“Where did you get him!” the man repeated, looking at the Corner House girls again.
Tess and Dot were clinging to each other’s hands. Agnes stared at the man belligerently. Ruth said—and her voice was not quite steady:
“Do you think you know Tom Jonah, sir?”
“What do you think yourself, Miss?” responded the man, rather gruffly. “I guess there’s no mistake about whether he knows me and I know him.”
“No, sir,” said Ruth, bravely. “But lots of people may know him.”
“Do you mean to put in a claim for the dog?” interrupted the man, quickly.
“Tom Jonah came to our house in Milton,” began Ruth, when again the man interrupted with:
“Of course. He was on his way home to me. I sold him to a man who lives forty miles beyond Milton.”
“Then you do not own him?” Ruth said, with a feeling of relief.
The man looked at her steadily for a minute. Ruth had recovered her self-possession. Tess and Dot were now on either side of Tom Jonah, with their arms about the dog’s neck. Agnes was very angry, but remained silent.