"this is the third time in a week that billy's been late for dinner," said mrs. lee, looking from billy's empty place at the table to his father's face.
mr. lee was serving the steaming chicken and biscuits that nora had placed on the table.
"he asked me if he could go to the fair at middletown! he wanted his next week's allowance."
"william," and mrs. lee's gentle voice was stern, "you do spoil that boy dreadfully!"
"he's with jim archer!" peggy put in. she knew that her mother did not like jim archer.
"billy's with him a lot," added barbara.
"he teases us girls all the time, too, mother! he put june bugs in my bed last night!" cried alice.
"billy is certainly in all wrong just now," answered mr. lee with a twinkle in his eyes.
"but do you think these fairs are quite the places for boys like billy and jim archer--alone?" asked mrs. lee with a troubled look. "he should have been home long ago! they must have ridden their wheels!"
"don't worry, little mother! billy will come home tired and hungry and none the worse for the fair! why, when i was a boy i never missed a fair anywhere around and always walked, too! they used to be real fairs--nothing like them these days!"
the children knew that when their father began his "when i was a boy," it could mean a story if there was a little coaxing!
"oh, tell us a story!" alice cried.
"please do!" added keineth. it would make them all forget to feel cross toward billy!
so, chuckling a little under his breath, mr. lee began:
"down in our village old cy addington had a calf he'd entered in the county fair. he'd set his heart on that calf's winning a prize--all the other farmers had told him it would. it was black as jet with just a little white mark on its fore quarter. he tended that calf like a baby and spent hours at a time getting it all in shape for the fair. well, the night before the fair opened two boys--bad boys they were--stole that calf out of its shed, took it off in some woods where they had a lantern and a can of paint hidden under a log. what do you think they did? painted the animal white--snow white--every bit of him! then they took him to the graveyard and tied him to a tombstone!"
"oh, daddy, how dreadful!" cried alice.
"then what happened?" demanded keineth and peggy in one voice.
"well, a lot of things happened, and they happened fast! miss cymantha jones, a nervous spinster, was walking home from widow markham's house--rather late, but she'd been caring for the widow through a sick spell. and miss cymantha saw that calf jumping around among the tombstones and thought it was a ghost! she let out such screams that it brought charley, the old sexton, running to the door in his night shirt, and he saw the calf, and miss cymantha scuttling down the road screaming and holding her skirts high so's she could run faster, and i guess he thought it was the resurrection itself, for what did he do but ring the bell and the folks all thought it was a fire and came rushing out in all kinds of clothes! then cy addington found his precious calf and the neighbors had an indignation meeting right then and there and the ones who had the most clothes on started out to find the offenders and some of the others went in to quiet miss cymantha, and a few others put the sexton to bed and locked him in so that he couldn't give any more alarms!"
"but what happened to the boys?"
"oh, when the crowd was the most excited they just climbed over a woodshed into the house and by the time the volunteers were lined up to go to find them they were sound asleep!"
"who were they, father? were they boys you knew?" asked peggy.
mr. lee laughed down the length of the table and peggy caught the answering smile in her mother's eyes.
"oh, i know--i know! it was you, daddy," she cried, running from her chair to kiss the back of his head.
"come, dear, sit down! william, if you were that sort of a boy what can we expect of billy? hark--isn't that his whistle?" she stepped eagerly to the door, the girls close behind her.
"he's all right--he always whistles when he's happy!"
"it is he!" cried mrs. lee, going down the steps. "and what in the world is he bringing with him!"
for billy, covered with dust, guiding his bicycle with one hand, was walking leisurely up the road leading with an air of pride edged slightly by a disturbing doubt, a dirty, weary-eyed dog!
"a dog--of all things!" cried barbara,
"where'd you get it?" demanded peggy eagerly.
the family stood on the bottom step and eyed billy's treasure. the dog seemed to have no doubt as to his welcome, for in his desire to greet his adopted family he strained at the slender leash with which billy held him.
"whose dog is it, billy," asked mrs. lee.
"i bought him for a dollar!" billy glanced questioningly at his mother. he had heard her declare ever so often that she would not allow a long-haired dog in the house! and this new pet had a very long, shaggy, dirty hide! peggy was on her knees with both arms around the dog's neck.
"just see him shake hands!" alice was crying.
but the quiet of mrs. lee's manner disturbed billy. "i think you'd better come into the house and see if nora has saved you any supper. after you have finished we will hear about the dog."
"let me hold him, please, billy!" begged peggy. keineth stood a little apart. she was not yet sure that she wanted a closer acquaintance with the newcomer. she had known few dogs; her father had always warned her to leave the stray dogs that she met on the street quite alone--and she had detested aunt josephine's silky poodle! but this poor scrap was wagging his stubby tail and looking at her in a coaxing manner that said plainly, "let's be friends!"
within the house billy was cramming down biscuits and chicken gravy with an enjoyment that covered the concern he felt at his mother's attitude. when he could speak for the food in his mouth he told her of the crowds at the fair. but with the last mouthful of custard pie bolted he went straight to the point: "can i keep him, mother?"
she rose and, with billy following, went out upon the veranda. at sight of his new master the dog broke away from peggy and leaped upon him, his big paws on billy's shoulders.
"can't i keep him, mummy?" he asked, pleadingly, looking from his mother to his father.
"mummy, this is such a lovely dog--" implored alice, the june bugs forgotten.
"and we'll take care of him," added peggy.
billy put one arm around the dog's neck.
"i guess when you hear the story 'bout him you'll let him stay," he said solemnly.
"tell us, son," mr. lee joined in for the first time.
so billy stood before them to plead for his dog.
"jim and i got to the fair, 'nd he told me to wait outside and he'd scout around and see if he couldn't find his uncle who had a show inside, 'cause jim thought maybe his uncle could get us in for nothing and we'd have more money to spend. it was awful hot and i went over and sat under the trees across the road and watched the people come. all of a sudden i heard a dog cry, and over near one of the other trees was a man that looked like a tramp trying to make a dog go ahead and kicking him awful 'cause the dog wouldn't go! the dog would cry and then the man'd kick him again and swear awful. well, i was mad--i gave that whistle that rex used to know and the dog sort of listened, then i whistled harder and the dog made a jump and broke his string and ran like a flash right to me just's if he knew i was a friend! the man came after him, swearing harder than ever. but i just took the dog and stood right up and i said to him: 'you don't know how to treat a dog!' i thought maybe he'd hit me, he looked so mad, but i went on talking real fast. i said, 'he's a lot like a dog i know--what'll you sell him for?' because i'd sort o' decided he'd stolen him and might be glad to get rid of him, you see! and the man said, 'how much'll you give?' and i told him i'd give a dollar, and he reached out for the string and said, 'that ain't enough,' and i said, 'that's all i've got,' and just that minute a policeman came along towards us and he said quick, 'he's yours,' and i gave him my dollar and you ought to have seen him beat it!"
upon the rest of the story billy touched lightly--how, his dollar gone, he had had no money with-which to buy his way into the fair; how jim, returning from an unsuccessful search for the uncle and finding billy and the dog under the tree, had, disgusted by billy's extravagance, left him there, bidding him wait! but later jim had relented and had treated billy to an ice-cream cone from the tent near the gate. then jim had started for home and billy had walked the five miles between middletown and overlook, pushing the bicycle and leading the tired dog.
"and i never saw the fair at all," he finished, breathless from his story.
"well, mother--don't you think billy deserves the dog?" said mr. lee when billy had finished. and keineth whispered, "goody, goody!"
mrs. lee laughed. "i will say that he may stay here on trial--while we're in the country. but, oh, dear--i had hoped we'd never have another dog--and of all things, a long-haired dog!"
"jim archer said he was an airedale," broke in billy, proudly stroking the dirty head. "pretty cheap for a dollar, i think!"
"let's name him," cried alice eagerly. "i think you'd better bathe him first," chuckled mr. lee. then, turning to his wife, "you know i think it is a valuable dog! the fellow must have stolen him!"
in triumph billy and peggy led the newcomer towards the pump for his bath, while keineth went in search of soap and a sponge. over the bath they discussed names and, as it looked as though they could not agree, they decided that, because keineth was a visitor, she should select the name.
and after a little thought she called him pilot.
"pilot lee," said peggy, squeezing a spongeful of water over the dog's head.
an hour later a very tired boy was sleeping soundly, while on the floor beside his cot lay the dog--his warm muzzle faithfully snuggled against billy's dusty shoe.
