VI
SO now I belonged to Mr. Bonelli, and had still another name given me. I was now called Master Grineo. It seemed funny to have belonged to so many people, and to have had so many names. Every time there was a new master there was a new name.
First I had belonged to Mr. O’Grady and then I had been called Smarty. Next I had belonged to Tommy and then I was called Muffins. And now it was Mr. Bonelli and I was Master Grineo.
The first thing my new master taught me was to answer to that name, and to pay attention the moment he said “Master Grineo.”
Mr. Bonelli had a lot of dogs beside me.
Mr. Bonelli had a lot of dogs beside me. Some of them were big, and some were little. I was afraid of them at first, there were so many of them, but they were very friendly dogs,—not proud and snarly like Prince Coco and Fifine.
They were all trained dogs, and could do a great many wonderful tricks. Mr. Bonelli had trained them. After they were trained he took them to a big place called a theatre, and crowds and crowds of people came to see them do their tricks. Showing off his dogs was Mr. Bonelli’s business, just as going to the factory was Mr. O’Grady’s business.
Soon after I came to live with Mr. Bonelli he began to teach me tricks. He began with easy tricks, almost as easy as the ones Mr. O’Grady had taught me, but he went on to harder and harder ones. Some of them were very hard indeed, and some were funny. I never knew there were so many tricks a dog could learn. And the other dogs knew just as many as I did. At least some of them didn’t know as many, but some of them knew more. I had thought I was smart when I learned those three little tricks Mr. O’Grady had taught me, but I knew better now. I heard Mr. Bonelli say he had never had a dog that learned as quickly as I did.
Mr. and Mrs. Bonelli lived in a big house, but they didn’t live in all of it. They lived downstairs and some other people lived upstairs. There was a man upstairs who played a horn. When he played it I felt so sad it made me howl, but Mr. Bonelli always spoke sharply to me when I did that, so after a while I learned I mustn’t.