“‘Hope it does, but I am going to give him a butt that will break his back first. I’ll teach him not to torture goats in the future!’
“‘S-s-s-s-h-h-h!’ exclaimed Button. ‘I see him through the window. He is coming now.’
“Cautiously the door opened a crack, and the Chinaman’s crafty face peered out. His eyes searched every nook and corner of the yard, but he saw no goat, dog or cat. Button was so black one could not see him as he sat on top of the fence. Stubby was hidden under a pile of old chairs, tables and so on, while I was close against the house behind the door the Chinaman had just opened. I got there on purpose so that when once he stepped into the yard he could not go back unless he passed me for I would be between the man and the house.
“‘What has he in his hand that smokes so?’ I wondered. ‘Why, it is a dipper of boiling water! Gee, I bet he intended to throw that on me when he saw me. Well, I’ll just sneak up behind him and give him a butt in the back and make him spill it on himself and then he can see how he would like boiling water thrown on him.’
“I did not dare to try to walk up behind him for fear I might stumble over something and then he would hear me and throw the water, so I made one big jump from behind the door and butted him squarely in the back. Well, I made the jump all right, but just as my feet left the earth it opened under me with a ripping, tearing noise and swallowed the Chinaman with his dipper of hot water, and closed again so quickly that when I came down from my jump I lit on solid ground where but half a second before had been a yawning chasm. Whoo! That was a narrow escape, for had I stood still the earth would have opened under me or if I had not happened to jump high enough I would have landed right in the opening and been crushed or killed as had the Chinaman.
“The ’quake that swallowed the Chinaman had extended far and shaken down lots of the old rickety buildings in the neighborhood, and buildings were tottering and falling all around. So Stubby, Button and I lost no time in getting out of that place, I can tell you. I simply butted down the door the Chinaman had bolted when I came in, and we all three ran out and down the street towards the Bay. I won’t stop to tell you of the destruction of the beautiful city and the fearful, gruesome sights and sounds we saw and heard, or how the flames licked up the handsome buildings after the earthquake had shaken them down, for the destruction of San Francisco has passed into history and any one of you who wish to hear more of it can listen as some one is reading aloud about it. This ends the tale of one of my most thrilling adventures.”
“Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Mr. Whiskers, for telling us this story,” exclaimed the facile Pinky. “I have enjoyed hearing it so much, though you did make my skin creep and my hair stand on end when you were telling of how they proposed to cook you alive.”
Then all the other dogs thanked him also for relating to them this wonderful tale.
“I think we better go back to the hospital and look for Button and see if we cannot find a way for me to slip in and see Stubby,” remarked Billy.