Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 12, 2025
He ran ingloriously away, jumping high into the air when clods of dirt like exploding bombs struck near him, and hitting the ground again on the run, with loud cackles of indignation and wild excitement. "Sick him, F'ank!" screamed the boy. "Sick him!" But old Frank sat down on his haunches panting, which is a dog's way of shaking his head.
"I tol' F'ank to kill him!" "But Frank's a grown dog he knew better." He grew suddenly angry angry at her very simplicity. "F'ank won't kill any more chickens!" "How do you know?" "I know!" he cried, and stamped his foot. "I know!" He came away from this futile interview in a suppressed rage. From the hall he saw old Aunt Cindy waddling about in the dining room. No use to appeal to her.
In his ecstasy he grabbed the dog round the neck. "Ol' F'ank! Ol' F'ank! I love ol' F'ank!" Then in a voice he was training for future fox hunts Tommy Earle yelled, and the woods and the house and the barn between them tossed back and forth the thin echoes.
But evidently the boy didn't want to fight. "Heh!" he said. "Heh," said Tommy. "What's your name?" "Tommy what's yours?" "Joe." A minute's silence followed this exchange of essential information. Tommy drew nearer Joe. Joe drew nearer Tommy. "That your dog?" "Yes he's my dog." "He come down here just now. What's his name?" "F'ank." Another silence. Then the boy spoke.
Then, with wistful wonderment, "Where you been, F'ank?" There were lights in the living-room and kitchen windows when they started toward the house, the boy's hand tightly clutching the mane of the dog. "Mr. Lancaster," Tommy was explaining in a breathless voice that caught, "he says he says you b'long to us! He says he come down an' hunt wif me an' you an' Popper! He says he give give me a dun!"
"Ping!" spoke the air rifle. In a stall a frisky young mule wheeled around and kicked the bars continuously like a rapid-fire gun. Old Frank, who had lain soberly down, sprang to his feet with pricked ears and eager eyes. From without came a hoarse, faint squawk and heavy flopping of wings. Out of breath, Tommy turned round. "I hit him, F'ank!" he gasped.
"Yes, cop!" said Tommy, proud that they had such things in the country as well as in town. "I'll go an' fin' out what he wants. You stay here. I'll come back an' tell you. Come on, F'ank!" He did not look back as he ran. He did not stop at the pillar this time. He went right up on the porch. Policemen didn't come to their house every day. Kelley had not sat down.
His red silken ears were thrown back, his brown eyes were shining, and he was looking for somebody to tell his secret to. "F'ank!" called the boy. At the call the old fellow's ears flattened and he threw up his head, then he came running straight to Tommy. There was an eager light in his eyes that said plain as words, "Come with me and I'll show you something." Tommy's heart began to pound.
Somewhere a bell rang; a nurse's skirts rustled as she passed the door. Earle sat down, his hat on his knees, staring helplessly. "F'ank?" The thin little voice on the bed was shrill and complaining. The women's heads met above it. "Mother's here. Mother's here, darling." "A playmate?" asked the doctor. Earle shook his head. "No; a dog." "F'ank?"
"Get in, son," said the man at the wheel, his voice gruff and husky. "We're goin' to take you to your ma. You ain't got no business down here in the woods alone. Quick now no fooling!" But Tommy drew back. "Is is F'ank goin'?" "Sure. Let the dog in, Bill." The red-faced man slammed the door on boy and dog and clambered heavily into the front seat.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking