I jumped down and ran out into the hall to meet them.
When they came in I whined and barked and wagged my tail and jumped up on Tommy, and he was just as glad to see me as I was to see him.
We went into a room and Tommy and his father and Mr. Bonelli sat down and talked. I wanted to get up in the chair with Tommy, but Mr. Bonelli wouldn’t let me. He took me up on his knees, and all the while he was talking he kept smoothing me and gently pulling my ears.
At last Tommy and his father stood up, and Mr. Bonelli, too, and I scrambled down and ran over to Tommy, and Tommy caught his father by the arm and cried, “Can’t I take him now? Please!”
But his father shook his head. “You’ve heard what Mr. Bonelli says; he’ll have to train a dog to take his place before he can let him go.”
Then he and Mr. Bonelli shook hands, and Tommy said good-bye, and Tommy and his father went out and shut the door after them.
I wanted to go with them, but Mr. Bonelli held me back. When he let me go I ran to the door and scratched and whined, but I couldn’t get it open, and at last I sat down and howled, but all my howling did not bring them back.
It was not long after this when Mr. Bonelli brought home another dog to the house. He was a little brown dog just about my size. At first I thought he was a strange dog, but when I went up and sniffed at him he smelled like a friend. Then he began to wag his tail, and frisk in front of me, and all of a sudden I knew who he was. He was little Fido from the dog shop.
I was so glad to see him I whined, and he seemed just as glad to see me.
“Ah, my Grineo, so you remember your little friend from the shop,” said Mr. Bonelli. “I had forgotten that you were there together.”