And now, as I shall tell you, one
day May and Hal went out on the lawn, when lo! there
stood Frisk, first on his hind-legs, and then on his
head; then he danced a jig, and then ran up to lick
their hands.
“O my! O look! here is
that dear Jack we saw in the play,” cried May.
“Yes, so it is! Why, Jack,
where did you hide all this time?” said
Hal, and he gave him a soft pat, and May put her white
arms round his neck.
Tears of joy stood in Frisk’s
eyes, and he ran with May and Hal and Dash up to the
house, where their pa-pa and mam-ma were.
You may be sure the two went hard
to work to kiss and coax pa-pa to let Jack or Frisk
stay. They asked him to look how thin the poor
dog was, and how sad it would be to send him back
to the show-man, who would beat him, and may-be kill
him, he would be in such a rage.
“O now, dear pa-pa! do let him
live with us!” they cried; “we will
not beat him, and he may dance or not, as he likes.
Come, we will kiss you ten times;” and they
both got his face down, and gave them to him on each
cheek at the same time, and made him and mam-ma laugh
so, they could not speak a word for quite a while.
Well, the end of all this long tale
is, that Mr. Grey wrote to the show-man, and said
he had got his dog, Frisk, and he would like to keep
him. I do not dare to tell you how much he said
he would give to buy him; but it was such a large
sum, that the show-man took it. And now Jack — Frisk,
as they call him — and Dash have each a house
to live in, but they eat and take their naps in one,
for they love to get as close, side by side, as they
can. Frisk stands on his hind-legs and his head,
and does his jig dance in great style for May and Hal,
and all the boys and girls who come to see them.
If you want to see him, you must speak quick;
for I fear he will soon be so fat, with all the nice
bones and kind words he gets, that his hind-legs won’t
hold him up. But of this you may be quite sure,
that Frisk and Dash will have a good home as long
as they live, and when they die of old age, if you
don’t cry for their sad loss, May and Hal will;
for, you know, Dash saved Hal’s life; and life
is dear to the young when they have no sad times,
but joy and fun each day.
And now May, and Hal, and Dash, and
Frisk, must bid you good-by. If you want to hear
how they get on, you must come and tell me, and if
you give me a good kiss, I will let you know.
Good-by! my dear pets! May the good God bless
you all.