Richard Barnum

“ Don and Tabby were good friends. The dog had always been kind to cats, since his mother had told him to be, and Tabby was not afraid of Don, though she would fluff up her tail, and round up her back, when she saw some dogs that were not friends of hers.
“Don’t you ever get tired of staying here all the while, Don?” asked Tabby, as she sat in the sunshine, washing her face with her velvety paw. Dogs and cats can talk to each other you know, though we cannot understand them. ”

“ And Don knew enough of men’s talk to hear one of them ask:
“Don’t you hear a dog somewhere?”
“Seems to me I do,” answered another voice. “I wonder where it can be?”
“I’ll soon show them where it is,” thought Don. “I’ll howl again for them.”
Once more he howled and barked.
“Why the dog is in this freight car!” exclaimed the first man.
“So he is!” cried the second. “We’ll let him out. We don’t want to be carrying a dog with us.”
In a little while the door of the freight car slid open, and as soon as Don saw the first streak of daylight come in, he gave a yelp of delight. ”

“ Squinty went on. “At the farm nothing ever happens.”
“There doesn’t, eh?” asked Don. “I suppose you call the bad, black bull breaking out of his pasture, and Bob and me driving him back—I suppose you call that nothing!”
“Oh, well, that, of course,” admitted Squinty.
“And then running after you—is that nothing?” Don wanted to know.
“Well, I wish that hadn’t happened,” Squinty said. “But I mean lots more happens if you run away than if you stay at home. Just think! Everything is the same every day when you’re on the farm. ”

“ Don knew nothing about bad black bulls, and Bob was not a very big boy. Still he was brave, and so was Don.
“Come on, old fellow!” called Bob to the dog.
“Bow wow!” barked Don. “I’m coming!”
“Oh dear!” cried Sallie. She couldn’t help being just a little bit afraid. Girls are made that way on purpose, so boys and dogs can protect them.
“Boo! Boo!” bellowed the bull again, and Bob, running on ahead, with Don coming after him, soon came to the field where the big animal, with his sharp horns, was pawing up the dirt.
“Get back where you belong!” called Bob to the bull. “Get back, I say!” ”

“ Gurr, the mamma dog. “You little puppies just stay close together when I go out to get a bone, or something else to eat, and you will keep warm, and nothing will happen to you.
“Humm! Humm! Humm!” whined Don. He really was the largest and strongest of the litter of puppies, and perhaps that is why he seemed to come first.
“What’s that you’re saying?” asked his mother. For you know, doggies have a language of their own. They cannot speak as we do, but they can understand when we speak to them. Dogs are smarter in some ways than we are. ”

“ Don was not much hurt, for a puppy dog is so soft that a rooster’s bill does not do much harm.
“But it was almost as bad as the time the cat scratched me,” thought Don. “That’s two things I’ve got to be afraid of—cats and roosters. But when I get to be a big dog I won’t be afraid of either one.”
When Bob came home from school his sister told him about the rooster pecking the puppy dog.
“There must be a hole in the fence, where the rooster got out,” said Bob. “I’ll mend it. Come on, Don, we’ll go fix the fence. Then the rooster can’t get out again to bother you.” ”

“ Don would carry Bob’s books, and if any other boy, even in fun, tried to take the books away from Don, the dog would growl and bark a little, as though saying:
“Now that’s all very well, in fun. But you must not take these books. If you do, I might have to bite you, just a least little bit, and I wouldn’t like to do that. So please don’t touch Bob’s books.”
And none of the boys dared.
Bob taught Don how to lie down and roll over when he was told, and how to sit up on his hind legs and not move even when a sweet cracker, or something else good to eat, was put on the dog’s nose. ”

“ Don was not so much frightened as he was thirsty; he was a brave dog. As he ran along, trying to smell his way to the nearest water, he thought:
“Oh, if ever I get safely back to my kennel once more, I’ll never run away again. That other dog, Rover, was right—it’s no fun to run away.”
Then, all of a sudden, Don smelled water. He looked in the direction from which the smell came, and he saw a big stream of water splashing down into the engine that had drawn the train of freight cars. For the engine has to have water, just as a dog does, only the engine makes steam of it. ”

“ Cats like fish.
It was that way with Don. And once more he smelled meat. This time he followed the smell to a can that stood on the edge of the gutter. It was an ash can, but in it was a piece of meat.
Don reached in, and grabbed it out as quickly as he could, running around the corner, for he had not forgotten the time a stone was thrown at him when he took a bone from a yard.
The meat was not as clean and as nice as Don would have gotten at his kennel at the farm, but he was so hungry that he did not stop to think of that. He ate the meat up at once. ”

“ Bob put Don down on the floor, but the puppy dog, instead of running to his little master, when he was called, ran over toward the girl who was playing with a doll. I guess Don had never seen a doll before.
“Here, sir! Come here when I call you!” cried Bob, snapping his fingers.
But Don paid no attention.
“He likes me best!” said the girl, with a laugh. “Come to me, Don.”
[28]
“No, Sallie, you mustn’t do that, dear,” said her mother. “If Bob is to have a dog it must learn to mind him, and come when he calls. A dog is not of much use unless it minds. ”

“ Bob thought his dog and the pig were just grunting and squealing, and barking and whining. That goes to show you animals can do things we cannot do.
“No, I can’t let you out,” said Don, as his master set him down, and walked over toward the chicken coop, where the boy was going to fix the fence so the big rooster could not get out again.
But, just before they got there, something happened. There was a loud noise, and Bob’s sister Sallie screamed:
“Oh, Bob! The big black bull is loose! The big black bull has jumped over the pasture fence! Oh, Bob!” ”

“ DON SEES TUM TUM Don hardly knew what to think when Bob, his boyish master, called to him that way. The little dog had not lived long enough in the world to know much about bulls jumping fences. But he could easily tell that Bob’s sister, Sallie, was very much frightened. A dog can tell very quickly when a person is frightened, or glad, or cross. ”

“ Somehow, Don could not run as fast and as far as he used to. On the farm, when he raced with Bob, Don always beat. But since he had run away, Don had not had as good things to eat as he had had on the farm. And he had not had as good a place to sleep in. So Don was not as strong and healthful as he had been.
“Why, I’m getting tired!” panted poor Don, as he raced on. He looked back over his shoulder. The man with the net was coming closer. There was another man following, with a big, black wagon.
“Can you get him?” asked the man, driving the black wagon. ”

“ His feeling of hunger, which had gone away for a little while, after he was hit, came back again worse than before.
“I must find something to eat,” thought Don. “I’ll get so weak that I’ll fall down in the street, if I don’t eat.”
So, with his nose, he sniffed and snuffed until, once more, he caught the smell of meat. Of course dogs can look for food, but their noses are sharper than their eyes, and they can smell something good to eat long before they can see it.
Other animals do, too. You just watch your cat some time. ”

“ Oh! Wow!” howled the little puppy dog, as he found himself all wet. “Oh, what is going to happen to us?”
But Don, like nearly all animals, knew what to do when he fell into the water. He began to paddle with his little paws, and to swim, for he did not want to be drowned.
“Oh, can you get out? Can you get out?” howled Prince, standing on the bank of the puddle and looking at his brother. It was not a very large puddle, but it was pretty big for a little puppy dog.
“Can you get out?” asked Prince.
“I—I guess so! I’m trying hard!” whined Don, paddling with his paws faster than ever. ”

“ The dog’s woke up! Now we’ll see some fun!”
Don sprang out from under the pile of boards. As he did so, the rattlety-bang sound followed him. It went wherever he went and, as he looked around, he saw that a big tin can was tied to his tail. Don did not know what to make of it. Nothing like that had ever happened to him before. He gave a jump, and ran around the lumber yard. At every step the can followed, with a rattle and bang.
“Oh, this is terrible!” yelped poor Don, as he ran faster and faster. But, no matter how fast he ran, the can on his tail followed. ”

“ And why shouldn’t I be afraid of an animal with two tails? especially when he is so big,” asked Don.
“He hasn’t two tails,” grunted Squinty, the comical pig. “I thought the same thing at first, until Mappo told me different.”
“Who is Mappo?” asked Don.
“Mappo is this chap—a merry monkey,” answered the little pig, as he pointed with one paw [48] toward the queer, furry, four-handed and long-tailed animal.
“Oh, so your name is Mappo, is it?” asked Don, for he found that he could talk to the other animals, as well as understand them.
“Yes, I am Mappo,” the monkey said. ”

“ Pretty soon the man went out of the lumber yard, and then Jack and Don could go down to the edge of the river, near the piles of boards, and get a drink of cool water.
“Oh, that’s fine!” cried Don. “That’s the best water I’ve had since I ran away.”
“Yes, it is good,” agreed Jack. “That’s why I have a place near it. We can’t always get all we want to eat in the city, but water is not so hard to find. Now let’s go and hunt up our dinner.” ”

“ Now we can catch him!” cried one of the boys, as he saw Don sitting down near a pile of shingles.
The two boys went softly up toward the dog. I do not know what they would have done with him if they had caught him, but they did not get their hands on Don.
He stopped gnawing at the rope long enough to look up, and he saw the boys. With a yelp, a growl and whine, all together, Don sprang up and ran on again.
“There he goes!” cried one of the boys.
“Yes. Head him off! You go one way, and I’ll go the other,” shouted the second boy. “Then we’ll get him, sure.” ”

“ DON IN THE CITY Poor Don did not know what to do. There he was, shut tightly up in a dark freight car, that was rumbling over the rails as fast as it could go.
“Well,” thought Don, in a way dogs have of thinking, “I am in a fix now. I had much better have stopped at home. Running away isn’t as much fun as I thought it was.” ”

“ Gurr. “What you saw was not a little dog.”
“What was it then?” asked Don. “It had four legs and a tail.”
[15]
“Well, everything that has four legs and a tail isn’t a puppy,” said the mother dog. “That was a cat, and cats almost always scratch dogs, just as we dogs almost always chase cats.”
“Oh! then if that was a cat we forgot to chase it!” cried Don. “We didn’t know we had to. Come on back, Prince, and we’ll chase it.”
“No, you don’t need to,” said Mrs. Gurr, the dog lady. “All dogs don’t chase cats, for some cats are nice. Besides, you wouldn’t find that cat now. ”

“ That is the way dogs nearly always do. They are very brave, and faithful to their masters, staying by them when they are in danger or when they are hurt. So Don did not run away.
Instead he ran close to the heels of the bull, and barked as loudly as he could. It is a good thing Don did that, for the bull, with a shake of his head, had just made up his mind to run at Bob and maybe stick the boy with the sharp horns, for all I know. Mind, I am not saying for sure, but maybe.
When Don barked so close to the bull’s legs, the big black animal thought he was going to be bitten. ”

“ I am running away, to see the world, and have some adventures, and perhaps you’d like to come with me.”
“What! Running away?” cried Rover. “Not for me! I’m going to stay home!”
“But think of the adventures we’ll have,” said Don. “Come on!”
“No, thank you,” answered Rover. “Once I ran away, and I was glad enough to run back again. You will be, too.”
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Don. “Besides, so many of the animals on our farm are talking of running away, that I thought if I went, and [59] came back to tell them all about it, they wouldn’t want to run any more.” ”

“ So the boy dropped me and ran, and I got lost, trying to find my way home again. Then the dog-catcher came and took me in his wagon. Oh dear! It’s too bad. Were you ever taken away like that?” he asked Don.
[106]
“No,” answered Don. “I ran away.”
“Ran away!” exclaimed the poodle. “Why did you do that? Didn’t they treat you kindly? Did they whip you?”
“Oh, no,” said Don. “My master, Bob, was very kind to me. I was never whipped. But I wanted to have some adventures, so I ran away.”
“Did you have any adventures?” asked the poodle, whose name was Rex.
“Many of them,” replied Don. “This is one. ”

“ One of the little pigs had a funny, squinting eye. It was partly closed, and the other eye was wide open, and when this little pig looked up at you, with one ear lifted up, and the other drooping down, you felt as though you wanted to laugh, he was so comical. ”

“ Don did not think so, and, after Rover’s master had passed on, the runaway dog came out of his hiding place in the bushes, and, saying good-by to the other dog, off Don went again, down the road.
“Well, I am certainly having a good time,” thought Don. “Squinty was right about it; there’s lots of fun in running away. ”

“ Poor Don put out his tongue, and licked his dry lips. There is not anything quite so bad for an animal as to be thirsty, and if ever you have a dog or cat, I hope you will see to it that they can always get clean, fresh water to drink, especially in hot weather. ”

“ Gurr. “Now as soon as you get dry, Don, I’ll give you all some lessons in how to find your way back home again, when you get so far off you can’t see it.”
It did not take Don long to get dry in the warm sun, and then the lessons began. For dogs, even puppy dogs, have to learn their lessons, you know, just as you children do.
They have to learn to eat only the things that are good for them. Sometimes a puppy will gnaw on a cake of soap, but he does not do it more than once, for he finds out it makes him ill. ”