In spite of his large size he was a coward
Do you know what happened? The Black Dog turned and ran away as fast as he could. You see that in spite of his large size and big voice, he was a coward. Many large-sized big-voiced things are.
It was growing late now. Even the stars were getting sleepy, and Ready was the weariest little dog in all the world.
He had come now to a village, and he began to look anxiously for the red cottage with the pine tree in front of it.
On and on he went, past brown houses, white houses, green houses, past everything. Oh, where was it? Now there were no houses left.
Ready felt the tears coming to his eyes. He had been looking so long and so eagerly; his legs ached terribly. How could he keep on? Then something sang to him,
“Instead of a moan,
Bark, soon I’ll be home.”
There was a sudden turn in the road and there, right before him, it stood—