"Down! Down, Tramp!" and at once the dog sank down and wagged his tail so hard that Sue said afterward she thought it would almost wag off.
The dog seemed to like Bunny and Sue, running about them, giving little barks of joy and licking their hands.
"I like him," said Sue. "He's 'most as good as our dog. How did you come to name him Tramp?"
"Well, he looked like a tramp when he came to me," said the ragged man, who seemed to be clean enough, though his clothes were in tatters. "He was all stuck up with burrs from the woods, one foot was cut and he was covered with mud and water. I took him in, washed him, bound up his paw, which had been cut on a piece of broken glass, and gave him something to eat. He has been with me ever since."
"I should think he would stay with you," said Bunny. "You were kind to him."
"Well, I like animals," said the man. "But what are you children doing off here in the woods. Do you want more milk?"
"Not this time, thank you," said Bunny. "When we go to the farmhouse now we have a cover on our pail, and when we set it down on the road no dog can come and drink the milk."
"But we don't set it down any more," said Bunny. "Mother told us not to."
"That's good," said the ragged man, whose name was Bixby. "It's a good thing you didn't want any milk, because I haven't any left. I used up most of what my cow gave, and sold the rest to a party of automobile folks that came along dreadfully thirsty."
"We have two automobiles," said Bunny. "One my father rides back and forth to the city in and the other a big one, like a moving van, that we can live in, and go where we want to. When night comes we just go to sleep in it beside the road."