“It’s all right! Come on! I’ll lead you where you want to go.”
“I hope he leads us where we can get something to eat,” murmured Janet, as if understanding what the dog was saying. “I’m terribly hungry; aren’t you, Ted?” she asked.
“Yes,” he replied, “I am. All right, Fido, we’re coming!” he told the dog.
This seemed to satisfy the animal, for, without further looking back or barking, he trotted on along the path which, every minute, became more and more open and plain.
“Now we’re coming to something,” declared Ted, in a few minutes. “These are regular grounds like around a big cottage.” For they could see lawns and beds of shrubbery and flowers.
“I see the house!” suddenly cried Janet. “There it is—in among the trees!”
She pointed to a large mansion—a white house with green shutters. Plainly it was the home of some one with money, so large was the place and so well kept up and with such large grounds around it.
The dog, too, Fido or whatever his name was, seemed to know that he was near home, for he began to bark as if giving a signal that he was coming.
Ted and Janet hurried along after the animal, who barked louder and more often the nearer he came to the house. Suddenly a voice called:
“Quiet, Nero! What are you making all that fuss about? Quiet!”