Bobby of Cloverfield Farm Part 10

"I wonder what is in the basket to-day," he thought.

"Rover, old dog, wait a minute," he called.

Rover stopped and looked around. The basket felt quite heavy by this time, so he was glad to set it down on the ground.

Mr. Hook came up and patted him on the head. "Nice old dog! Nice Rover,"

he said. "What is in your basket?"

He put out his hand to take it. But Rover seized the handle and started toward home.

Mr. Hook looked up and down the road. There was no one in sight.

"Here, Ponto! Come, Ponto!" he called; and his own dog came running out--a big, black dog.

"Get him, Ponto," said the man.

Ponto ran after Rover and attacked him savagely. Rover had to put the basket down, to defend himself.

Ponto soon found he was getting the worst of it and turned to run.

Rover chased him down the road, leaving the basket alone on the ground.

That was exactly what Mr. Hook wanted. He went quickly up to it and lifted the paper and the white cloth.

"Just what I thought!" he said to himself. "That would taste pretty good for dinner. The dog won't know the difference."

He reached down to take the beefsteak out.

But Rover had finished chasing Ponto and was on the way back. When he saw the man reaching into his basket, he ran back as fast as he could go.

"Bow-wow! bow-wow!" he barked. He looked so big and savage, and he barked and growled so loud, that Mr. Hook dropped the meat back into the basket. But he did not wait to put the white cloth and the brown paper over it.

Rover took the basket up and walked swiftly toward home. Mr. Hook stood looking after him and thinking, "I wish that dog were not so big and savage."

Bobby was waiting for Rover under the maple tree in the front yard, and they walked to the house side by side.

As Rover set the basket on the floor, Mrs. Hill picked it up and said, "I wonder why the meat is on top of the cloth and the paper."

But Rover did not tell.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE DUCKS A-SWIMMING GO]

XI

"Quack, quack, quack!" said the Big White Duck, as he started down to the Duck Pond below the orchard.

"Quack, quack, quack!" said the six other ducks, as they fell in line behind the leader.

"Let's all a-swimming go," they said.

And away they all went, waddling along in a procession, one behind another.

But when they got there, the Duck Pond was dry.

"It is very strange," thought the ducks. "What has happened to our pond?"

But all they said was, "Quack, quack, quack!" as they walked on the dry earth where the water had been.

Before long the leader started back toward the farmyard.

So all the ducks fell in line and waddled back, one behind another. They drank from the tub of water at the pump, but they could not swim in it because it was too small, and so they could not keep their feathers clean and white.

Now this is why the Duck Pond was dry.

For weeks there had been no rain at Cloverfield Farm.

Every day the sun had shone brightly all day.

The ground was very dry. The gra.s.s was dead and brown. The cistern had become empty. In the road the dust was several inches deep.

"The plums and peaches are falling from the trees," said Farmer Hill.

"If it doesn't rain soon, we won't have any fruit."

"My flowers are dying," said Mother.

They watched the sky every day, to see if there were any signs of rain.

"I see a little cloud," said Bobby every few days. "Perhaps it will rain to-day."

But the little cloud would float lazily across the sky and bring no rain.

Every day the ducks would go in a procession down to the Duck Pond to swim. Every day they would find the Duck Pond dry and come back, one behind another, and take a drink from the tub of water at the pump.

And so five weeks pa.s.sed.

At last, one day, big clouds gathered in the sky.

Bobby saw them first and came running in to tell the news.

"It's going to rain," he shouted. "See the big, big clouds."

Mother and Sue went to the door and looked out.

"It's surely going to rain," they said.

"I'll help put the windows down," said Bobby. And he ran to do it.