“You really have been stolen, and carried away?” asked Don, in surprise.
“Oh, yes,” answered the poodle. “Then my little mistress, or her father, would put an advertisement in the paper, saying that whoever had taken me away could have some money if I were brought back, and I would then be taken home.
“So when this boy grabbed me up off the stoop I thought I was stolen again. But a policeman saw the boy take me, and the policeman ran after him. So the boy dropped me and ran, and I got lost, trying to find my way home again. Then the dog-catcher came and took me in his wagon. Oh dear! It’s too bad. Were you ever taken away like that?” he asked Don.
“Ran away!” exclaimed the poodle. “Why did you do that? Didn’t they treat you kindly? Did they whip you?”
“Oh, no,” said Don. “My master, Bob, was very kind to me. I was never whipped. But I wanted to have some adventures, so I ran away.”
“Did you have any adventures?” asked the poodle, whose name was Rex.
“Many of them,” replied Don. “This is one. I wonder if we shall ever get out of here?”
“Oh, I think so,” answered the poodle. “My little mistress, or her father, is sure to come looking for me.”
“Well, I wish some one would come for me, or that I could find my way back to the farm,” said Don, sadly enough. “I’d never run away again――never!”
It was not at all nice in the dog pound. There was water to drink, but it was not clean, and it was very warm, for the sun shone on it all day long. And there was hardly anything to eat.
Once in a while some scraps of food were thrown in to the dogs, but there were so many of them, and they were so fierce and strong, the most of them, that little dogs, like Rex, and lame dogs, like Don, got nothing at all.
“And I am so hungry!” whined Rex. “I would just like to have some nice chicken bones now, wouldn’t you, Don?”
“I’d be glad to have even a dry crust of bread,” said Don, sadly.
His foot pained him more than ever now, and he could walk about only a little, and very slowly.
“I am so sorry for you,” said Rex. “When my little mistress comes for me I know she’ll help you. Maybe she’ll take you home when she takes me.”
“Oh, I couldn’t expect that,” said Don. “But I would be glad if I were back in the hole in the lumber pile, with my friend Jack. I thought that was bad enough, after my nice kennel, but I would be glad of it now.”