Mr. Bonelli wasn’t pleased with that. He spoke to me quite sharply, and then I remembered and turned round the other way,—the way he had taught me to sit.
The lights shone out along the edge of the stage and there was music somewhere in front of us, but Mr. Bonelli spoke to us just the way he always did. He came and turned me round in my chair, and when I turned back again he said, “All right, Master Grineo; suit yourself!” just as he did when we were at home, and so presently I didn’t feel strange any more.
We went through all our tricks as we did at home, and when we came to the end Mr. Bonelli went about among us, patting us and praising us. “Good! Good dogs! Well done!” he said.
We all felt so pleased we wagged our tails, and some of us jumped about and barked. Then we went home and had our suppers and lay down and rested for a while.
But that wasn’t all. Almost always when we had gone through our tricks once we had finished for the day; but that evening the men came to the house again, and Mr. Bonelli put collars and straps on us,—but he didn’t dress us in our fancy things this time. Mrs. Bonelli put the things in a big case and fastened it, and then we all set out, Mrs. Bonelli too.
We went the same way we had gone in the morning, and after we came to the theatre Mrs. Bonelli took us to a room downstairs, dressed us, and then upstairs again where the stage was.
We didn’t go on the stage right away, though. A man and woman were out on it. They were walking up and down and singing and talking. After a while they came off and went on again and came off, and then a big curtain came down in front so the stage was shut in like a room.
“Now,” said Mr. Bonelli, “get those chairs on.”
Some men ran about and carried our chairs out on the stage. One of them almost fell over me.
Then the big curtain that had come down in front of the stage went up again, and Mr. Bonelli led us out on the stage.