“Oh, I love it!!” said Lucile, impulsively. “Ever since we came back from camp I’ve been wanting to make a great big camp-fire. This seems such a poor imitation.”
“I imagine it’s just enough to make you camp-sick,” laughed her guardian. “But tell me about Bull. I’m interested.”
“Oh, it’s been the talk of Burleigh for days,” said the girl. “If you will just turn your chair around so you will get a full view of the fire, I’ll tell you about it.”
Her guest did as she was bid and settled back comfortably to enjoy the story.
“Well,” began Lucile, “the other day Bull and his master were walking down Main Street. You know, Jim Keller absolutely refuses to keep Bull tied up and the only wonder is he—the dog, I mean—hasn’t been poisoned long ago, he has so many enemies. Well, Bull broke loose from Jim some way and when he tried to find him he had disappeared. Jim went raving around like a wild man, declaring that, ‘if the dog wasn’t found soon, he’d sure get into some mischief.’”
“He showed rare perception.”
“That’s what we all thought—at least, you would have judged so by the way everybody called their children in, and any one that had a pet cat or dog went almost crazy till it was out of harm’s way. Oh, there was excitement in Burleigh that day!”
“I can imagine,” interjected Mrs. Wescott, in huge enjoyment of the picture. “Did Jim find him?” 39
“Not for over an hour. He ran over half the town, looking everywhere for his Bull. At last a small boy came running and told him the dog was over yonder and he was gettin’ a ‘turrible lickin’.’”
“Licking?” exclaimed Mrs. Wescott, sitting up straight in her surprise. “Bull?”