It was a very sad day for Dick and Ready when Dick fell from the apple tree and broke his arm. Have you ever broken your arm? If you have, you know how much it hurts, and how still you have to be. Even then the pain won’t go away. Of course Dick wanted Ready with him every single minute of the day and night.
But in the middle of the second night Ready felt that he really must stretch his legs while Dick was asleep. He would not have thought of letting his master know that he was in great need of a little run, but now that Dick was asleep—and he put his nose against Dick’s good arm to be quite sure that he was—Ready stepped out of the open window into the big world.
All would have gone well if Ready had not met Big Yellow Dog
I suppose all would have gone well if Ready had not met Big Yellow Dog. Big Yellow Dog had always snubbed Ready frightfully, but even Big Yellow Dogs have their good moments, and this must have been one of them.
Big Yellow Dog said, “Good evening,” and almost stopped.
This turned Ready’s head. It would have turned any dog’s head. Did you ever have your head turned? You will some day, and when it happens, try hard to look where you are going, for you are always going wrong.
Of course Ready did not know this, and when Big Yellow Dog said pleasantly, “Come along,” Ready went. Faster and faster ran Big Yellow Dog. Faster and faster ran Ready, although he felt that his legs were getting shorter and shorter.
Suddenly Ready lost sight of Big Yellow Dog altogether, and then he felt very tired. He sat right down on the pavement, for he knew now that his head had been turned. Of course he tried to turn it back again, but he was so tired that he only made it worse.
