The dog barked and wagged his tail, which was the only answer he could give. It satisfied the children, and soon they started off again, making their way through the snow, hoping they would soon catch up with their father, Mr. Case and Mr. Bimby. Rover accompanied Flossie and Freddie, sometimes ahead of them and sometimes behind.
The dog had started out, as he often did, to follow his master, but had lagged behind, perhaps to run after a rabbit or squirrel. Then he had come across the tracks of the children and had gone to them, knowing they were friends of his.
“I’m hungry,” said Flossie, after a while. “Let’s sit under a Christmas tree and eat, Freddie.”
“All right,” agreed her brother, always willing to do this.
They were, just then, in a clump of evergreen trees, and under some the snow was not as deep as it was in the open. In fact the children found one tree with no snow under it at all, so thick were the branches, and so close to the ground did they come. Crawling into this little nest, where the ground was covered with the dry needles from the pines and other trees, Flossie and Freddie opened the packages of lunch they had brought with them.
Rover, smelling the food, crawled into the shelter after them, and Flossie and Freddie shared their lunch with the dog, who even ate the crumbs off the ground.
“But we mustn’t eat everything,” said Freddie, when part of the lunch had been disposed of, Rover getting his share.
“Why not?” asked Flossie. “Can’t you eat all you want to when you’re hungry?”
“It’s best to save some,” Freddie answered. “Maybe we’ll get stuck in the snow and can’t get anything more to eat for a while, and then we’ll be glad to have this.”
“That’s so,” agreed Flossie, after thinking it over. “I guess I’m not so very hungry. But Rover is. He’s terrible hungry, Freddie. See him look at the lunch.”