[Illustration: Out ran the chipmunks]
LITTLE DOG READY
_How He Lost Himself in the Big World_
_by_ MABEL F. STRYKER
With Illustrations _by_ HUGH SPENCER
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
1923
COPYRIGHT, 1923
BY
HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY
_September, 1923_
PRINTED IN
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO ALL CHILDREN
AND GROWN-UPS
WHO LOVE DOGS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD 1
CHAPTER II
READY A PRISONER 11
CHAPTER III
FREEDOM 18
CHAPTER IV
READY AT THE GREAT GATHERING 32
CHAPTER V
BAD NEWS 50
CHAPTER VI
WITH THE CHIPMUNKS 70
CHAPTER VII
THE JOURNEY WITH THE SWALLOWS 81
CHAPTER VIII
A DREADFUL VISITOR 95
CHAPTER IX
THE JOURNEY WITH THE SANDPIPER 99
CHAPTER X
THE END OF THE LONELY ROAD 117
LITTLE DOG READY
CHAPTER I
HOW READY LOST HIS HEAD
He was a little black and white dog with a shaggy coat and a waggy
tail. He had very polite eyes which were always watching people to find
out what they would like to have him do. Whenever people were kind
enough to tell him what they wanted, he would always do it for them if
he possibly could, and that is why he was named “Ready.”
Ready loved his little master Dick more than any one in the world, and
Dick never wanted Ready out of his sight; and that is how this story
came about.
It was a very sad day for Dick and Ready when Dick fell from the apple
tree and broke his arm. Have you ever broken your arm? If you have, you
know how much it hurts, and how still you have to be. Even then the
pain won’t go away. Of course Dick wanted Ready with him every single
minute of the day and night.
But in the middle of the second night Ready felt that he really must
stretch his legs while Dick was asleep. He would not have thought of
letting his master know that he was in great need of a little run, but
now that Dick was asleep--and he put his nose against Dick’s good arm
to be quite sure that he was--Ready stepped out of the open window into
the big world.
[Illustration: All would have gone well if Ready had not met Big Yellow
Dog]
I suppose all would have gone well if Ready had not met Big Yellow Dog.
Big Yellow Dog had always snubbed Ready frightfully, but even Big
Yellow Dogs have their good moments, and this must have been one of
them.
Big Yellow Dog said, “Good evening,” and almost stopped.
This turned Ready’s head. It would have turned any dog’s head. Did you
ever have your head turned? You will some day, and when it happens, try
hard to look where you are going, for you are _always going wrong_.
Of course Ready did not know this, and when Big Yellow Dog said
pleasantly, “Come along,” Ready went. Faster and faster ran Big Yellow
Dog. Faster and faster ran Ready, although he felt that his legs were
getting shorter and shorter.
Suddenly Ready lost sight of Big Yellow Dog altogether, and then he
felt very tired. He sat right down on the pavement, for he knew now
that his head had been turned. Of course he tried to turn it back
again, but he was so tired that he only made it worse.
[Illustration: Faster and faster ran Ready]
Then he tried to run home, but of course he ran in the wrong direction,
and when you run home in the wrong direction, a most unpleasant thing
happens--_you don’t get there at all_.
Ready ran on and on until he came to a house which he thought was his.
You see he was quite sleepy by this time, and when you have a sleepy
turned head you may as well give up.
He wondered why the windows were all closed, but even before he had
finished saying, “How queer that the windows are not----” he was fast
asleep on the doormat. He did not wake up until he heard some one
talking.
“Oh, see this darling little dog!” said a young lady, looking down at
him.
Then all the family came to look down at him and to say, “How cute!”
and “What a dear!”
Now Ready, as you remember, was a very polite little dog; so of course
he wagged his waggy tail and said in his best dog language, “How do
you do?”
[Illustration: “How do you do?”]
This seemed to delight everybody, and they gave him breakfast at once.
Ready greatly enjoyed his breakfast, and he thought there would be no
harm in staying a few minutes with such very pleasant people. But that
is where he made his second bad mistake, as you will see.
He really should have run away from them as fast as his little legs
could carry him, for all at once the young lady said, “I am going to
keep this little dog _forever_.”
“But you can see by his collar,” said her mother, “that he belongs to
some one else.”
I had forgotten to tell you that Ready wore a nice little silver collar
and on it was written:
“HIS NAME IS READY BECAUSE HE ALWAYS IS SO.”
“It does not say _where_ he belongs,” said the young lady with a pout,
“and I _want_ him.”
“He will not want to stay,” said the mother.
“Then I will tie him up and _make_ him stay,” said the young lady,
quite crossly.
Now any one could see with half an eye that the young lady was going
to have her own way. Even Ready felt that without understanding
young-lady language. If he had known what dreadful things she was
saying, of course he would have run right out of the door.
But he did not know; so he only wagged his tail, hoping that would
make her feel a little better. He thought that he must do something in
return for his good breakfast.
The young lady grew crosser and crosser and finally stamped her foot.
This made Ready decide to leave at once, for there is no knowing what
may happen to dogs or dishes when any one begins to stamp a foot!
Ready stood up and said his prettiest good-bye, which was three little
barks and then one long one, with tail wagging all the time, of course.
In a second he would have been out of the house, but the young lady
caught him by the collar and held him.
Then--I cannot tell you how it hurts me to say this--_they tied him_.
Yes, they did! They tied him to an old hook and kept him there for
nearly a week! They took him out for a breath of air for a few minutes
each day and then put him back in his stuffy prison.
[Illustration: They tied him]