“If you want him to, Curly may sleep on a rug in your room,” she told Sunny Boy. “But not on the bed. If you allow him to jump up, he’ll have to go and sleep in his box in the kitchen.”
Curly proved to be a very popular addition to the family. Although Mrs. Horton asked nearly every one she met, and wrote out a description of Curly and pinned it on the lost-and-found bulletin in the Nestle Cove post-office, no one claimed the dog. When Mr. Horton came down the next Saturday and took them all out driving, Curly perched on Sunny’s lap in the front seat and very plainly enjoyed the trip.
“He’s used to riding in a car,” said Mr. Horton. “I wonder why no one advertises for him or tries to find him.”
“Maybe I can keep him always,” said Sunny hopefully. “He can sit up, Daddy, and beg, and play dead. I think he’s a very educated dog.”
CHAPTER XII
SUNNY BOY IS NAUGHTY
Curly proved to be a happy-natured little dog, and was soon a great favorite with all the children who played on the beach.
“I wish I had one just like him,” said Ellen.
“I’d rather have a bigger dog,” said Ralph. “One, maybe, as big as Queen.”
“Oh,” declared Sunny Boy, “no other dog could be as nice as Curly! Though Queen is nice, too, and I like her awful much,” he added, feeling that if Queen could know what he had just said her feelings might be hurt.
At first Sunny Boy had an uneasy feeling that the dog might be claimed any day, but as two weeks went by and no one came to look for a lost bow-wow, this feeling gradually vanished entirely. “Curly” was, in Sunny’s mind, his own dog.