All the family were present and took part in the council; even
grandmamma, who was dozing in the corner, expressed an opinion in her
sleep.
The subject was a grave one, suggesting alarming possibilities, for if a
hot, dry nose, dull eyes, a general droop of the body, and aversion to
food meant anything, Pepper's was a serious illness--and what was to
come of it?
"I, for one," said Aunt Maria, "am fearful that it is hydropho--"
"Please don't say that," pleaded Dick, piteously. "Papa would have him
shot."
"Oh dear!" cried Harry, his eyes filling at the mere thought.
"Maria, can not you think of something or other?" exclaimed Aunt Phebe,
helplessly.
"Put his feet in hot water with plenty of mustard in it, and a dose of
rhubarb and magnesia," advised grandmamma, in her sleep.
"It isn't the baby, mother; it's Pepper that's sick," replied Aunt
Maria.
At this moment Uncle Fritz's welcome voice was heard at the hall door.
The boys darted up stairs to tell their griefs, and ask a hundred
questions.
"Oh, brother, that dreadful dog has gone and made himself ill!" was Miss
Maria's greeting.
"What _shall_ we do for him?" was Miss Phebe's.
"Mustard draughts and hive syrup best thing in the world," murmured the
old lady, uneasily.
"Don't fret, mother; no one's ill but Pepper," said Mr. Hayes, following
his sisters to where the invalid was lying.
Four faces brightened visibly as Uncle Fritz pronounced it a case of
distemper, and not hydrophobia, and recommended removal to the hospital.
"The hospital!" exclaimed both boys in wonder.
"Yes, children; and the sooner, the more hope for his recovery.
By-the-way, Maria, if you have a covered basket, a piece of carpet, and
Pepper's basin ready, we'll get him off at once."
The boys were wild with excitement. Pepper would not be shot after all;
he was going to be cured.
After stroking his glossy sides, to which he responded by a feeble wag
of his tail, they took off his silver collar and bells, lifted him
tenderly into the basket, called the family to bid him good-by, and
departed with their uncle.
"It's a mercy he has gone. Suppose he had bitten Smoke?" remarked Miss
Maria, closing the hall door.
"I shall miss him, for all that," sighed Miss Phebe.
Soon Pepper, curled up in the basket on Uncle Fritz's knee in the
elevated car, was rushing toward his destination. Where that was he
little cared, he was so truly miserable.
A black-and-tan of "high degree," his dainty paws had never trodden
rougher ways than the velvet carpets of his mistress's mansion, or the
smooth lawns of his master's garden. He slept on silken cushions, took
his airings in Miss Maria's carriage, and had his food served in
porcelain. Not even Smoke, the petted Maltese, dared to put her nose
within a foot of his basin. Alas! how much of this was to be changed!
A few minutes' ride and a short walk brought the boys and Mr. Hayes to
the gate of a low, curious, but gayly painted cottage; on either side of
the entrance were piled cages of birds and animals.
On the top of the porch Dick saw, with an uncomfortable sinking at his
heart, a stuffed dog that looked much the worse for continual exposure
to the weather. Below hung a framed picture of odd-looking dogs,
labelled "Famous," while a sign hanging near announced that Dr. Blank,
Importer, Doctor, and Taxidermist, was prepared to sell, board, cure,
and stuff all kinds of birds and domestic animals.
Dick was greatly re-assured when, peeping through the palings, he saw
several little dogs comfortably basking in the sunshine before the door,
but was fairly delighted at the frolicking company that greeted them on
entering the cottage. As he afterward said, he could not tell which
jumped the highest, wagged their tails the hardest, barked the loudest,
or cut the funniest capers, the Yorkshire terriers, the Skyes, or the
English pugs.
In the midst of the uproar a back door opened, and in came the Doctor, a
sharp-faced little man, with a troop of dogs at his heels.
"Down with you, Tiger. Be quiet, Meg. Off with you, Bess. Don't be
frightened, young gentlemen, they're all educated dogs."
As soon as he could make himself heard, Mr. Hayes explained the purpose
of their visit.
[Illustration: DR. BLANK GIVING PEPPER HIS MEDICINE.]
Pepper was drawn forth from the basket, held up by the nape of his neck,
and examined. The Doctor felt his body, rubbed his nose, and lifted his
eyelids; then said solemnly: "A very sick dog; heart's affected; pulse
irregular; lungs bad. But while there's life, there's hope, sir. I'll
engage to cure him if any one can."
At this unexpected close to this ominous speech, the boys grew cheerful
again, and ventured to ask where Pepper would sleep.
A large clean cage was selected, and Dick allowed to spread the carpet,
put the basin in, and lay Pepper upon his bed. Thus he was installed as
a regular boarder patient in the Dogs' Hospital.
"Misery loves company," it is said. If that is true, Pepper must have
been pleased, for there were half a dozen sick dogs in the cages near
him.
Their pet once comfortably settled, Dick and Harry, like true boys,
expressed their curiosity to see and hear the histories of the other
boarders. Dr. Blank condescended to gratify them.
"This one," said the Doctor, indicating a glossy red bantam, "is Dandy,
a performing rooster.
"These Angora rabbits in the next cage are Bunny and Belle, the
pantomimists; play in _Humpty Dumpty_; owned by a lady in Europe, sir.
"In this cage, sir, is Binney, owned by a banker; he's a fine Maltese,
three months old, and weighs seventeen pounds.
"This next one, this fine tabby, is Jim, an editor's cat, worth a
thousand dollars!"
"Whew!" exclaimed Dick, "I didn't know any cat was worth that."
"Now, gentlemen, look at these beauties. Kate and Mollie,
carrier-pigeons, owned by a sailor. These in the lower row are tumblers,
puffers, and fantails--for sale, gentlemen."
Dick commenced counting his savings mentally; wondered which would be
the nicer to buy, pigeons or rabbits. Being introduced to a family of
guinea-pigs a moment later, was puzzled, and finally decided to buy one
of each.
"Now for the dogs, sir," continued the Doctor, with the air of a
showman. "Here, Flirt, stand up and show how you can dance."
In a twinkling a pretty silver terrier, with its hair "banged"
beautifully above the eyes, stood up on its hind-legs, held its head
sideways, and holding its fore-paws like a young kangaroo, danced around
the room to the boys' wondering delight.
"That'll do, Flirt," commanded the Doctor. "Now, Baron, show how you can
jump."
Baron was the queerest-looking small creature, an English pug with a
fawn-colored body, and a knotted-up, wrinkled, sooty little visage
expressive of the greatest contempt and ill-nature--a visage that
greatly belied him, for he was the gentlest of all dogs.
At the word "over," he leaped to the top of the half-door, and thence
into the yard.
"Well done, you little hero!" cried Dick.
Queenie and Rosie, a pair of tiny Yorkshires, and Snap, a black-and-tan,
who "could kill forty rats in a minute," were next introduced. Dick
thought the latter almost equal to Pepper, who, by-the-way, never killed
any.
"Now, come out-doors, gentlemen, and look at our other boarders before
supper-time," said the Doctor.
In an instant Mr. Hayes and the boys were surrounded by dogs great and
small. A fine blood-hound thrust its cold nose against Harry's cheek, a
red Irish setter licked his hand, and a pair of white bull-dogs, by
clumsy antics and friendly nudgings, tried to make his acquaintance,
while a number of bull-terriers, Newfoundland, and pointer pups engaged
in a rough-and-tumble play that was very amusing.
In a shed at one corner of the yard the boys spied a young man preparing
the dogs' supper. Dick whispered, "There'll be fun by-and-by."
The boys had just time, after they examined two or three families of
terrier puppies, to peep between the bars at two very distinguished
boarders who had recently arrived from Europe--an English mastiff and a
Scotch collie or shepherd dog--who had separate apartments and dined
alone, when supper was announced by a long, shrill whistle.
"Now they'll fight," said Dick, in a tone of expectation; but he was
mistaken.
The dogs marched to supper like a company of soldiers. Two lads presided
over the tubs and troughs from which the larger ones ate, while a young
woman fed the smaller ones daintier fare from earthen dishes.
Although there were neither napkins nor finger-bowls, and not one of the
dogs had ever heard of, much less read, _Lord Chesterfield on
Politeness_, they all behaved with as much decorum as so many boys and
girls at a tea party.
* * * * *
"At any rate," said Miss Maria that evening, "Pepper will not lose his
manners there, and if he dies we can let the Doctor stuff him."