“Is Winkie all right?” asked Alice, as Larry looked into the pen.
“Yes, I guess Buster didn’t do any more than scare her,” the boy answered. And indeed poor Winkie’s heart was beating very fast, for she was dreadfully frightened.
But when she saw Larry and Alice, and heard the kind voices of the children, and smelled the sweet carrot pieces they brought her, Winkie was no longer frightened. [She came out of her pen] when Larry opened the door, [and did her tricks] for the boy and his sister.
“It’s a good thing Buster didn’t open the pen door,” said Alice, as she stroked Winkie’s head. “What are we going to do, Larry? If we leave Winkie in her pen, Buster may come over to-morrow when we’re at school and bite her.”
“I’m going to get daddy to speak to Uncle Elias about his dog,” said the boy. “I like Buster, and he’s a good dog; but we can’t have him chasing over here and scaring our woodchuck. I’m going to make him stop.”
That night Mr. Dawson spoke to his brother-in-law about Buster, telling the farmer how the dog had nearly caught the woodchuck.
“I wish Buster really had caught that ground-hog!” exclaimed the uncle. “Woodchucks are a nuisance. They spoil my clover crop. A lot of ’em had burrows in my meadow. But I plowed the place up, and I blasted out a lot of rocks and stumps and now the pesky creatures have cleared out.”
“I should think they would,” said Mr. Dawson. “I hope none of them were killed.”
“I wish they were all killed!” snarled Mr. Tottle. “And if your children will sell their woodchuck for two dollars I’ll buy her and let Buster chase her.”