And what fun Bob and his boy chums had with Don on the way home from school! Don would carry Bob’s books, and if any other boy, even in fun, tried to take the books away from Don, the dog would growl and bark a little, as though saying:
“Now that’s all very well, in fun. But you must not take these books. If you do, I might have to bite you, just a least little bit, and I wouldn’t like to do that. So please don’t touch Bob’s books.”
And none of the boys dared.
Bob taught Don how to lie down and roll over when he was told, and how to sit up on his hind legs and not move even when a sweet cracker, or something else good to eat, was put on the dog’s nose. Don would sit there, just as steady as a clock, until Bob called out:
“Now you may eat it, Don!”
Then Don would flip his nose, toss the cracker up into the air, and as it came down he would grab it in his white teeth and chew it up. Oh, how good it tasted!
Bob also taught Don how to play soldier, and march around with a paper cap on his head, and a broom for a gun. And Don could jump over chairs, and do many other things, that only circus dogs are supposed to do. Bob was very fond of his pet Don.
Sometimes, when Bob was off to school, Don would walk around the farm, looking at the cows, horses and chickens. He was not afraid of the big red rooster now, though once he had been, when he was a little puppy. Instead the rooster was afraid of Don, though the dog would not harm even a baby chicken. All Don did was to drive the chickens out of the garden when he was told.
“How de doo—de doo!” the rooster would crow, when he saw Don outside the chicken yard. “How de doo—de doo?”
“Oh, I’m pretty well, thank you,” Don would answer. “How are you? Bow wow!”