"Pardon me!" he said. "You are mistaken. I don't think you're going tohave 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 Spothadn't taken a single one of them.
"You're a meddlesome old dog," she scolded. "I've a good mind to drag myclaws across your nose."
Spot grinned at her.
"If you do," he warned her, "I shall yelp. Then Mrs. Green will hurryback here to see what's going on. And you certainly won't get any muttonwhile she's in the kitchen. I happen to know that the family's going tohave 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 finishedmy meal there would be nothing to prevent your helping yourself. Icertainly 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 MissKitty Cat severely. "She feeds me all she thinks I ought to eat. And ifI 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 ratsand mice. Mrs. Green could well spare me a bit of that mutton in returnfor all I do for her.... I'll thank you, sir, to move away from thattable!"
Old Spot began to look somewhat anxious. He had once felt Miss Kitty'ssharp claws on his nose. And he didn't care to be scratched by heragain. 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 arow with this Cat person."
Miss Kitty suddenly spat at him.
Spot knew that that was a danger sign. And he gave a few short, sharpbarks.
"There!" he muttered. "That ought to fetch Mrs. Green. If she's in thehouse she can't help hearing me."
Spot was right. In about a minute Farmer Green's wife came hurrying intothe kitchen.
Old dog Spot jumped up and wagged his tail and gave a low-pitched barkas 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 thoughthe had been teasing Miss Kitty Cat. And instead he had kept Miss Kittyfrom tasting the leg of mutton that lay on the kitchen table.
"It's a sad, sad world!" he howled. "I thought Mrs. Green would praiseme. But she didn't. She scolded me!"
"Sakes alive!" cried Henrietta Hen as she rushed up to him in thefarmyard. "What's the matter with you? Are you trying to bay the moon inthe daytime?"
Turkey Proudfoot gobbled at Spot and bade him be still. Turkey Proudfootwas 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 Greenintends 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 theseyears."
Well, old dog Spot couldn't help hearing what the Rooster said. And hehadn't even heart enough to answer that impertinent boaster.
"Maybe he knows what he's talking about," Spot groaned. "I wish JohnnieGreen would come home. _He'd_ stand up for me, if nobody else will."
Then something happened all at once that helped Spot's spiritsamazingly. The woodshed door flew open and Miss Kitty Cat all but flewout of it. Farmer Green's wife appeared in the doorway with a broom inher hand. And with it she helped Miss Kitty into the yard. She helpedher so much that Miss Kitty never touched the broad stone doorstep atall.
"Scat!" cried Mrs. Green. "I don't want any thieves in my kitchen."
It was quite plain that something had displeased Mrs. Green--somethingin which Miss Kitty Cat had had a part. And old dog Spot thought he knewwhat that something was.
"Ha!" he barked at Miss Kitty. "So Mrs. Green found you out!" And heran at Miss Kitty and chased her into a tree. She sat herself down upona limb and glared at him.
"Wow!" he yelped. "You must have sampled that leg of mutton when youthought Mrs. Green's back was turned. And she must have caught you inthe act."
Though that was exactly what had happened, Miss Kitty Cat wouldn't say aword. 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 tohim.
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 todig up and gnaw a choice bone that he had buried somewhere. It might bethat he had been planning to chase the cat, or tease Turkey Proudfoot inorder to hear him gobble. There wasn't one of those pleasures that Spotwouldn't gladly forgo for the sake of going hunting with Johnnie Green.
When Johnnie Green's father first gave him a shotgun Spot went almostfrantic with delight. And they lost no time in starting for the woods.Johnnie Green trudged up the lane with the gun on his shoulder, whileSpot ran on ahead of him, returning now and then as if to urge Johnnieto hurry.
They hadn't been long in the woods when Spot suddenly stood still andpointed ahead of him with his nose.
Try as he would, Johnnie couldn't see what Spot was pointing at. So hetook a few steps forward until he came abreast of the old dog. Then allat once there was a rumbling _whir_ that sounded to Johnnie Green almostas loud as thunder. A brownish streak flashed from the ground just aheadof 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 wasstill shaking long afterward. He was disappointed, but not less downcastthan 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 thethird miss old Sport turned tail and ran away.
"I don't see what's the matter with that boy," he muttered. "I'vepointed three birds for him. And he has let every one of them getaway.... 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 promptlyvanished.
So Johnnie spent a good deal of time shooting at old tin cans which heset on a fence post or a stone wall. And it wasn't long before he foundhe could hit them at every shot.
At last he came home from the woods one day with a grouse. When heshowed 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 knockeddown 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 forhim?" Miss Kitty Cat inquired when Spot was boasting a bit about thesport he and Johnnie had in the woods. "No!" she said, answering her ownquestion. "You're silly to hunt for him. I prefer to do my huntingalone. 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 oldhorse Ebenezer. "She creeps up on small birds after dark, when they areasleep."
"And you creep up
on big birds in the daytime," said old Ebenezer, "soJohnnie 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 toold dog Spot's disgust, Johnnie did not take him on this journey. But itwas not Spot's fault that he was left at home. Had he not been shut upin the harness room in the barn when Johnnie drove the old horseEbenezer out of the yard Spot would have followed beneath the buggy.
It was hours before Farmer Green set Spot free. When Farmer Green atlast flung open the door of the harness room Spot rushed out and dashedinto the road. To his sorrow he couldn't smell a trace of Ebenezer'strack. So many other horses had passed by the house since morning thatSpot couldn't even tell which way Ebenezer had gone.
In desperation Spot ran up the road a little way. Then he turned aroundand ran down the hill as far as the gristmill.
By the time he reached the mill pond Spot gave up the chase. He knew itwas hopeless.
And seeing several of Johnnie Green's friends swimming in the pond, hejoined them.
The boys welcomed him with shouts. And the water was just as cool asever. But somehow Spot didn't find swimming as pleasant as he always hadbefore. He missed Johnnie Green. There wasn't another boy there thatgave Spot the same thrill by whistling to him, or patting him, orromping with him that Johnnie Green gave him.
After a while Spot shook himself and trotted back to Farmer Green'splace. He felt homesick. But when he reached the house somehow he feltworse than ever. It was terribly quiet. It was just like a Sundaymorning, when everybody was at church. Farmer Green and the hired manwere working in the fields. Mrs. Green was busy in the house--too busyto stop and talk with old Spot.
"It's frightfully dull here," Spot groaned. "I wish somebody wouldshout." And just to break the silence he lifted up his nose and tried tobark.
It was far from a cheerful noise that he made, for he only succeeded ingiving 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 upthat bone that I buried in the orchard last week."
He found the bone where he had hidden it. Yet it did not look half asinviting as it had when he covered it with dirt a few days before. Hestared at it dully. Then he put it back in its hole and pawed the dirtover it again.
He found no pleasure in anything. No longer was there any fun in chasingwoodchucks. The cows might have stayed in the cornfield all day long andSpot wouldn't have bothered them. He didn't even get any sport out ofteasing Miss Kitty Cat.
Strangest of all, he couldn't find any comfort in lying down for a quietnap. The moment he tried to pass the time away in that fashion he beganto think about Johnnie Green and what a nice boy he was. And then hewould get up and walk around and around the house. Hour after hour Spotspent in that fashion.
It wasn't many days before he had worn a path in the grass all the wayaround 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 oneof 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 somebodyto play with. If there was a puppy here on the farm I'd have some onethat would be ready to romp whenever I felt like it. And then Johnniecould go away visiting every summer and I wouldn't miss him half asmuch."
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 heardthe old horse Ebenezer come jogging up the road he tore out of the yardand ran, barking, to meet the travellers. He frisked about the buggy, hesprang up and touched Ebenezer's nose with his own, he tried to jumpinto the buggy beside Johnnie Green.
Spot made such a racket that everybody in the farmhouse knew thatJohnnie had returned. The family were just sitting down for dinner. Andthey all hurried out into the yard. For old dog Spot was not the onlyone 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 andnosings from old Spot.
"Now, Spot--you behave!" said Johnnie Green. "I'm hungry and I want toget 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 toromp 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 thebuggy 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 openedthe basket and brought out of it a soft, silky, blinking--puppy!
"Wow!" said Spot again. "It was no wonder that I noticed a doggy smellabout that basket." And then he said, "G-r-r-r!"
Yes! Spot actually growled at the little newcomer. For the moment heforgot that he had been wishing, for days, that there was a puppy aboutthe place. To tell the truth, he couldn't help feeling the least bitjealous of Johnnie Green's new pet.
In a day or two, however, old Spot liked the puppy as much as anybodyelse did. He proved to be a playful little chap. And the older he grewthe more fun-loving he became.
Sometimes the Puppy Would Bite Spot's Tail.
(_Page 73_)]
There were no more dull days for old dog Spot. When school opened inthe fall he no longer moped around the farmhouse, waiting for Johnnie tocome 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 hissmall friend, and pretend to bite him, and upset him off his somewhatwobbly legs. But as time passed Spot began to weary of never-endingplay. There were moments when Spot wanted to lie still and doze. But assoon as he had settled himself for a nap the puppy was sure to comebouncing up and sprawl all over him. He would seize one of Spot's longears between his teeth and give it a bit of a nip. Sometimes he wouldeven pull Spot's tail.
Of course nobody can sleep under such interruptions. Spot learned thatwhen he wanted to rest he had to hide in some place where the puppycouldn't follow him. And as the puppy became bigger Spot found it harderto slip away from him. The youngster would trail Spot into the barn andeven as far as the hay-stack in the meadow.
Once the old dog had _wished_ for a puppy. Now, however, he couldscarcely wait for this lively youngster to grow into a dog.
A whole year passed before Spot had any peace again. And when anothersummer had come, and Johnnie Green went visiting again, Spot mutteredwith a deep groan:
"I hope Johnnie will have sense enough not to bring another puppy withhim when he comes home."
XVI
MRS. WOODCHUCK RUNS
Mrs. Woodchuck was on her way home, waddling across the pasture. She hadbeen making a call on Aunt Polly Woodchuck, the herb doctor, who livedunder 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 toldher. Otherwise she might have noticed sooner that old dog Spot had spiedher.
If he hadn't spoken he would certainly have caught her that time. ForMrs. Woodchuck was fat and couldn't run as fast as she used to. But whenSpot's keen nose caught a scent that told him there was one of theWoodchuck family not far away he just had to give one long-drawn howl.
When Mrs. Woodchuck heard that dreadful sound she scurried for home. Shedropped her knitting and the apple that Aunt Polly had given her. Andshe only managed to pop down the hole that was her front door with Spotscarcely 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 throughthe long hall that led to her one-room dwelling.
"Dear me!" she exclaimed as she entered her underground home and sawthat it was empty. "Mr. Woodchuck and Billy are away. I must hurry andwarn them that old dog Spot is prowling about the pasture."
Meanwhile Spot lingered at Mrs. Woodchuck's front door. He scratched inthe dirt that was thrown up before it. He sniffed at the tracks that theWoodchuck family had made all about.
"I know now where that fat Mrs. Woodchuck lives," he growled. "I'll keepan eye on this hole. Some day I may be able to get between her and herhome. And then--"
He did not finish what he was saying, but licked his lips as if he hadjust 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 thatshe was likely to do would be to creep not quite to the upper end ofher front hall and peer out to see what she could through the smallround opening.
"That dame must have a family," Spot thought. "I'd like to meetthem--whether there's one youngster or seven. The more the merrier forme."
If Spot had happened to look around just then he would have had his wishgranted. Or if the wind had been blowing the other way he could havetold, without looking around, that Mrs. Woodchuck's son Billy was gazingat him, with popeyes, from behind a near-by hummock. He had meanderedhomewards, pausing here and there to nip off a clover head or tear at aplantain leaf, little dreaming that old dog Spot was right in hisdoor-yard.