[“‘Hello, what’s the matter here?’ asked the dog.”]
Once more Sharp Eyes tried to get loose, but the pain in his leg made him stop. He looked at the dog, and got as far away as he could. But the trap was fast to a chain, of which one end was wound around a tree and could not be pulled off.
[“Hello, what’s the matter here?” asked the dog], who, of course, could speak animal talk, though not exactly the same language that Sharp Eyes and his friends used. “What’s the matter?”
“Oh, you know well enough what’s the matter,” said Sharp Eyes sadly. “I’m caught in a trap your master set, and I suppose you and he are coming to get me now.”
“What’s that? A trap? I don’t know anything about a trap,” answered the dog. “And I’m sure my master never set one. He lives in a big house far away from here. I used to live in a house where there was a nice little girl. I liked her very much, and often I went for walks with her. Once I took her to a park menagerie, and she fell into the tank where Chunky, the happy hippo, lived. But Chunky lifted her out of the water on his broad back and saved her. Chunky is a friend of mine.
“My people have taken a bungalow over on the lake off there, and we’re staying there for a while. It’s a good way off from here, but not so far as our real home, where we live all the time.
“To-day I wanted to have some adventures, so I trotted off from my master’s bungalow. They don’t need me to-day, as they have all gone visiting. So I came to the woods, but I never expected to see you. Are you another dog? You look a little like one, only your nose is sharper than mine, and you are not so large.”
“No, I am a fox, and my name is Sharp Eyes,” came the answer. “And I am caught in a trap. But please don’t bite me.”
“Bite you? Why should I bite you?” asked the dog.