"We must be off early," said Big Dog; but when they woke up next morning the door was fastened tight; for the wind had blown by in the night and slammed it into its place. When Big Dog saw this he was in great distress.
"Oh, Little Dog! Little Dog!" he cried. "I fear we can never go to see the king, for the door is closed, and there is no one to open it."
"But we can go through the hole under the door," answered Little Dog; and when Big Dog looked, there, sure enough, at the bottom of the door, where a board had rotted away, was a hole just large enough for a little dog to creep through. Little Dog put his nose through and his head through, and then wriggle, wriggle, he was out and barking merrily.
"Come on, Big Dog," he called; but Big Dog could not go. He could not even get his head through the hole.
"You must go on alone," he said to Little Dog, "and when you have come to the king's palace, and have told him about me, perhaps he will send me aid."
But Little Dog did not wait until he reached the king's palace to ask for help. "Bow-wow-wow-wow! Listen to me," he barked, as he ran down the road. "Big Dog, my friend, is shut up in the house in the wood, and cannot go to see the king. Bow-wow-wow-wow!"
At first there were only birds to hear him, but presently he saw a woodcutter with an axe on his shoulder.
"Bow-wow-wow-wow! Listen to me," barked Little Dog. "Big Dog, my friend, is shut up in the house in the wood and cannot go to see the king. Bow-wow-wow-wow!" But the woodcutter did not understand a word he said.
"Whew! whew!" he whistled, which meant, "Come, little doggie, follow me;" but Little Dog had no time to play.