"Our old dog had a fit yesterday, and my brother got the vet'nary doctor. When he came, he said Carlo hadn't any fit. He was acting just awful. I said 'what makes him tare round so?' an he said maybe I'd tare round sum if I had a fish-bone in my throat! The doctor took it out, and then Carlo was so glad he tore round worsen ever! "Arabella Corryville is acting worse than Carlo did. You know her Aunt Matilda lives with them, an neether Arabella, or her pa, or her ma dare to do ennything without asking Aunt Matilda _first_. Well, her aunt has had to go way up to New Hampshur (I guess I didn't spell that rite) and Arabella thinks its just her chanse to act awful. Carlo is real quiet side of Arabella when she acts the way she does now. "She stays out doors most all the time, and goes just where she pleases. "Some days she's way down by the stashun until its almost dark. "You know she's always taking medesin, and carries the bottles in her pockets. "She carries em now, but she told me she's takin the kind she likes best. Theres two kinds her Aunt Matilda made her take, one tasted horrid, and the other tasted nice. Arabella threw the horrid one away, and ate the nice pills for candy. She told me this morning that her Aunt Matilda is coming home just for one day, and then they're all going up where you, and Dorothy, and Nancy are. I don't believe it, but if she does, and you see her, you needn't give my love to her. "Your tru friend, "REGINALD." CHAPTER X A GIFT OF WILDFLOWERS OF course, Dorothy and Nancy were greatly interested in the letter, and Uncle Harry said that he was glad that Reginald had thought to say that the fish-bone had been removed from Carlo's throat. He said it would have seemed quite a trip to take to leave the Cleverton, and go to Merrivale to feel Carlo's pulse, and inquire for his health. "Now that that bone is removed, I breathe easier," said Uncle Harry, "and so does Carlo!" "Oh, you wouldn't have gone home just to call on Carlo," said Flossie. "Well, I don't know," he said, trying to look solemn, "I wouldn't like Carlo to feel neglected, and now I think of it, does Reginald speak of the cat?" "No," said Flossie, "but when I answer the letter, I'll tell Reginald you're anxious about her." "I am," said Uncle Harry, "because the last time I saw her, Carlo was barking at her very rudely, and her back was up in a hump like a camel's. Reginald ought to have told us if her back is _still_ up, or whether she has taken the kink out of her spine. We might telephone and ask, instead of worrying."