Charlie and His Puppy Bingo

by Helen Hill; Violet Maxwell

The boy had decided to go home, as it was near his dinner time, and he was dragging his sled after him when Bingo arrived at the bottom of the hill, all out of breath and with his little red tongue hanging out. But he was not too out of breath to jump up at the boy and bark “Yap, yap, yap!” He was trying to tell him how glad he was that he had caught up with him at last.

The boy patted Bingo on the head and talked to him, but of course he did not know his name as he lived quite a distance away and had never seen Bingo before.

Bingo liked the boy very much and decided that he would go for a walk with him. So he followed after him. It was a long, long walk, but at last they arrived at the boy’s house.

It was a tall brick house very much larger than the house in which Bingo lived with Charlie; and it had to be larger too, because a great many people lived in it—two families lived on every floor!

The boy climbed up five flights of stairs; he lived on the top floor of all—and Bingo followed after him.

The boy’s Mother was cooking dinner in the kitchen and she was very much surprised when she saw Bingo. She said, “Who is that dog?” The boy said, “I found him and I am going to keep him for my dog. I have always wanted one.”

But his Mother said, “How can we keep a dog when we live five flights up and have only three rooms? It is impossible. After you have had your dinner you must take him back to where you found him, then he will be able to find his way home. He has a collar on so he must belong to somebody. In the meantime, take him downstairs and tie him up in the yard. I have just washed the kitchen floor and I am afraid he will make it dirty again.”

The boy felt very sad because he could not keep Bingo, but he took him down to the yard as his Mother had told him to, and he tied him up to the fence with a piece of rope.

Bingo did not like this at all. He pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but he could not get loose. He pulled and he pulled and—he PULLED, and—suddenly the fastening of his collar snapped (it snapped because Charlie had not fastened it properly that morning), and Bingo was a free dog.

Then he scampered gayly out of the yard and into the street again. He thought that it was time to go home to Charlie and his dinner. But—what do you think? Bingo could not find his way home! He ran through street after street but he could not find the house where he lived with Charlie and Topsy and Jane. The boy’s Mother must have thought that Bingo was older than he really was when she said that he could find his way home by himself.