"Take him off! Take off that Sallie Growler!" yelled the boy.
But the brown fish Laddie had caught looked too ugly and savage. Neither of the little Bunkers was going to touch it and the new boy did not seem to want to any more than did Russ or Laddie.
As for the dog, he could not help himself. The fish had hold of him; he didn't have hold of the fish.
Finally, after much howling and pawing, the dog either knocked the fish off his nose, or the Sallie Growler let go of its own accord and lay on the pier.
"Poor Teddy!" said the boy as he bent over his pet to pat him. "Did he hurt you a lot?" The dog whimpered and wagged his tail. He did not seem to be badly hurt, though there were some spots of blood on his nose.
"I guess he'll be all right if the Sallie Growler doesn't poison him," said the boy. "How'd you come to catch it?" he asked, looking from Laddie to Russ.
"I didn't want to catch it," said Laddie. "I was fishing for good fish and I got a bite and pulled that up!" and he pointed to the ugly brown fish that lay gasping on the boards.
"Is it a Sallie Growler?" asked Russ.
"It is," said the new boy. "And they can bite like anything. Look how that one held on to my dog's nose."
"I hope he isn't hurt much," put in Laddie. "I didn't mean to do it."