Bang! she slammed against it, so hard that she was thrown down and lay, for a moment, stunned amid the leaves.
It was a good thing that Don was a kind dog, and not a savage one belonging to Farmer Tottle. And it is also a good thing Don was not a wolf or a fox. For had he been either of these he could easily have caught Winkie in his teeth when she fell back, stunned by her crash into the tree.
But Don did not do this thing. Instead, he went gently up to Winkie as she lay amid the leaves, smelled her fur, and barked in a low tone.
“Oh, please don’t bite me! Please don’t!” begged Winkie.
“Bite you? Nonsense! I never thought of such a thing!” cried Don. “Why did you run away?”
“Because you chased me,” answered Winkie, her heart not beating so fast now, when she found that nothing had yet happened to her. She was so plump and so covered with fur that running into the tree had not done her any more harm than to knock her breath from her for a moment or two.
“How foolish! I didn’t chase you!” declared Don. “I was just running after you to tell you what a book is.”
“What is a book?” asked Winkie, and Don told her as well as he could for a dog who couldn’t himself read.
“A book,” he barked, “is a sort of long story of adventures.”
“I know what adventures are,” said Winkie. “They’re things that happen to you.”
“Yes,” agreed Don. “And you have had an adventure this morning.”
“You mean all our family getting lost?” asked Winkie.
“I didn’t hear about that,” said Don. “But that’s an adventure too. No, I meant running away from me and bumping into a tree. That was an adventure.”
[Illustration: Caused Winkie to bump into a tree full tilt!]
“Not a very pleasant one,” remarked Winkie, smiling.
“Oh, well, there are all sorts of adventures,” said Don. “I have had very many, and they have been put into a book about me, just as have those of Toto, the bustling beaver, about whom I heard you speaking.”
“I should say I have!” barked Don. “Say,” he went on, “did you ever meet Squinty, the comical pig?”
“No, I never did,” answered Winkie. “Who is he?”
“Oh, a jolly chap. Did you ever meet Slicko, the jumping squirrel?”
“No, not that I know of. Where is Slicko?”
“Somewhere in these woods, I think. You’ll probably meet Slicko sooner or later. And then there is Mappo, and there’s Tum Tum.”