And--then at last they reached the garden gate and Bingo was home! He was so excited that he barked “Yap, yap, yap!”
Charlie was eating his supper in the dining room and when he heard it he said, “That’s Bingo’s bark!” and he and his Mother and his Auntie and his Daddy all jumped up from the table and ran to the front door. And--there were the four little boys holding Bingo by the rope!
Well, you may be sure that everybody was glad to see Bingo. Charlie grabbed him in his arms and hugged him while he thanked the boys for bringing him home, and Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie thanked them also. Then Charlie’s Daddy put his hand in his pocket and he brought out four beautiful new quarters and he gave one to each of the boys, so they were very happy, too. But the happiest of all was Bingo, he barked till he could bark no more because he was hoarse. He barked so loudly that he wakened Jane and Topsy from their nap and they came out to see what it all meant.
When Jane saw Bingo, what do you think she did? Why, she started to wash him! Yes, she did; she washed him all over and he needed it, I can tell you.
Then, when Bingo was nice and clean, Charlie gave him his dinner, and when he had eaten it he was so tired that he curled up beside Jane on the kitchen rug, just as if he was a baby puppy again, and went fast asleep. But always after that, Bingo would come when he was called. He came so quickly when Charlie called, “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo,” that everybody noticed it, and said to Charlie, “What a well-trained dog you have. Did you train him yourself?” And Charlie would say, “Yes, I did. He _is_ a clever dog; there isn’t _anything_ that Bingo can’t do!” And I don’t believe there was!
One day it was a rainy day. The rain poured and it poured, and the wind blew. It was a very disagreeable day. It poured so hard that Charlie could not go out in the yard and play in his little house. His Mother and his Auntie both said that it was the kind of day when it is best to stay indoors.
Then Charlie’s Mother said, “As it is such a rainy day that I cannot go out, I shall make preserves all the morning. I shall make plum preserves and orange marmalade, and we will have some for supper to-night.”