THE SPINNING TOPS
Rose was not able to stop the skate wagon, on which she was coasting down the sidewalk hill in front of Aunt Jo's house. Nor did the little dog seem to want to get out of the way. He just stood in front of Rose, while she was coasting toward him, and barked and wagged his tail. And it was almost as if he said:
"Well, what's all this? Are you coming to give me a ride?"
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way—please!" begged Rose. "I'll bump into you, same as I bumped into the curbstone, if you don't get out of the way, little dog; and then I'll run over you! Get out of the way!"
But the little dog just stayed right there.
Of course, if Rose had thought about it, she might have jumped off the skate wagon, and let that go on by itself, shoving it to one side.
But she was coasting down the stone sidewalk hill quite rapidly now, and she was so excited that she never once thought of getting off or even trying to turn the skate wagon aside. Straight for the barking little dog she coasted.
"Oh, we must stop her!" cried Mrs. Bunker, running down the slope after the little girl.
"I'll get her, Mother!" cried Russ. "I guess I can run faster than you can."
But there was no chance for either of them to catch Rose before something happened. And the something that happened was that Rose ran right into the little dog. Right into him she ran with the skate wagon.