[CHAPTER X]
DON’S NEW FRIEND
Poor Don did not know what to make of all this. But, somehow, he felt that he was in danger, and, with one more glance back over his shoulder, seeing the man with the net on the long pole still running after him, Don ran also—and faster than ever.
“This is queer,” thought Don. “I wonder what makes that man chase me? And does he think I am a fish, that he tries to catch me in a net?”
But these men were not fishing for fish—they were fishing for dogs, and Don did not know what would happen if they caught him, so he ran faster and faster.
Those men, you see, were hired to catch stray dogs that were not allowed to run loose about the streets in summer. The people feared the stray dogs would go mad and bite them, so they hired men, with wagons and nets, to catch them.
Once the dogs were caught they would be put in a pen, called a “pound,” and if, after a certain time, the dog’s master did not come and take him away, the poor dog would be killed. That is what they do to stray dogs in the city.
Of course Don did not know all this, though his friend Jack had told him to be careful as he went about the streets. So now Don felt there was some danger, and on and on he ran, as fast as he could run.
Somehow, Don could not run as fast and as far as he used to. On the farm, when he raced with Bob, Don always beat. But since he had run away, Don had not had as good things to eat as he had had on the farm. And he had not had as good a place to sleep in. So Don was not as strong and healthful as he had been.
“Why, I’m getting tired!” panted poor Don, as he raced on. He looked back over his shoulder. The man with the net was coming closer. There was another man following, with a big, black wagon.
“Can you get him?” asked the man, driving the black wagon.