“What a pity you should be
Such a greedy little she!”
Then they both stood on their hind legs and stretched up the sides of the hole, and when this was no good they gave little feeble jumps. A child would have managed to scramble out somehow, and kittens could have reached the top in a twinkling; but puppies are so clumsy and helpless, and poor Timette and Ann’s struggles were all in vain. They only fell on their backs, and at last got so hurt and tired they gave it up. It was their teatime, too, and they were feeling hungry as well as unhappy, and you know how bad that is.
Ann cried, “Oh, I do want my bread and milk! I’m so hungry. Oh! oh! oh!” And Timette began crying, too, “We’re lost, we’re lost! Oh, do come and find us!” and then they both howled as loudly as ever they could, “Help, help, help!” But no one came and all was quiet.
Poor puppies! how miserable and lonely they felt! It did seem hard that no one should trouble about them, and when they couldn’t cry any longer they curled themselves up as close as they could to each other and went to sleep. They were like the lost “Babes in the Wood.”
CHAPTER VII
THE SEARCH PARTY
And now I want to tell you what was happening at home. A little girl called Ruth, who was very fond of the puppies, came to see them on her way home from a party. She loved playing with them, and the first thing she said when she ran in was, “I am just going to say good-night to Timette and Ann,” and was off into the garden to find them.
But, alas! there were no puppies to be found. There was the india-rubber ball and the stick and the bit of rag, all looking very lonely, but no sign of the puppies. Ruth was very puzzled. “What have you done with them?” she asked Tim, who was sitting up looking rather worried. He gave his tail a flop and his brown human eyes seemed to say, “It really wasn’t my fault; they ran away without asking me.”