Out in the Park one day, children, I met a little boy not bigger than
you are, who told me that he liked stories about a boy and a dog and
the things they did together.
He said that it must be a _real boy_ and a _real dog_, and there must
be other animals in the story, not great, big, fierce ones, but just
_neighborly_ ones--animals a boy might, perhaps, meet when he went for
walks in the woods--and take pictures of and get to know.
So this is the story of the way a _real boy_ and a _real dog_ spent
their first summer in the _real country_; and the fun they had together.
Buddy Jim and old Dog Sandy are waiting for us over on the front page.
Your very own,
Elizabeth Gordon
[Illustration: They were going to get an early start]
[Illustration]