Frances Trego Montgomery

“ It was Zip, Doctor Elsworth's pet fox terrier that everyone thinks so smart and that everyone is talking about in the village these last few days because he found the silver the burglar had stolen from the Judge. If I had known it was he, I would not have pounced on him, but I was only half awake when I saw a dog trying to sneak into our kitchen. It is a law with me to jump on every dog I see before he has time to pounce [Pg 34] on me. Now I am awfully sorry about this, for I have been wanting to meet Zip for ever so long, as I think I am the only cat in town who doesn't know him. ”

“ Why, Zip Elsworth! Where in the world have you been? You look all fagged out and you are spattered with mud from head to foot! The doctor has been whistling for you for half an hour, and I just heard him tell Martha to save you a good dinner for you would be mighty hungry when you came in, as you would have to come a good ten miles if you got left at the last place he called, for it was away over at Mapleville. ”

“ Zip held on the monkey's tail until the rake appeared over his head, then he let go quickly, giving an extra bite to the tip, which came off in his mouth. He jumped back just in time to save himself from being hit on the head, for the rake came down with such force that it laid both the turkey and Peter-Kins out flat on their backs, where they lay kicking as if in the throes of death. ”

“ I believe I am going to die," wailed Zip to himself. "If ever I get well I never will disobey the doctor again! He is so good to me, and I am ashamed to think what a naughty dog I have been. But I do so love to go snooking around and not stay at home nights like Tabby does. I never saw such a good cat as Tabby is. She never goes prowling around, though most cats do. ”

“ Zip loved these daily trips, for he was a most active, nervous, curious, little dog, and always wanted to know what was going on throughout the village, and these rides gave him a splendid opportunity to find out. While the doctor was in visiting his patients, Zip would jump out of the buggy and go around to the back of the house to call on the family's cat or dog, whichever it happened to be. And though you may not know it, these animals in every household know what is going on in the home from garret to cellar, as well as all the family secrets and neighborhood gossip. ”

“ Then all of a sudden he was relieved of his rider, for Peter-Kins leaped from his back onto a turkey gobbler that was strutting around the yard all swelled out with pride, every feather spread out to its fullest extent. Now another race began, the turkey gobbling and the monkey chattering as they made the rounds.
Now while Peter-Kins had been riding the rooster, this very gobbler called out, "You stupid fellow! Stop running round and round! Go under the fence and scratch that beast off your back!" ”

“ This is what a doctor does for a dog, just as he feels the pulse in a person. If the nose is hot, the dog is sick; if it is cold, he is all right.
Being a homeopathic physician, Dr. Elsworth opened his case and gave Zip three little sugar pills, or so Zip thought, but they had medicine inside of them, and he swallowed them just as if he had been a sick little boy. Inside of two or three hours he felt better and before he went to bed that night the doctor gave him another dose, so when Zip awoke the next day, he was feeling as frisky as ever. ”

“ The next day at noon, when Zip came home with the doctor from making his morning visits to his patients, he was surprised to see all the furniture moved out into the side yard. At first he thought there must have been a fire, but when he saw Martha with a towel wrapped around her head, and Mrs. Huggins, the scrub-woman of the village, trying to squeeze a wide table through a narrow door, while Noah, their half-witted chore-boy, was beating carpets on the lawn, he knew it was spring house-cleaning. ”

“ That meat was prepared for some cat, dog or rat to eat and die. Oh, my! I am beginning to have fearful pains in my stomach now and I feel myself beginning to swell already! Rats," he called, for that was his friend's nickname, "I've eaten a piece of meat with rat poison on it, and I must get home before I swell up so I can't walk at all. If I am able to get to the doctor, he will help me, I know." ”

“ Often he would bark so loudly in his sleep that it would awaken him, but he would soon fall asleep again and go on dreaming. Sometimes he would be chasing cows, holding on to their long tails; at others, squawking, cackling chickens or anything else that happened to be in the road.
One day when thus dreaming, he was just about to pull a mouthful of tail feathers out of Parson Higgins' pet rooster when the latch on the front gate clicked. Zip was awake in a minute, sitting up on the cushion with ears sticking straight up and every nerve alert to see who was coming in the doctor's yard. ”

“ So he cautiously crept up the back kitchen steps so he could peek in the open door to see if Diana was alone, but just as he reached the top step he had a surprise, for the Mason's big, spotted cat was curled up asleep under the window. She smelt dog, opened her eyes and without a moment's hesitation bounded on his back. She hated dogs worse than rats, and being nearly the size of Zip, and having long, sharp claws, she was not an enemy to be sneezed at. ”

“ Hardway was a sensible woman and knew that accidents will happen, and she met with the doctor smilingly. Besides, the doctor had been her family physician for years, and they were all very, very fond of him as well as of Zip. It was hard to think of the doctor without Zip, as they were always together. So when the doctor began to apologize, Mrs. Hardway stopped him short, and told him to drink Zip's health in a glass of freshly made lemonade, and say no more about it. ”

“ Now Zip hated monkeys as a cat does rats. How as nice a little old maiden lady as Miss Belinda could stand it to live all alone in a house with only a parrot and a monkey for companions was more than he could understand. ”

“ Here he stayed until the doctor had driven off on his afternoon round of visits to his patients, and everyone else on the place was taking a nap. Then he barked three quick, snappy barks for Tabby, but she did not come. He barked again. Still she did not appear, and he was standing with drooping ears and tail between his legs in a most dejected manner when he was aroused by Tabby saying,
"Why, Zip Elsworth! Where in the world have you been? You are as dirty as a pig, I do declare, and your hair is all sticking up like a porcupine's quills." ”

“ As the candy began to loosen and drop off, first one black ear stood up and then the other, and last the little legs began to shoot out. All this made the children laugh to see what appeared to be a big ball of candy develop into a little dog. At last when Zip was entirely clean and had been wrapped in a big bath towel to dry, Doctor Elsworth apologized to Helen for his little dog spoiling her candy pull. But she declared that he had given them more fun than if he had not come over, and the molasses had cooled and they had had a regular candy pull. ”

“ Miss Belinda was out when all this happened, so was very much alarmed when she returned to see Peter-Kins hopping around on two legs, holding his head with his hands. And still more so when she took him in her arms and saw that there was a big bump on his forehead the size of a hen's egg, which was still swelling and by this time threatening to close one eye.
"You poor darling little pet! Did you fall out of the tree and bump your head? I is so sorry," and talking such baby talk to him, she carried him off into the house to put witch hazel and a bandage on his head. ”

“ As he waited another little girl lifted out of her basket some nut cookies and big, thick slices of angel cake, while a third arranged some stuffed eggs and big dill pickles.
Now all these things Zip adored with the exception of the pickles, so he lay down with nose stretched out in their direction as far as he could without being seen, that he might at least smell the goodies while he waited. But as he waited the bread dough on his back dried and hardened and made his coat stick up in all sorts of queer shapes, though he never once thought of it. ”

“ He, Zip, would have a piece of that tramp's leg or he would know the reason why! The tramp thought he was safe in hitting the dog as the gate was shut and the fence high. But whoever yet has succeeded in shutting a little dog in a yard by a high fence? Not many people, I am sure, for the dog will always find a hole to crawl through or a pale off where he can squeeze through, or, not finding these, he will dig a hole under the fence. ”

“ That little dog has been his constant companion for three years when visiting his patients. Be the day ever so hot or cold, it is never too hot, never too cold for Zip to go along. In winter he sits up beside the doctor wrapped to the chin in a big, warm robe, and in summer in a light one to keep the flies from biting him. ”

“ Once under, he stood stock-still and listened, eyes up and ears alert to catch any sound or see any movement of his old enemies, the monkey and the parrot. All was quiet in the front yard, and not even Polly's cage was to be seen swinging on its accustomed hook beside the front door. ”

“ So this night he went with a rat terrier, a friend of his, down into a poor quarter of the town, where they often went to kill rats, just for the fun of it and to see who could kill the most.
To-night there seemed to be no rats in sight, and while nosing around to get on the track of [Pg 74] some, Zip smelt meat and soon came upon a small piece of fresh, juicy beefsteak, which he gobbled down without a thought. ”

“ At last they reached the doctor's house, but too late to find the doctor still up. He had gone to bed, so Zip told his friend to howl as if he was being killed, and the doctor would hear him and think it was his own dog, and come down to see what was the matter. The rat terrier howled lustily, [Pg 75] while Zip dropped down on the door mat and groaned as loudly as he could. Rats barked, howled, and threw himself against the front door, making a terrible noise generally. ”

“ Once in his safe retreat, he lay down and devoured his bone, then got up and looked at himself. He was a sorry sight, for the quick swim across the creek had not washed the dough off, but had merely softened it and now he was a sticky mass from head to foot. ”

“ As for the tramp, he hated dogs as much as they hated him. It had been his experience that little dogs had just as sharp teeth as big ones and were much harder to drive off, as they were so quick they could get around and snap a piece out of one's shins before one could help himself. So when he saw Zip bound off the chair and come running toward him with bristles raised and teeth showing, he slammed the gate and started off down the road. ”

“ The cat's name was Tabby, and she was a [Pg 15] big, comfortable, good-natured cat who stayed at home and minded her own business. She was also a good listener, which Zip considered one of her best qualities. Like all talkative people, he would rather do the talking and have someone else do the listening. Consequently Tabby just suited him. After he had come back with the doctor from making his last call for the day, Zip and Tabby would curl up on the front porch or on a garden seat and he would talk away into the night or until time for him to make the rounds of the place. ”

“ Zip being too stubborn to let go the monkey's tail, the three queer looking objects went running around and around [Pg 57] the barnyard together, under wagons, between coops, across the watering trough. Sometimes running, sometimes jumping or half flying went the long-legged turkey with the bobbing monkey on its back, whose tail was in the little dog's mouth.
This was what Miss Belinda saw when she returned from market and looked into her barnyard to see what was causing all her fowls to make such a fuss. ”

“ But the tramp was far too angry to reason. All he thought of was to kill the dog that had bitten him and then ran off with his clothes. He picked himself up as best he could, and made a spring at Zip, bringing his cane down at the same time. But as before, when the cane came down there was no dog under it. Zip had jumped into the frog pond and was quietly swimming to the opposite shore. ”

“ I don't want anything to eat. I am too excited to taste a morsel and it would stick in my throat if I tried to swallow it."
"Gracious, goodness, me! It must be something awful if it excites you this way, for you generally love excitement and it doesn't tire you a bit."
"Come with me until I get a drink and take a swim in the [Pg 18] watering trough to get off this mud, and then I will tell you my news. And be prepared for a big surprise."
"Land sakes!" exclaimed Tabby. "Who has gone and hung himself to the rafters of his barn? ”

“ This they did, so when the Judge arrived home and went to show the constable the window where the burglar got in, he found Zip sitting demurely beside it.
"Hello, Zip! What are you doing here?" he asked.
You may think it strange the Judge knew Zip's name, but not so in a little village. Generally everyone knows the name of all the dogs and cats and call them by name when they chance to meet them in any unlooked-for place, as now. ”

“ Just then he thought he heard the children coming to see if their sweets were cool.
Yes, they were surely coming! He could not stand it to have these children he saw every day find him in such a fix. He would never hear the last of it. ”

“ And everyone was as pleased that he was found as he was that he was rescued, and their tears were turned to smiles at the comical picture he made, all covered with soot.
After trying to jump up on the doctor to lick his hands [Pg 44] in thanks for his freedom, he started for his usual bath tub, the watering trough.
"Here, where are you going so fast, Zip? Better stay here until I get a bucket of hot soapsuds to wash you off," called his master, but Zip did not stop, and the doctor followed him. Imagine his surprise when he saw him jump in the trough where he always watered his horses! ”

“ As for Zip, he slunk away and ran back to the doctor's buggy just in time to jump in as the doctor started for home. So by the time Miss Belinda had gathered up Peter-Kins and saw that the turkey was more frightened than hurt, Zip was blocks away, laughing to himself at the whack the monkey and [Pg 58] turkey had gotten instead of him, and at the funny spectacle the three of them must have made as they ran around and around the yard. ”