + +"Ha!" he barked at Miss Kitty. "So Mrs. Green found you out!" And he +ran at Miss Kitty and chased her into a tree. She sat herself down upon +a limb and glared at him. + +"Wow!" he yelped. "You must have sampled that leg of mutton when you +thought Mrs. Green's back was turned. And she must have caught you in +the act." + +Though that was exactly what had happened, Miss Kitty Cat wouldn't say a +word. But she _looked_ whole sentences at him. + +Soon Farmer Green's wife came to the door again and called, "Come, Spot! +Come, Spot!" + +He hurried up to her and caught the piece of meat that she tossed to +him. + +It was mutton. + + + + +XIII + +HUNTING + + +To please old dog Spot Johnnie Green had only to ask him this question, +"Want to go hunting, Spot?" + +When he heard that, Spot would leave anything he happened to be doing, +or give up anything he had intended to do. Perhaps he had expected to +dig up and gnaw a choice bone that he had buried somewhere. It might be +that he had been planning to chase the cat, or tease Turkey Proudfoot in +order to hear him gobble. There wasn't one of those pleasures that Spot +wouldn't gladly forgo for the sake of going hunting with Johnnie Green. + +When Johnnie Green's father first gave him a shotgun Spot went almost +frantic with delight. And they lost no time in starting for the woods. +Johnnie Green trudged up the lane with the gun on his shoulder, while +Spot ran on ahead of him, returning now and then as if to urge Johnnie +to hurry. + +They hadn't been long in the woods when Spot suddenly stood still and +pointed ahead of him with his nose. + +Try as he would, Johnnie couldn't see what Spot was pointing at. So he +took a few steps forward until he came abreast of the old dog. Then all +at once there was a rumbling _whir_ that sounded to Johnnie Green almost +as loud as thunder. A brownish streak flashed from the ground just ahead +of him. + +He knew that it was a grouse rising. And he fired. + +Johnnie Green missed the bird. It had given him such a start that he was +still shaking long afterward. He was disappointed, but not less downcast +than old Spot. + +"Never mind, old boy!" Johnnie said. "We'll have better luck next time!" + +But they didn't. Twice more that same thing happened. And after the +third miss old Sport turned tail and ran away. + +"I don't see what's the matter with that boy," he muttered. "I've +pointed three birds for him. And he has let every one of them get +away.... There's no fun in that kind of shooting." + +After that Johnnie couldn't get Spot to go into the woods with him. +Whenever Johnnie appeared in the yard with his gun, Spot promptly +vanished. + +So Johnnie spent a good deal of time shooting at old tin cans which he +set on a fence post or a stone wall. And it wasn't long before he found +he could hit them at every shot. + +At last he came home from the woods one day with a grouse. When he +showed it to Spot the old dog actually began teasing him to go hunting. + +The next day they set out together for the woods. And Johnnie knocked +down the very first grouse that Spot found for him. + +Spot brought the bird to Johnnie and laid it proudly at his feet. + +"Did Johnnie Green ever give you any of the birds that you find for +him?" Miss Kitty Cat inquired when Spot was boasting a bit about the +sport he and Johnnie had in the woods. "No!" she said, answering her own +question. "You're silly to hunt for him. I prefer to do my hunting +alone. Then nobody can take the game away from me." + +Old dog Spot walked away from her, to the barn. + +"Miss Kitty Cat doesn't know what real hunting is," he told the old +horse Ebenezer. "She creeps up on small birds after dark, when they are +asleep." + +"And you creep up on big birds in the daytime," said old Ebenezer, "so +Johnnie Green can shoot them." + +Being a sporting dog, Spot couldn't see anything queer in that remark. + +"Certainly!" he said. + + + + +XIV + +MISSING HIS MASTER + + +Johnnie Green went visiting one summer, after haying was done. Much to +old dog Spot's disgust, Johnnie did not take him on this journey. But it +was not Spot's fault that he was left at home. Had he not been shut up +in the harness room in the barn when Johnnie drove the old horse +Ebenezer out of the yard Spot would have followed beneath the buggy. + +It was hours before Farmer Green set Spot free. When Farmer Green at +last flung open the door of the harness room Spot rushed out and dashed +into the road. To his sorrow he couldn't smell a trace of Ebenezer's +track. So many other horses had passed by the house since morning that +Spot couldn't even tell which way Ebenezer had gone. + +In desperation Spot ran up the road a little way. Then he turned around +and ran down the hill as far as the gristmill. + +By the time he reached the mill pond Spot gave up the chase. He knew it +was hopeless. + +And seeing several of Johnnie Green's friends swimming in the pond, he +joined them. + +The boys welcomed him with shouts. And the water was just as cool as +ever. But somehow Spot didn't find swimming as pleasant as he always had +before. He missed Johnnie Green. There wasn't another boy there that +gave Spot the same thrill by whistling to him, or patting him, or +romping with him that Johnnie Green gave him. + +After a while Spot shook himself and trotted back to Farmer Green's +place. He felt homesick. But when he reached the house somehow he felt +worse than ever. It was terribly quiet. It was just like a Sunday +morning, when everybody was at church. Farmer Green and the hired man +were working in the fields. Mrs. Green was busy in the house--too busy +to stop and talk with old Spot. + +"It's frightfully dull here," Spot groaned. "I wish somebody would +shout." And just to break the silence he lifted up his nose and tried to +bark. + +It was far from a cheerful noise that he made, for he only succeeded in +giving a mournful howl. And that sad sound made Spot gloomier than ever. + +"Well," he muttered, "there's nothing else to do, so I'll go and dig up +that bone that I buried in the orchard last week." + +He found the bone where he had hidden it. Yet it did not look half as +inviting as it had when he covered it with dirt a few days before. He +stared at it dully. Then he put it back in its hole and pawed the dirt +over it again. + +He found no pleasure in anything. No longer was there any fun in chasing +woodchucks. The cows might have stayed in the cornfield all day long and +Spot wouldn't have bothered them. He didn't even get any sport out of +teasing Miss Kitty Cat. + +Strangest of all, he couldn't find any comfort in lying down for a quiet +nap. The moment he tried to pass the time away in that fashion he began +to think about Johnnie Green and what a nice boy he was. And then he +would get up and walk around and around the house. Hour after hour Spot +spent in that fashion. + +It wasn't many days before he had worn a path in the grass all the way +around the farmhouse. When Farmer Green noticed it he didn't scold Spot. +He patted his head and said, "Cheer up, old boy! Johnnie'll be back one +of these days." + +Old dog Spot wagged his tail feebly. But it was hard to wait. + +"It wouldn't be so bad," he said to himself, "if there was only somebody +to play with. If there was a puppy here on the farm I'd have some one +that would be ready to romp whenever I felt like it. And then Johnnie +could go away visiting every summer and I wouldn't miss him half as +much." + +Spot forgot that a puppy wouldn't stay a puppy forever. + + + + +XV + +A BASKETFUL OF FUN + + +Johnnie Green came home from his visit at last. The moment Spot heard +the old horse Ebenezer come jogging up the road he tore out of the yard +and ran, barking, to meet the travellers. He frisked about the buggy, he +sprang up and touched Ebenezer's nose with his own, he tried to jump +into the buggy beside Johnnie Green. + +Spot made such a racket that everybody in the farmhouse knew that +Johnnie had returned. The family were just sitting down for dinner. And +they all hurried out into the yard. For old dog Spot was not the only +one that had missed Johnnie while he was away on his visit. + +Johnnie leaped out of the buggy, to be met by a smother of pawings and +nosings from old Spot. + +"Now, Spot--you behave!" said Johnnie Green. "I'm hungry and I want to +get my dinner." + +Spot paid not the slightest heed to his young master's objections. +"You'll never know how I've missed you," he barked. "And if I want to +romp with you for a few minutes, I'm going to; and nobody can stop me." + +After a little Spot grew a bit calmer. He let Johnnie Green turn to the +buggy and lift out a covered basket. + +Spot promptly stuck his nose against it. Then he drew back quickly. + +"Wow!" he exclaimed. "This basket smells _doggy!_" + +Spot followed Johnnie into the house. And in the woodshed Johnnie opened +the basket and brought out of it a soft, silky, blinking--puppy! + +"Wow!" said Spot again. "It was no wonder that I noticed a doggy smell +about that basket." And then he said, "G-r-r-r!" + +Yes! Spot actually growled at the little newcomer. For the moment he +forgot that he had been wishing, for days, that there was a puppy about +the place. To tell the truth, he couldn't help feeling the least bit +jealous of Johnnie Green's new pet. + +In a day or two, however, old Spot liked the puppy as much as anybody +else did. He proved to be a playful little chap. And the older he grew +the more fun-loving he became. + +[Illustration: Sometimes the Puppy Would Bite Spot's Tail. + +(_Page 73_)] + +There were no more dull days for old dog Spot. When school opened in +the fall he no longer moped around the farmhouse, waiting for Johnnie to +come home. The puppy kept him too busy to notice Johnnie's absence. + +At first Spot found it very pleasant to roll on the ground with his +small friend, and pretend to bite him, and upset him off his somewhat +wobbly legs. But as time passed Spot began to weary of never-ending +play. There were moments when Spot wanted to lie still and doze. But as +soon as he had settled himself for a nap the puppy was sure to come +bouncing up and sprawl all over him. He would seize one of Spot's long +ears between his teeth and give it a bit of a nip. Sometimes he would +even pull Spot's tail. + +Of course nobody can sleep under such interruptions. Spot learned that +when he wanted to rest he had to hide in some place where the puppy +couldn't follow him. And as the puppy became bigger Spot found it harder +to slip away from him. The youngster would trail Spot into the barn and +even as far as the hay-stack in the meadow. + +Once the old dog had _wished_ for a puppy. Now, however, he could +scarcely wait for this lively youngster to grow into a dog. + +A whole year passed before Spot had any peace again. And when another +summer had come, and Johnnie Green went visiting again, Spot muttered +with a deep groan: + +"I hope Johnnie will have sense enough not to bring another puppy with +him when he comes home." + + + + +XVI + +MRS. WOODCHUCK RUNS + + +Mrs. Woodchuck was on her way home, waddling across the pasture. She had +been making a call on Aunt Polly Woodchuck, the herb doctor, who lived +under the hill. They had talked over all the news in the neighborhood. +And Mrs. Woodchuck had her mind on some gossip that Aunt Polly had told +her. Otherwise she might have noticed sooner that old dog Spot had spied +her. + +If he hadn't spoken he would certainly have caught her that time. For +Mrs. Woodchuck was fat and couldn't run as fast as she used to. But when +Spot's keen nose caught a scent that told him there was one of the +Woodchuck family not far away he just had to give one long-drawn howl. + +When Mrs. Woodchuck heard that dreadful sound she scurried for home. She +dropped her knitting and the apple that Aunt Polly had given her. And +she only managed to pop down the hole that was her front door with Spot +scarcely a length behind her. + +"Just missed her!" the old dog yelped. "How unlucky!" + +"Just escaped!" Mrs. Woodchuck gasped. "How fortunate!" + +She knew that she was safe. So she took her own time in crawling through +the long hall that led to her one-room dwelling. + +"Dear me!" she exclaimed as she entered her underground home and saw +that it was empty. "Mr. Woodchuck and Billy are away. I must hurry and +warn them that old dog Spot is prowling about the pasture." + +Meanwhile Spot lingered at Mrs. Woodchuck's front door. He scratched in +the dirt that was thrown up before it. He sniffed at the tracks that the +Woodchuck family had made all about. + +"I know now where that fat Mrs. Woodchuck lives," he growled. "I'll keep +an eye on this hole. Some day I may be able to get between her and her +home. And then--" + +He did not finish what he was saying, but licked his lips as if he had +just enjoyed a hearty meal. + +For a long time Spot waited there. He could hardly have expected Mrs. +Woodchuck to come out and invite him to enter her house. The most that +she was likely to do would be to creep not quite to the upper end of +her front hall and peer out to see what she could through the small +round opening. + +"That dame must have a family," Spot thought. "I'd like to meet +them--whether there's one youngster or seven. The more the merrier for +me." + +If Spot had happened to look around just then he would have had his wish +granted. Or if the wind had been blowing the other way he could have +told, without looking around, that Mrs. Woodchuck's son Billy was gazing +at him, with popeyes, from behind a near-by hummock. He had meandered +homewards, pausing here and there to nip off a clover head or tear at a +plantain leaf, little dreaming that old dog Spot was right in his +door-yard. + +When he caught sight of the unwelcome caller Billy sat up and took one +good, long look at him. + +Then Mrs Woodchuck's son turned and ran down the hillside as fast as his +short legs would carry him. He didn't stop until he had reached the +fence between the pasture and the meadow. Dashing in among the brakes +that grew deep along the fence he cowered under the cover that they gave +him. + +All at once he felt quite ashamed of himself. + +"I almost forgot the rule!" he chattered. "The rule says, 'When there's +a Dog about, warn everybody!'" + + + + +XVII + +THE DANGER SIGNAL + + +Billy Woodchuck remembered, after he had fled from old dog Spot, that he +ought to warn his family and his friends. So he sat up, stuck his head +out of the tangle of brakes where he had hidden, and gave the danger +signal, a sharp whistle. + +"Dear me!" he said. "I fear Father and Mother won't hear that. And if +they go home they'll run upon old dog Spot. And then there's no knowing +what might happen." + +He knew that his mother had gone to see Aunt Polly Woodchuck, who lived +under the hill. And he knew that his father, with a few cronies, was +enjoying a feast in Farmer Green's clover patch. + +"I'll hurry over to Aunt Polly's first," he decided, "and tell Mother to +beware the Dog." + +So Billy Woodchuck scampered off toward the hill where Aunt Polly +Woodchuck made her home. When he knocked at Aunt Polly's door and +learned that Mrs. Woodchuck had left some time before Billy was much +upset. + +"Perhaps she went to the clover patch," Aunt Polly suggested. "You know +your father sometimes forgets to go home unless somebody goes for him." + +Well, Billy started off again. And he hadn't gone far when he heard a +sound that made him sit up and listen. Like all his family, he had very +sharp ears. And now, after cocking his head on one side for a few +moments, he knew that what he heard was old dog Spot grumbling and +growling. + +"My goodness!" Billy Woodchuck gasped. "He's left our house. And if I +don't look out he'll catch me." + +At almost the same instant old Spot paused and sniffed the air. + +"Ha!" he cried. "I smell a Woodchuck. And if I'm not mistaken it's a +different Woodchuck from the one I chased a little while ago." + +Billy Woodchuck and Spot began to run at the same time. Billy headed for +home; and Spot headed for him. + +Again old dog Spot was just a bit too late. Billy Woodchuck darted into +the hole in the hillside not a second too soon. He could hear Spot +panting close behind him. + +"Such luck!" Spot growled. "There's another that's got away from me. +There's the second one that I've run into that hole. I suppose they're +chuckling inside their house and making all manner of fun of me." + +The old dog was mistaken. Billy Woodchuck was not chuckling. He found +nobody at home. It was plain that his parents were still abroad. + +"They may be coming from the clover patch now," he groaned. And if +they are, they're sure to stumble upon that terrible creature at the +door. I must warn them before it's too late." + +While Spot was still snorting and snuffling around the Woodchuck +family's front door, Billy Woodchuck crept out of the back door and +started for the clover patch. Little did he know that his mother had +already stolen out the same way, to warn him and his father. + +When unwelcome callers come, a back door is sometimes a convenient +thing to have about a house. + + + + +XVIII + +A CROWDED HOUSE + + +Old dog Spot never once guessed that there was a back door to the +Woodchuck family's home in the pasture. He had chased Mrs. Woodchuck +into her house. He had likewise hunted her son Billy into the same front +door through which his mother had scrambled only a short time before. + +"There must be more of these fat folks about the pasture," Spot thought. +"I'll range around a bit and see if I can't surprise another." + +So he began running about the pasture in big circles. And he was lucky +enough, before long, to come upon Mr. Woodchuck himself, who had dined +so heartily on clover heads that he had decided to go to his chamber and +take a nap. + +Spot was unlucky enough to lose him. Mr. Woodchuck had been feeling +quite sleepy. But when he suddenly found himself pursued by a dog he was +wide awake in an instant and running like a youngster. + +He reached his home just in time. + +"Well, that makes the third one that's inside the house," Spot muttered, +shortly afterward, as he paused to get his breath. + +Little did he know how mistaken he was. There wasn't even one of the +Woodchuck family at home; for Mr. Woodchuck had at once hurried out the +back way, because he wanted to find his wife and his son and tell them +to keep away from old dog Spot. + +Soon Spot took a few more turns around the pasture. And this time he ran +across Mrs. Woodchuck again. + +He had no sooner run her to earth once more than he found Billy for the +second time. + +"This is a twin brother of the fellow I chased home once before," Spot +panted, little dreaming that Billy Woodchuck had come back into the +daylight. + +"This twin is just as spry as the other one was," Spot gasped as he +reached for Billy right at his door--and missed him. + +After that the old dog chased Mr. Woodchuck, then his wife, and next +their son Billy Woodchuck. And he didn't succeed in catching any one of +the three. Each of them beat him in the race to the Woodchuck family's +front door. + +Old Spot began to feel quite upset. + +"I don't see what the matter with me to-day," he puzzled. "I hope I'm +not getting so old that I'm _weeble_." (By that he meant _weak_ and +_feeble_.) + +"This last one makes eight that I've followed all the way to this door," +Spot growled. "There can't be many more left in the pasture. I'm going +to lie down behind this hummock and wait till they come out." + +So he hid a little way off and watched closely. + +He had been there a long time when Mr. Crow at last flew low over the +pasture and alighted in a tree near-by. + +"What are you waiting for?" he asked Spot. + +"Woodchucks!" said Spot. "This burrow is full of them." + +"Are you sure?" Mr. Crow inquired. + +"I chased eight of them home," Spot explained. + +"That's odd," said Mr. Crow. "There have been only three living here +lately. And they don't live here any more." + +"They don't!" Spot cried. + +"No!" Mr. Crow told him. "They moved this afternoon." + +Old dog Spot sprang to his feet. + +"Where did they go?" he demanded. + +"Ah!" Mr. Crow croaked. "That's telling." And he would say no more. + +Then Spot went back to the farmyard. + +Meanwhile the Woodchuck family were working hard, digging a new home for +themselves at the other end of the pasture. They had all met at last on +the edge of the clover patch. And Mr. Woodchuck had declared that they +must move at once, because it wasn't safe to live in their old house any +longer. He said that old dog Spot would be sure to keep an eye on it for +some time. + +They soon found a place that suited them all very well. + +"We'll live here," said Mr. Woodchuck to his wife and their son Billy. +"You two can take turns digging while I sit up and watch for old dog +Spot. After all the running I did to-day it wouldn't be safe for me to +do any digging." + +That was Mr. Woodchuck's plan. And they followed it. + + + + +XIX + +OFF FOR THE CIRCUS + + +Great circus posters had covered one side of Farmer Green's barn for +weeks. Ever since some men came and pasted them on the barn Johnnie +Green had studied them carefully. He had practiced bareback riding on +his pony, Twinkleheels. He had tried a high dive into the mill pond from +the top of the dam. And much to old dog Spot's disgust Johnnie had tried +to make him jump through a hoop covered with paper. + +Spot had refused flatly to do anything of the kind. If he had known that +his young master had half a notion to teach him to jump through a hoop +of fire Spot would have run away--at least until circus time had come +and gone. + +"What puts all these queer ideas into Johnnie's head?" the old dog asked +his friend Ebenezer, the horse, one day. + +"Don't you know?" said Ebenezer. "It's those circus pictures. Johnnie +won't think of anything else until the twenty-third of August." + +"What's going to happen then?" Spot inquired. + +"That's the day when the circus comes to the village," the old horse +explained. "The whole family's going to see it." + +"Do you expect to take them?" + +"No!" Ebenezer replied. "Farmer Green will hitch the bays to the +carryall. And to tell the truth, I'll be just as pleased to stay behind. +It will be a great day to take naps here at home." + +"It will be a lonesome day, with everybody away," said Spot. "I believe +I'll go to the circus myself." + +"Farmer Green may decide to leave you here," the old horse suggested. + +"Then I'll surprise him," said Spot. "I'll hide behind a tree until +Farmer Green has driven out of the yard. And then I'll follow the +carryall." + +The old dog began to tell everybody in the farmyard that he was going to +the circus on the twenty-third of August. Of course some of the farmyard +folk were jealous of him. The Rooster remarked that he didn't believe +Spot would hear any _crowing_ at the circus that would be worth +listening to. Turkey Proudfoot said that when it came to _strutting_ the +circus couldn't show Spot any that couldn't be beaten right there on the +farm. And Henrietta Hen, who went to the county fair the year before, +declared that she shouldn't care to go to the village except to see a +poultry show. + +But old dog Spot didn't mind anything they said. And when the +twenty-third of August came he lingered about the farmyard. Early in the +morning he saw Farmer Green run the carryall into the yard and harness +the bays to it. Then the rest of the family came out of the house. + +Spot, from his hiding place behind a tree, was pleased to see that +Johnnie Green did not forget to bring a big lunch basket with him. + +At last everybody was ready to start. And then, to Spot's dismay, Farmer +Green caught sight of his nose, sticking out from behind a tree. + +"That dog means to follow us," he cried. "I'll have to shut him up in +the barn." And to old Spot he called, "Come here, sir!" + +Spot didn't dare disobey. With his tail between his legs he crept up to +the carryall. And though he whined and begged to be taken to the circus, +Farmer Green caught hold of his collar and led him into the barn. Then +Farmer Green closed the door. + +Poor Spot had to give one loud howl when he heard the wheels of the +carryall crunching on the gravel driveway. + + + + +XX + +SPOT GOES TO TOWN + + +The bays had to step lively that morning, for Farmer Green's family +didn't want to be late for the circus parade in the village. + +There were many other teams on the road, and almost nobody to be seen +working in the fields. It seemed to Johnnie Green as if everybody had +made up his mind to go to the circus. The only thing that troubled him +was that his father didn't drive fast enough to suit him. + +Half way from the farm to the village Farmer Green stopped the bays at a +watering trough. Johnnie jumped out of the carryall to uncheck them, so +they could drink. And there, beneath the carriage, was old dog Spot! + +"Spot's followed us!" Johnnie Green cried. + +The old dog whisked out from between the wheels and frolicked about +Johnnie. He didn't act at all guilty. + +"Well, I never!" said Farmer Green. "I certainly shut the barn door +after I shoved him inside." + +Spot gave a few short, sharp barks, as if to say, "Yes! But you forgot +the window that was open." + +He had scrambled through the window and overtaken the carryall before it +reached the gristmill. + +Well, what could Farmer Green do? They had come too far to send Spot +back home. + +"We'll have to take him with us now," said Johnnie Green's father, +"though he'll be a nuisance because the village will be crowded to-day." + +As soon as the bays had had their drink the party started on again. And +old dog Spot was content. He did not mind the dust that the bays' heels +kicked up as he followed beneath the carriage. And the faster they +trotted, the more they pleased him; for he was as anxious as Johnnie +Green to get to town and see the crowds and the fun. + +Once a surly dog ran out from a farmhouse and tried to reach him. That +made Spot somewhat uneasy. + +"I don't want to stop to fight this fellow," he thought. "If I do, I'll +be left behind." + +Luckily Farmer Green cut at the strange dog with his whip and bade him +be off. + +Spot grinned as he sneaked away, yelping. + +At last they entered the village. Main Street was thronged with people. +Carriages and wagons of all sorts lined the road on both +sides--glistening buggies with red ribbons tied in bows about the whip +stocks, old lumber wagons with chairs set behind the driver's seat. + +Johnnie Green had never seen such a gathering--not even at the fair. + +"The whole county's here!" he exclaimed. "I hope we'll find a good place +to stop, where we can see the parade." + +They did. Farmer Green backed the bays into the last open space in the +gutter. And Johnnie Green was greatly relieved. + +The crowd made such a roar, with its talking and laughter, that old Spot +cowered down under the carryall and almost wished he had stayed at home. +The cries of men selling peanuts and popcorn, squawkers and toy +balloons, mingled with the shouts of small boys and the squeals of their +sisters. + +"Goodness!" Spot murmured. "What a racket! It hurts my ears." + +A moment later he stuck his nose out from beneath the carriage and burst +into a mournful howl. + +"Keep still!" Farmer Green ordered. + +Little did he know, then, what made Spot cry like that. But in a minute +or two Johnnie Green heard the same thing that Spot's sharp ears had +caught first. And Johnnie howled too. + +"Hear the band!" he shouted. "Hurrah! The parade's coming!" + + + + +XXI + +THE CIRCUS PARADE + + +The crash and blare of the circus band came nearer and nearer. Johnnie +Green craned his neck out of the carryall, as it stood at the side of +Main Street, and tried to get a glimpse of the parade. + +Old dog Spot did not howl again, but stole out beside the bays and +looked up the street too. + +Soon a man with a tall, shiny hat on his head rode a proud, prancing +horse around a corner. And behind him six more horses with gay plumes on +their bridles made a wide turn as they swung into view. On top of the +high red wagon that they drew sat the band, all in red suits and +playing away like mad. + +Spot couldn't help whining. Although the bandsmen were playing the +liveliest air they knew, music always made Spot sad. And he was glad +when the band wagon had passed on. + +Other wagons, blazoned with red and gold, followed. + +Old dog Spot's hair began to rise along his back and he sniffed, +growling. He had noticed a strange mixture of the queerest odors. He +didn't know, for a moment, whether to run away or not. + +"Oh, see the tiger!" Johnnie Green shouted. "And the lions! And the +monkeys! And the bear!" + +"_See_ them!" Spot yelped. "I say, _smell_ them!" + +He felt better when the animals in their cages had gone creaking past. +And he forgot his uneasiness as he watched dozens of horses, ridden by +folk whose bespangled clothes glittered in the sunlight. + +Then came a funny man in a little, two-wheeled cart, driving a donkey. +This was the clown. He bowed and smiled to everybody, right and left, +and even threw kisses at some of the girls. His painted face, his +bag-like clothes, and his odd little round, pointed hat made Johnnie +Green laugh. And to Johnnie's great delight, when the clown saw Spot he +whistled. + +Old Spot was all for dashing out into the street. But Farmer Green +wouldn't let him do that. Spot had to be content with barking at the +clown. + +Then a man on a brisk little horse came down the street. He had a big +voice. And he kept using it all the time, shouting so everybody would +be sure to hear, "Look out for your bosses! The elephants are coming!" + +And they came. The elephants came. When Spot saw their huge forms +plodding down Main Street he dived beneath the carryall again and +shivered until the last one had passed along. + +The bays stirred restlessly as the elephants neared them. And the +younger of the pair snorted with fear. + +Farmer Green talked to them in a soothing voice and told them there +wasn't any danger. But nobody thought of talking to old dog Spot. Every +one forgot about him. And he was just as badly frightened as the bays, +especially when a terrible tooting and screeching burst forth. + +Spot jumped almost out of his skin. + +"Sakes alive!" he howled. "What awful voices the elephants have!" + +"The steam calliope!" Johnnie Green cried. "And that's the end of the +parade." + + + + +XXII + +THE CIRCUS GROUNDS + + +The Green family ate their luncheon in the carryall on Main Street, +after the circus parade had passed. They didn't forget to give old dog +Spot something to eat out of the big basket that they had brought with +them from home. Although they hadn't expected him to go to the village +with them, there was more than enough food for everybody. Even Johnnie +Green's appetite wasn't equal to all the goodies that his mother had +provided. + +People were already starting for the circus grounds on the outskirts of +the village. Johnnie Green noticed them uneasily. + +"We don't want to be late for the show," he reminded his father. + +"We'll get there in time," Farmer Green assured him. + +And they did. Soon they followed the crowd through the village streets +until they came in sight of the "big top," the great tent with flags +flying above it, and smaller tents all around. + +Farmer Green turned the bays into a yard near-by, where he unharnessed +and fed them. Then he tied one end of a rope to Spot's collar and +fastened the other end to a carriage wheel. + +"There!" he said. "Now we're ready." + +Old dog Spot didn't want to be left behind. He tugged at the rope and +whined. + +"Be quiet!" Johnnie Green's father said to him. "You followed us to the +village. And now you'll have to behave yourself. They wouldn't let you +into the show." + +Then the Green family turned their backs on him. + +"They needn't think they can keep me here," Spot growled. "I didn't run +all the way from the farm to the village to be tied to a wagon wheel." + +Johnnie Green and his father and mother hadn't been gone a quarter of an +hour when Spot succeeded in slipping his collar over his head. Then he +dashed out of the yard and ran to the circus grounds as fast as he could +go. + +Spot mingled with the crowds of people that were pouring into the big +tent. He worked his way in and out among the throng, all but tripping +many of the pleasure seekers. + +Though he looked everywhere, he couldn't find the Green family. They had +already passed through the entrance and were enjoying the sights inside +the canvas. + +At last Spot met a man--a circus man--who was very friendly. It was +pleasant to get a kind word from somebody, after so many people had told +him to "get out," and had given him a shove. + +This kindly person called Spot into a low tent and patted him. He gave +Spot a bit of meat and even thought to offer him a drink of water. + +"This is a fine pointer," the man remarked to a friend of his who was +with him. "He hasn't any collar; so he must be anybody's dog. And he +might as well be mine." + +Spot wagged his tail. He didn't quite understand what his new +acquaintance was saying. But it seemed to be something nice. + +And then Spot decided, suddenly, that he had stayed in that tent long +enough. For the pleasant man found a piece of rope and tried to tie it +about Spot's neck. + +"I've been tied up once to-day; and once is enough," Spot growled. +Slipping out of the man's grasp, Spot ran out of doors. + +Both men followed him. For a few minutes they chased him. One of them +tripped over a guy rope and sprawled on the ground. And to escape the +other Spot dodged under a canvas wall where it lifted slightly at the +bottom. + +He found himself in a huge tent where hundreds of people sat all around +on tiers of seats. Men and horses were capering about in the center of +the place. And somewhere a band was playing. + +He was under the big top. + + + + +XXIII + +SPOT SEES THE SHOW + + +Old dog Spot was bewildered. When he crawled under the canvas he had not +dreamed that he was entering the main tent of the circus. He saw so many +strange sights that he didn't know whether to bark or to crawl away and +hide somewhere. Yet among all those people he felt lonely. He couldn't +see anybody he knew. + +All at once the bandsmen began to play louder than ever. They seemed to +be trying to burst their horns--or themselves. And men in flowing robes, +each one standing in a sort of little two-wheeled cart and driving four +horses abreast, came tearing past the place where Spot was standing. + +It was a race! And if there was one thing that Spot liked more than +another it was a race of any kind. He gave a few delighted barks and ran +after the galloping horses. + +Spot followed them twice around the big tent. And just as he fell into a +jog--for the race was finished--he heard a whistle that gave him a great +thrill. He stood still for an instant. Then he dashed toward the nearest +seats. + +A moment later he was fawning upon Johnnie Green, who sat in the lowest +row and seemed as glad to see Spot as Spot was to see him. + +Lying between Johnnie's feet, Spot watched the rest of the show. + +At last the circus was over. The Green family, with Spot at their heels, +went back to the place where they had left the bays and the carryall. +And in a few minutes more they were on their way back to Pleasant Valley +and home. + +That morning everybody on the road had seemed to be in a great hurry to +get to the village. And now, late in the afternoon, everybody was in +just as great a hurry to get away from it. Farmer Green kept the bays at +a spanking trot, only pausing to let them breathe now and then on the +hills. + +Spot, however, was not in such haste that he didn't stop and give a good +trouncing to the dog that had rushed out at him earlier in the day. Spot +sent the surly fellow yelping into his master's yard. Then he rushed +down the road to overtake the carryall. + +But, to everybody's surprise, when they reached home old dog Spot was +missing. + +"He'll come back," Farmer Green said. "Probably he's stopped somewhere +to chase a rabbit or something. He'll be along after a while." + +But after the cows were milked old Spot was still absent. And after the +family had eaten supper he had failed to appear. Bedtime came. Still no +Spot! + +Johnnie Green felt very sad when he went upstairs. + +He felt even worse when morning came. He had hoped that Spot would be in +the yard, begging for his breakfast. + +Johnnie Green was able to eat only a little of his own breakfast. And as +soon as he left the table he went to the barn and harnessed his pony, +Twinkleheels, to the little buggy with the red wheels. + +Then Johnnie started for the village. + + + + +XXIV + +HOME AGAIN + + +Johnnie Green drove his pony, Twinkleheels, back over the road that led +to the village. Now and then he stopped at a farmhouse to inquire +whether anybody had seen old dog Spot, who had vanished on the way home +from the circus the evening before. + +Nobody had set eyes on him. And Johnnie Green drove on and on, feeling +more and more miserable all the while. + +At last, as he turned a sharp bend of the road, he heard a bark. There +was no mistaking it. It was Spot's. + +There was a joyful meeting then. Johnnie sprang out of the buggy and +Spot sprang into his arms. And Johnnie hugged the old fellow tightly, +right there in the middle of the road. + +"What in the world has kept you here ever since yesterday?" Johnnie +asked. + +Spot must have understood. Anyhow, he dashed to one side of the road. +And, following him, Johnnie found there a robe that belonged to his +father. It had dropped out of the carryall the evening before, when the +Green family were on their way home from seeing the circus. Nobody in +the carriage had missed it. But old Spot, running under the carriage, +had seen it fall. And he had stayed behind to guard it all through the +long night. + +Of course Spot couldn't tell Johnnie Green all this. But Johnnie wasn't +slow in guessing what had happened. + +He picked up the robe and put it under the seat of the little buggy. +Then he and Spot both jumped in. And Johnnie turned Twinkleheels' head +toward home. + +Back at the farm almost everybody said that old dog Spot was a hero. +Farmer Green exclaimed that Spot was a faithful old fellow. And Mrs. +Green set out such a meal for him as Spot had never seen before in all +his life. + +Now, there were two or three of Spot's neighbors in the farmyard that +didn't like the praise he was getting. Turkey Proudfoot, the gobbler, +remarked that if people didn't know enough to come home to roost at +night he saw no reason for making a fuss about it. Miss Kitty Cat +declared that so far as she was concerned she would have been just as +well pleased if Spot hadn't come back to the farm at all. And Henrietta +Hen had more to say than anyone else. She hurried up to old dog Spot +himself and insisted on talking with him. + +"Huh!" she exclaimed. "You only spent one day at the circus, while last +fall I stayed a whole week at the county fair." + +"Did you hear a band at the fair?" Spot asked her. + +"Yes!" + +"Did you see any races?" + +"There were races every day; but I didn't care to watch them," Henrietta +Hen answered. + +"Did you see any elephants at the fair?" Spot demanded. + +"Elephants?" said Henrietta Hen. "What are elephants?" + +Spot pointed--with his nose--to one of the posters on the barn. + +"There's a picture of some elephants," he told her. "And I must say it's +a good one." + +"There were no elephants at the county fair," Henrietta Hen admitted as +she gazed at the circus poster on the side of the barn. "Why, every one +of them has two tails!" she cried. "I don't see how they know whether +they're going backward or forward." + +"Maybe they don't know," Spot retorted. "Maybe that's part of the fun in +being an elephant. For I suppose there's fun of some sort in being +anybody, even a-a-a--" + +"Even a _what?_" Henrietta snapped. "Were you going to say a _Hen?_" + +"I was," Spot replied. "But I remembered that it wouldn't be polite." + +"I should say not!" Henrietta Hen cackled. "I should say not!" And then, +being very angry, she hurried off to tell the rooster what had happened. + +"I'll have to be careful how I talk to these farmyard folks," Spot +muttered. "They haven't had a chance to learn some of the things that I +know. + +"For I've been to the village and seen the world--and the circus, too," +added old dog Spot. + + +THE END + + * * * * * + + +Transcriber's notes: + +The page numbers in the List of Illustrations do not reflect the new +placement of the illustrations, but are as in the original. + +All errors from the original book were kept and are noted below. + +Chapter XVII: Missing open quotation mark (And if they are, they're sure to +stumble upon that terrible creature at the door. I must warn them before +it's too late.") + +Chapter VI: Additional "e" ("I was going to give you that old fishing +rod of mine if you'd help carry in the wood," Farmer Greene went on.) + +Chapter XIII: Additional "r" (And after the third miss old Sport turned +tail and ran away.) + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Old Dog Spot, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT *** + +***** This file should be named 30667.txt or 30667.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/6/6/30667/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, dpcfmander and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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