The Villain and Sweetclover ran on and on till their legs would carry
them no farther and, being entirely out of breath, they came to a halt
at last. They were far out beyond the City, and, if they had not been
worried about Kernel Cob, they would have enjoyed the lovely fields of
flowers and sunshine, but Sweetclover was quite sure that the wicked
Showman had captured Kernel Cob and, having recovered her breath, sat
down and began to cry. And the Villain, being a very kind-hearted
puppet sat down to comfort her, but, try as he would, Sweetclover only
cried the louder.
"I'm sure he's captured, I'm sure he's captured," she repeated over
and over again, until she made the Villain believe it and he began to
cry, too.
"Here, this will never do," said the Villain, getting up. "I'll go
back and see if I can find him."
"No, no!" cried Sweetclover. "You'll be caught too, and then what will
I do?" So he stayed with her.
Presently they were aroused by the barking of a dog and, looking
about, discovered that they were sitting on the terrace of a big house
all about which were fields of flowers and grain. And the dog, a big
mastiff, came toward them. Sweetclover put out a friendly hand and
said, "Nice Fido."
"Don't call me Fido," said the dog, "my name is Napoleon."
"Oh, excuse me," said Sweetclover, "I didn't know."
"That's all right," said Napoleon with a stately bow. "Is there
anything I can do for you?"
"I'm afraid not," said Sweetclover. "My friend here," and she turned
to the Villain, "and I have been separated from Kernel Cob and we are
anxious to find him. You didn't see him pass by, did you?"
"No," said Napoleon, "that I didn't."
"Oh dear," sighed Sweetclover, "night is coming on and we have nowhere
to go."
"If you will give me a few minutes," said Napoleon, with a courteous
wave of his paw in the direction of his house, "I will put my humble
home at your disposal."
"We cannot think of disturbing you," said Sweetclover.
"It will be no trouble whatever," he said. "If I can be of any service
to you, it will give me much pleasure."
And so they followed him, as he walked away with great dignity, to his
kennel.
"What, may I enquire, has brought you to this neighborhood?" he asked
as they arrived at his house.
"You see," explained Sweetclover, "we were captured by a very wicked
Showman and made to act with him in his puppet-show, so we ran away."
"Have you been long in Valparaiso?" he asked. And she told him her
story. How they had been to the moon in search of Jackie and Peggs'
motheranfather, and so on, till the moment when he had met them on the
road.
"Very, very interesting, I am sure," he said, "and I wish I could help
you in finding Jackie and Peggs' motheranfather, but I think you must
be tired, so if you will lie down here I will sleep outside and
protect you from any danger."
So Sweetclover and the Villain entered his house, which was very
nicely covered with straw and made a very comfortable place to sleep
in, and in a few minutes were fast asleep.
[Illustration]