The Story Hour: A Book for the Home and the Kindergarten — John Shaqi
The Story Hour: A Book for the Home and the KindergartenWiggin, Kate Douglas Smith
General
The Story Hour: A Book for the Home and the Kindergarten
Wiggin, Kate Douglas Smith
Children -- Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Children's stories; Conduct of life -- Juvenile fiction; Short stories
Then they were two such glad children, and such a glad little brown
dog was Bruno! Why, he kissed Lola's bare feet and hands and face,
and nearly chewed her apron into rags, he was so delighted to see his
mistress again. Even the cross pound-man smiled and said he was the
prettiest puppy, and the smartest, he had ever had in the pound, and
that when he had shut him up the night before he had gone through all
his funny tricks in hopes that he would be let out.
Then Dicky and Lola walked back home over the dusty road, Bruno running
along beside them, barking at the birds, sniffing at the squirrels, and
chasing all the chickens and kittens he met on the way, till at last
they reached the street corner, where Lola turned to go to her home,
after kissing her new friend and thanking him for being so good and kind
to her.
But what about Master Dicky himself, who had lost his tool-box? He
didn't feel much like a smiling boy just then. He crept in at the back
door, and when he saw his dear mother's face in the kitchen he couldn't
stand it a minute longer, but burst out crying, and told her all about
it.
“Well, my little son,” said she, “I'm very, very sorry. I wish I could
give you another dollar, but I haven't any money to spare. You did just
right to help Lola find Bruno, and buy him back for her, and I'm
very proud of my boy; but you can't give away the dollar and have the
tool-box too. So wipe your eyes, and try to be happy. You didn't eat any
breakfast, dear, take a piece of nice bread and sugar.”
So Dicky dried his tears and began to eat.
After a while he wanted to wipe his sticky, sugary little mouth, and as
he took his clean handkerchief out of his pocket, two shining, chinking,
clinking round things tumbled out on the floor and rolled under
the kitchen table! What could they have been! Why, his two silver
half-dollars, to be sure. And where in the world did they come from, do
you suppose? Why, it was the nicest, funniest thing! The pound-man was
not so cross after all, for he thought Lola and Dicky were two such kind
children, and Bruno such a cunning dog, that he could not bear to take
Dicky's dollar away from him; so while the little boy was looking the
other way the pound-man just slipped the money back into Dick's bit of a
pocket without saying a word. Wasn't that a beautiful surprise?
So Dicky ran to the corner store as fast as his feet could carry him,
and bought the tool-box.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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