Lady Clover alighted, and went towards the house. The dog immediately began to bark, nor would the soft tones of the lady’s voice by any means pacify him. In a few minutes she learned the whole of her former pet’s history, and wished to have him again. “She would give Geordie a crown for him,” she said; but Geordie would not sell his dog.
“No, I thank you, my lady.” “Bow-wow, wow,” said the little dog. “He might be sick again, my lady, and then he would be drowned, my lady.” “Bow-wow, wow—bow-wow, wow.”
“Keep the plaguesome creature quiet,” said her ladyship, “and hear me.”—“Bow-wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow,” said the little dog.
Her ladyship could not obtain a hearing, and left the cottage in high displeasure. “I would not sell him for his weight in gold,” said Geordie,—“not to Lady Clover.”
It was some years after this that Geordie grew almost a man, and Chloe, for that was the dog’s name, grew old; Geordie’s father had prospered in life; and, from being a poor cottager, had become a respectable farmer.
One night he returned from market with a considerable sum of money, arising from the sale of his crops, the principal part of which he had to pay away to his landlord in a few days.
Some evil-disposed fellows had obtained a knowledge of this money being in the house, and determined to break into and rob it—perhaps also to murder those who might oppose them.
It was a very dark night, and all were sound asleep, when Black Bill, and two companions, approached on tip-toe, to make an entrance in the back premises.
By means of a centre-bit they had soon cut a panel out of the wash-house door; they then entered the kitchen without making the least noise. Black Bill had a large carving-knife in one hand, and a dark lantern in the other, and, supposing the money to be in the bed-room, was mounting the stairs, to take it at any hazard.
The stairs creaked with the weight of the robber, and in a moment Chloe aroused the whole house with her barking—her shrill voice was heard in every room. In a moment Geordie was up, and his father’s blunderbuss at his shoulder.