CHAPTER XIV
ADRIFT IN A BOAT
“Patter! Patter! I told you to keep away from the crab!” shouted Bunny Brown, when he saw what had happened to his trick dog.
“Wow! Wow!” howled Patter, limping along and holding up the paw to which the crab—a large one—had fastened itself. “Bow-wow!”
“Knock the crab off!”
“Smash him!”
“Give the crab a piece of meat and he’ll let go the dog!”
Charlie, Harry and George cried this advice to Bunny as he ran along after Patter, seeking to help his pet.
Crabs can pinch very hard, as any of you knows who has been unlucky enough to be nipped by one. I have had even a small one draw blood when he closed his pinchers on my thumb.
And as this crab was a large one, with powerful claws, it had a good grip on poor Patter’s paw. Luckily the dog’s paw was tough, and was covered with hair which was like a cushion, or a glove, so the crab did not break the skin or draw blood.
But it pinched hard enough to make Patter howl, and Bunny was afraid his trick dog might run away and be lost. So the boy raced after his four-legged chum calling: