FRISK FINDS A NEW HOME.
And now, as I shall tell you, one day May and Hal went out on the
lawn, when lo! there stood Frisk, first on his hind-legs, and then on
his head; then he danced a jig, and then ran up to lick their hands.
"O my! O look! here is that dear Jack we saw in the play," cried May.
"Yes, so it is! Why, Jack, where _did_ you hide all this time?" said
Hal, and he gave him a soft pat, and May put her white arms round his
neck.
Tears of joy stood in Frisk's eyes, and he ran with May and Hal and
Dash up to the house, where their pa-pa and mam-ma were.
You may be sure the two went hard to work to kiss and coax pa-pa to
let Jack or Frisk stay. They asked him to look how thin the poor dog
was, and how sad it would be to send him back to the show-man, who
would beat him, and may-be kill him, he would be in such a rage.
"O now, dear pa-pa! do let him live with us!" they cried; "_we_ will
not beat him, and he may dance or not, as he likes. Come, we will kiss
you ten times;" and they both got his face down, and gave them to him
on each cheek at the same time, and made him and mam-ma laugh so, they
could not speak a word for quite a while.
Well, the end of all this long tale is, that Mr. Grey wrote to the
show-man, and said he had got his dog, Frisk, and he would like to
keep him. I do not dare to tell you how much he said he would give to
buy him; but it was such a large sum, that the show-man took it. And
now Jack--Frisk, as they call him--and Dash have each a house to live
in, but they eat and take their naps in one, for they love to get as
close, side by side, as they can. Frisk stands on his hind-legs and
his head, and does his jig dance in great style for May and Hal, and
all the boys and girls who come to see them. If _you_ want to see him,
you must speak quick; for I fear he will soon be so fat, with all the
nice bones and kind words he gets, that his hind-legs won't hold him
up. But of this you may be quite sure, that Frisk and Dash will have
a good home as long as they live, and when they die of old age, if you
don't cry for their sad loss, May and Hal will; for, you know, Dash
saved Hal's life; and life is dear to the young when they have no sad
times, but joy and fun each day.
And now May, and Hal, and Dash, and Frisk, must bid you good-by. If
you want to hear how they get on, you must come and tell me, and if
you give me a good kiss, I will let you know.
Good-by! my dear pets! May the good God bless you all.
[Transcriber's Note:
* Pg 38 Added "period" after "88" in "P. 88".
* Pg 135 Added "closing quotation" to ending of "not a good dog?".]