DIX COMES BACK
For a moment Sue stood looking at her mother, seeming to be thinking
very hard about something. Then she asked:
"Momsie, do you think Dix took Sallie Malinda away?"
"Well, it seems so," said Mrs. Brown. "That is, if Dix has really gone
away. We had better make sure of that, first. There is no question about
your Teddy bear's being gone, for I saw her in the rag bed by the back
door of the auto not half an hour ago."
"Well, I suppose she either fell out, or Dix, thinking to have a game of
tag with her, took her out, though the Teddy bear, with the batteries
inside to make her eyes light up, isn't easy for even Dix to carry very
far," said Mr. Brown.
"But how are we going to get my darling Sallie Malinda back?" asked Sue,
and there were tears in her eyes.
"Daddy will find some way. Won't you, Daddy?" asked Bunny, for he did
not like to see his little sister sad.
"Well, the only thing I can see to do is to turn the automobile around
and go back to look for Sue's Teddy bear," said Mr. Brown. "He may be
lying beside the road where he fell from the auto."
"My Teddy bear isn't a _he_, Daddy!" cried Sue. "She's a _she_! Aren't
there _lady_ Teddy bears as well as _gentlemen_?"
"Yes, I suppose so," laughed Mr. Brown. "I forgot for the moment that
your Teddy's name was Sallie. But whether it's a he or a she I suppose
you'd like to have me go back for it, wouldn't you?"
"Indeed I would, Daddy! I don't know what I'd do without Sallie
Malinda."
"All right, then we'll turn the auto around."
"We've done about as much going backward as we have going forward on
this trip," laughed Uncle Tad. "But still we must get Sue's pet. It
wouldn't do to go off and leave _her_."
"I can't understand about Dix, though," said Mrs. Brown. "Surely he
wouldn't run away and leave us after he had come this far with us."
"Maybe he is just playing hide-and-go-seek with Splash," said Bunny.
"Maybe it's Dix's turn to hide."
"Suppose you call him," suggested Mrs. Brown.
Bunny called and whistled, in a way he had been doing to get Dix to come
to him ever since the Ward dog had joined the traveling automobile
party. But there came no answering bark, and even Splash seemed
surprised when he could not find his playfellow.
"Hi, Splash!" called Bunny. "Where is Dix? Go find him!"
Splash ran around and barked, which was his only way of talking, but he
came back frequently to the children, who, with their parents and Uncle
Tad, were standing beside the auto, and he did not bring Dix back with
him.
It was as though Splash said:
"I know you want to find Dix, but I don't know where he is. There is no
use in my running my legs off to find him, for he is a long way from
here."
"Dix possibly has been missing a longer while than we know," said Mr.
Brown. "I noticed once, as we were going over a bridge, that Splash went
in and had a little swim. But I did not see Dix with him, though I
didn't think anything about it at the time. We had that trouble with the
engine farther back than that. When I got that fixed Dix was about. But
from then on I haven't seen him, and that was some miles back."
"Maybe that's the time my dear Sallie Malinda fell out," said Sue. "Or
else Dix took her."
"I don't believe he'd do that," said her father. "He was too well
trained. He isn't a puppy any longer, to hide boots, shoes and toys. I
don't believe Dix took your Teddy."
"Well, anyhow let's go to find him," said Bunny. "I mean _her_," he
added quickly, as he noticed Sue looking sharply at him. "Maybe we'll
find Dix and the Teddy bear at the same time."
"If Dix hasn't gone off to find a cow or an elephant or a camel or
something like that to make us a present of," said Mrs. Brown with a
laugh.
"Oh, Momsie! Do you think Dix would really bring back an elephant?"
asked Bunny eagerly.
"No, my dear, I was only fooling. But let's start back, Daddy, for I
know Sue will be very anxious to-night about her Teddy bear."
Back they started in the automobile over the road they had just
traveled. Now and then they stopped and called Dix, but the dog did not
come to them.
Splash added his barks and whines to the general calling but no Dix
answered.
"He must be mighty far away," said Bunny.
"Yes, I'm afraid we'll never find him, or my dearest Sallie Malinda
either," said Sue, and once more tears came into her eyes.
As the auto went along, in addition to calling for Dix, every one in the
party, including the children, had looked along the road for a sight of
the Teddy bear that might have fallen from the automobile. But Sallie
Malinda was not to be seen, and Sue did not know what to do.
"Well, we'll go back to where I last noticed that Dix was with us," said
Mr. Brown. "Then if we don't find your Teddy, Sue, I'll have to get you
another."
"But I'd rather have Sallie Malinda!"
"I know, dear, but you can name the new one that."
"Sue's Teddy's had lots of adventures," said Bunny. "The hermit took
her, and now she's lost."
"Well, I'm not going to give up yet," said his sister, as she looked
carefully along the road.
"But what can have become of Dix?" asked Mrs. Brown. "I can't understand
him."
"Oh, he may have gone off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Mr.
Brown. "Anyhow we're almost at the bridge, and the spot where we had the
engine trouble is not far beyond."
Silently those in the auto looked along the road for a sight of Sue's
Teddy. Then suddenly Bunny said,
"No, he didn't!"
"Who didn't what?" asked his father, for Bunny would often make these
sudden exclamations.
"Dix didn't go off chasing a rabbit or a squirrel," said Bunny. "There
he comes now--with an elephant, I guess," and the little boy pointed
down the road.
There was Dix coming back, and he was half dragging and half carrying
something that looked like an animal.
On and on came the dog. He seemed very tired. When he saw the automobile
he stopped, dropped what he had in his mouth, and lay down beside it.
Then he began to bark joyfully.
"Oh, it's my Sallie Malinda! It's my Teddy bear!" cried Sue. "You dear
old Dix! You found Sallie Malinda for me!"
And that is just what had happened, they decided after they had talked
it over among themselves. Dix must have been running along behind the
auto when he saw Sue's pet jostled out. Knowing how the little girl
loved her Teddy bear he picked it up and began to half drag and half
carry it, for, as Mr. Brown had said, the electrical batteries that made
the Teddy's eyes shine, were heavy. Poor Dix had all he could do to drag
the Teddy bear, but he would not let go, and the noise made by the auto
made it impossible for those in the car to hear his barks, which he must
have given.
And so they rode on, paying no attention, but leaving Dix far behind,
until Sue discovered the loss of her Teddy bear.
"Oh, you are a dear good dog, and I love you!" cried Sue, hugging the
Teddy bear with one arm and Dix with the other. And the dog was plainly
overjoyed at being with his friends again.
I suppose the Teddy bear was glad too, but of course she could not even
wag her little stub of a tail to show it. However, Sue could make the
pet's eyes gleam, which she did again and again.
Nor was the Teddy bear much damaged by being dragged in the dirt, for
the roads were not muddy, and Dix had held her up out of the dust as
much as he could.
"Oh, but I'm glad to get my darling Sallie Malinda back!" cried Sue.
"Dix is a good dog," put in Bunny. "He can ride in the auto now, can't
he, Daddy? He must be tired."
"Yes, get him and Splash both in," said Mr. Brown. "I think it is going
to rain, and I want to get to the next town where we will stay
overnight."
"In a hotel?" asked Bunny.
"No; in our auto, of course."
The dogs were called in, and Dix seemed glad to rest. Then Daddy Brown
turned the big car around and once more they were on their way. It began
to rain before they reached the town of Welldon, on the edge of which
they were to stop for the night.
But the rain did not matter to those in the big moving van, which was
like a little house. They had their supper inside, sat reading or
playing games by the electric light, and listened to the rain on the
roof, for it came down more and more heavily.
"Isn't it a nice place?" said Bunny to Sue, as they went to bed.
"The bestest ever!" she cried.
It was about the middle of the night that Bunny was awakened by feeling
a queer bumping, sliding motion.
"Why," he cried, sitting up in his bunk, "we must be traveling on in the
dark! Daddy! Momsie!" he cried. "What are we moving for, when it's
dark?"
"What's that?" cried Mr. Brown suddenly awakening.
"The automobile is running away!" cried Bunny, and outside they could
hear a strange roaring sound amid the patter of the rain.