Charlie and His Puppy Bingo

by Helen Hill; Violet Maxwell

Of course Charlie said, “Yes,” and he ran off to the house to tell his Mother and his Auntie all about the house builder, and to ask if he might go across the road by himself to get the bricks. And his Mother and his Auntie both said, “Yes.” They said that it would be perfectly safe for Charlie to go across the road all by himself, because no automobiles were allowed on the road and there was a sign which said, “Closed to Traffic.”

Then Charlie got his express wagon and he went across the road to get the bricks. He loaded the bricks into his express wagon and he dragged them across the road and in at the garden gate to the corner of the garden where there were no flowers and no vegetables. Charlie did this over and over again; he did it so often that his legs ached,—and every time that Charlie went across the road Topsy and Bingo followed him. When Charlie had been across the road four, five, six times getting his express cart full of bricks every time, the builder said, “Now you have enough bricks to start with. Suppose you go now and ask your Mother for a pail and I will give you some mortar, already mixed.”

Charlie ran and got the pail, and the builder filled it with mortar and carried it over to Charlie’s yard himself because it was too heavy for Charlie to carry. The builder certainly was a nice man.

Of course Charlie wanted immediately to start in building the house. But his Mother and his Auntie said, “No.” They said that Charlie had worked enough for one day, and that he had better play a little. And his Mother said, “You had better wait till your Daddy comes home before starting to build your house; I think you ought to ask his advice as to exactly where would be the best place to build it.”

Charlie thought that his Mother was right and he determined to wait till his Daddy came home before building the house. So he went off and had a lovely game with Topsy and Bingo.

At last Charlie’s Daddy came home. Charlie was watching for him out of the dining-room window. As soon as he saw his Daddy come in at the gate, Charlie ran out to meet him and to tell him all about the bricks that the builder had given him and about the house he was going to build.

Charlie’s Daddy was very interested; he was so interested that he said he would like to help Charlie to build the house. Then Charlie’s Daddy went upstairs and changed into his old suit, the one he always wore when he was digging in the garden, and he found a spade, and he said, “Come on, Charlie, let us start building the house.”

So they went into the garden and started to build the house. First Charlie’s Daddy dug a trench, the size that the house was to be; this was to be the foundation so that the house should not blow over in a wind-storm. Charlie helped dig the trench also. It was very hard work digging the trench—it was such hard work that both Charlie and his Daddy were puffing and blowing before they had finished digging. But at last the trench was finished, and while they were both standing still to admire it Charlie’s Auntie came and called them in to supper.

So they both had to go in and change their clothes and eat their supper and, by the time that supper was over, it was too dark to work at the house any longer. Charlie did not like this at all, he said, “I do not want to stop for a single minute until the house is built.”

But his Daddy said, “Cheer up, Charlie, to-morrow is a legal holiday, and I shall be home all day. So I shall be able to help you build your house until it is finished.” Then Charlie was satisfied and he went to sleep the minute he got into bed—and all night long he dreamed about the beautiful house he was going to build.