Latest / Historical Adventure Audiobooks / 🟡 Zip, the Adventures of a Frisky Fox Terrier (Full Audiobook) | Frances Trego Montgomery

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🟡 Zip, the Adventures of a Frisky Fox Terrier (Full Audiobook) | Frances Trego Montgomery · Historical Adventure Audiobooks

0:00
Speaker 1: CHAPTER I In which Zip is introduced to the reader.
0:30
Speaker 1: Zip belongs to Dr. Ellsworth, who lives in the big
0:34
Speaker 1: white house with the green blinds on the edge of
0:37
Speaker 1: the village of Maplewood. And at the present minute he
0:40
Speaker 1: is asleep on the front porch, on a soft cushion,
0:44
Speaker 1: in an old-fashioned rocking-chair that is swaying gently to and fro,
0:49
Speaker 1: dreaming of the days when he was a puppy, chasing
0:52
Speaker 1: the white spot on the end of his tail, thinking
0:55
Speaker 1: that it was something following him. and how he would
0:59
Speaker 1: bark at it and run around and around after it
1:01
Speaker 1: until he was so dizzy he would fall over. Then
1:05
Speaker 1: when the ground stopped spinning round, he would get up
1:08
Speaker 1: and go after it again, barking all the time for
1:11
Speaker 1: it to stop following him. Silly little puppy that he was,
1:16
Speaker 1: not to know it was his own tail he was chasing.
1:20
Speaker 1: Often he would bark so loudly in his sleep that
1:23
Speaker 1: it would awaken him, but he would soon fall asleep
1:26
Speaker 1: again and go on dreaming. Sometimes he would be chasing cows,
1:31
Speaker 1: holding on to their long tails. At others, squawking, cackling chickens,
1:37
Speaker 1: or anything else that happened to be in the road.
1:41
Speaker 1: One day, when thus dreaming, he was just about to
1:44
Speaker 1: pull a mouthful of tail feathers out of Parson Higgins'
1:47
Speaker 1: pet rooster, when the latch on the front gate clicked.
1:52
Speaker 1: Zip was awake in a minute, sitting up on the
1:55
Speaker 1: cushion with ears sticking straight up and every nerve alert
1:58
Speaker 1: to see who was coming in the doctor's yard. The
2:02
Speaker 1: first look showed him a ragged tramp, with battered hat,
2:07
Speaker 1: unshaven face, and a bundle of clothes tied up in
2:10
Speaker 1: a dirty faded red handkerchief strung on a cane over
2:14
Speaker 1: his shoulder. That one look was enough, for if there
2:18
Speaker 1: was one thing Zip despised and detested more than any other,
2:23
Speaker 1: it was a tramp. and for this one to dare
2:26
Speaker 1: to try to come in the front gate, the gate
2:28
Speaker 1: he never allowed anyone to enter unless they were well dressed,
2:33
Speaker 1: was more than he could stand, and he flew at
2:36
Speaker 1: the fellow as if he were the size of a
2:38
Speaker 1: lion and was going to devour him on the spot.
2:42
Speaker 1: As for the tramp, he hated dogs as much as
2:46
Speaker 1: they hated him. It had been his experience that little
2:50
Speaker 1: dogs had just as sharp teeth as big ones, and
2:53
Speaker 1: were much harder to drive off, as they were so
2:56
Speaker 1: quick they could get around and snap a piece out
2:58
Speaker 1: of one's shins before one could help himself. So when
3:02
Speaker 1: he saw Zip bound off the chair and come running
3:05
Speaker 1: toward him with bristles raised and teeth showing, he slammed
3:09
Speaker 1: the gate and started off down the road. But here
3:12
Speaker 1: he did a silly thing. Instead of going off about
3:16
Speaker 1: his business, he stooped, picked up a stone, and threw
3:20
Speaker 1: it at Zip. hitting him squarely on the side and
3:24
Speaker 1: hurting him dreadfully as the stone was large and sharp.
3:28
Speaker 1: This was too much. He, Zip, would have a piece
3:32
Speaker 1: of that tramp's leg or he would know the reason why.
3:36
Speaker 1: The tramp thought he was safe in hitting the dog
3:38
Speaker 1: as the gate was shut and the fence high. But
3:41
Speaker 1: whoever yet has succeeded in shutting a little dog in
3:44
Speaker 1: a yard by a high fence? Not many people, I
3:48
Speaker 1: am sure. for the dog will always find a hole
3:51
Speaker 1: to crawl through, or a pail-off where he can squeeze through, or,
3:55
Speaker 1: not finding these, he will dig a hole under the fence.
3:59
Speaker 1: And this is what Zip had done many weeks before,
4:03
Speaker 1: for he found it necessary to have some place he
4:05
Speaker 1: could get through in a hurry to go after the
4:07
Speaker 1: schoolchildren who delighted in teasing him. So now, quick as
4:12
Speaker 1: a flash, he ran for this hole, which was well
4:14
Speaker 1: hidden by a big lilac bush and and before the
4:17
Speaker 1: tramp even knew he was coming, Zip was through the
4:21
Speaker 1: hole and had his little sharp teeth buried in his shin.
4:25
Speaker 1: With a cry of surprise and pain, the tramp turned
4:29
Speaker 1: to see what had hurt him. When he saw the
4:31
Speaker 1: little dog, he raised his cane to strike him, but
4:35
Speaker 1: as it came down, Zip let go his hold and
4:38
Speaker 1: grabbed the bundle that was on the end of the
4:40
Speaker 1: cane and made off with it. This infuriated the tramp,
4:44
Speaker 1: and he hobbled after Zip calling him all sorts of
4:47
Speaker 1: bad names as he came. This Zip did not mind
4:51
Speaker 1: in the least, but kept right on dragging the bundle
4:54
Speaker 1: along with him as he ran down the road. Now
4:57
Speaker 1: this bundle was round and heavy, and hard for such
5:01
Speaker 1: a small dog to carry, and it kept tripping him
5:04
Speaker 1: up and rolling him over. But he hung on with
5:07
Speaker 1: the tenacity of a bulldog until he saw the tramp
5:10
Speaker 1: was going to overtake him. Then he decided not to
5:13
Speaker 1: try to carry it to the hole in the fence,
5:16
Speaker 1: but to jump the ditch and drop it in the frog-pond.
5:20
Speaker 1: The tramp was almost upon him now, and had his
5:23
Speaker 1: cane raised to hit him. But when it came down,
5:26
Speaker 1: it hit the earth, not the dog, for just at
5:29
Speaker 1: that moment Zip had made a flying leap over the ditch,
5:32
Speaker 1: taking the bundle with him. Once there he dragged it
5:37
Speaker 1: along or held it up off the ground by stretching
5:39
Speaker 1: his neck up high until he came to the edge
5:42
Speaker 1: of the frog-pond. Then he let go and watched it
5:45
Speaker 1: disappear under the water. By this time the tramp was
5:49
Speaker 1: simply furious and was threatening to catch and kill him,
5:53
Speaker 1: while all the time the saucy little dog barked back,
5:57
Speaker 1: Better catch me before you kill me! Splash! went a
6:02
Speaker 1: big stone in the water, and if it had hit Zip,
6:06
Speaker 1: it certainly would have killed him as it was so big,
6:09
Speaker 1: but he jumped aside just in time. Then what did
6:12
Speaker 1: this mischievous, daring little dog do but stand perfectly still
6:16
Speaker 1: and watch the tramp come after him, wading through the tall,
6:20
Speaker 1: wet marsh grass, stumbling as he came? He was within
6:24
Speaker 1: five feet of Zip and was just thinking, One more
6:29
Speaker 1: step and I can reach him, when the long, tangled
6:32
Speaker 1: grass caught one foot and threw him face down in
6:35
Speaker 1: the soft, oozy mud. Zip barked a bark that sounded
6:40
Speaker 1: more like a laugh than a bark, making the tramp
6:43
Speaker 1: more determined than ever to kill him, even if he
6:45
Speaker 1: had to fall forty times before he caught him. Had
6:49
Speaker 1: the tramp stopped to think, he might have known that
6:52
Speaker 1: the dog was going to play some trick on him,
6:55
Speaker 1: for who ever heard of a dog standing still while
6:58
Speaker 1: a man with a big heavy cane was bearing down
7:01
Speaker 1: on him to brain him? But the tramp was far
7:04
Speaker 1: too angry to reason. All he thought of was to
7:07
Speaker 1: kill the dog that had bitten him and then ran
7:10
Speaker 1: off with his clothes. he picked himself up as best
7:14
Speaker 1: he could and made a spring at Zip, bringing his
7:17
Speaker 1: cane down at the same time. But as before, when
7:21
Speaker 1: the cane came down there was no dog under it.
7:24
Speaker 1: Zip had jumped into the frog pond and was quietly
7:27
Speaker 1: swimming to the opposite shore. When he saw this, the
7:31
Speaker 1: tramp tore his hair with rage, threw clods of mud
7:35
Speaker 1: at him and fairly yelled with fury, while Zip walked
7:38
Speaker 1: out of the water as if no one was near,
7:41
Speaker 1: shook himself dry, and trotted off home down the other
7:44
Speaker 1: side of the pond, leaving the tramp lying on his
7:47
Speaker 1: stomach trying to fish his bundle of clothes out of
7:50
Speaker 1: the water. Suddenly Zip stopped short, pricked up his ears,
7:55
Speaker 1: and listened. Yes, he was right. He had heard the
7:58
Speaker 1: doctor's low, peculiar, penetrating whistle. That meant he was about
8:03
Speaker 1: to start on his rounds to see his patients. He
8:06
Speaker 1: never went without Zip sitting up on the seat beside
8:09
Speaker 1: him in his old-fashioned buggy. Zip loved these daily trips,
8:15
Speaker 1: for he was a most active, nervous, curious little dog
8:19
Speaker 1: and always wanted to know what was going on throughout
8:21
Speaker 1: the village, and these rides gave him a splendid opportunity
8:25
Speaker 1: to find out. While the doctor was in visiting his patients,
8:30
Speaker 1: Zip would jump out of the buggy and go around
8:32
Speaker 1: to the back of the house to call on the
8:34
Speaker 1: family's cat or dog, whichever it happened to be. And
8:38
Speaker 1: though you may not know it, These animals in every
8:41
Speaker 1: household know what was going on in the home from
8:43
Speaker 1: garret to cellar, as well as all the family secrets
8:47
Speaker 1: and neighborhood gossip. So you see, Zip was a regular news-gatherer,
8:52
Speaker 1: and he not only gathered the news in that way,
8:55
Speaker 1: but he spread it as he went along with the
8:57
Speaker 1: doctor from house to house, so that anyone hearing Zip
9:00
Speaker 1: talk did not need to read the newspapers to find
9:03
Speaker 1: out all the village gossip. He knew of all the births, weddings,
9:07
Speaker 1: and funerals, as well as the lovers' quarrels long before
9:11
Speaker 1: anyone else, for generally he was on the spot when
9:14
Speaker 1: they happened. Neither did he mind listening when he saw
9:18
Speaker 1: two young people of the opposite sex strolling down some
9:21
Speaker 1: shady lane or hanging over a garden gate. And like
9:26
Speaker 1: all gossips, he was never happy until he had told
9:29
Speaker 1: someone all the latest news he had gathered. The one
9:32
Speaker 1: to whom he enjoyed telling things the most was the
9:35
Speaker 1: big yellow cat that lived at the doctor's and was
9:38
Speaker 1: the special pet of the cook. The cat's name was Tabby,
9:42
Speaker 1: and she was a big, comfortable, good-natured cat who stayed
9:46
Speaker 1: at home and minded her own business. She was also
9:49
Speaker 1: a good listener, which Zip considered one of her best qualities.
9:54
Speaker 1: Like all talkative people, he would rather do the talking
9:58
Speaker 1: and have someone else do the listening. consequently tabby just
10:02
Speaker 1: suited him after he had come back with the doctor
10:05
Speaker 1: from making his last call for the day zip and
10:08
Speaker 1: tabby would curl up on the front porch or on
10:11
Speaker 1: a garden seat and he would talk away into the
10:14
Speaker 1: night or until time for him to make the rounds
10:17
Speaker 1: of the place This as a watchdog he felt it
10:20
Speaker 1: his duty to do once or twice during the night,
10:23
Speaker 1: while Tabby went to the barn to catch mice. His
10:27
Speaker 1: especial bit of gossip this night was that two storks
10:31
Speaker 1: had brought twins to Mrs. Brown's home the night before,
10:35
Speaker 1: and that the sudden surprise of two babies coming to
10:38
Speaker 1: her house in the middle of the night had made
10:40
Speaker 1: her ill, and she had taken to her bed and
10:43
Speaker 1: called the doctor. Just like Mrs. Brown to do a
10:47
Speaker 1: thing like that, throw up her hands and give up
10:50
Speaker 1: instead of hustling around heating some milk for the poor
10:53
Speaker 1: little things who must have been hungry after their long
10:56
Speaker 1: journey down from the clouds, sputtered Zip. To which Sage remarked,
11:02
Speaker 1: Tabby assented. Another bit of news was that the ladies
11:06
Speaker 1: of the Episcopal Church were going to give a strawberry
11:09
Speaker 1: festival in the Sunday school rooms on Wednesday evening, and
11:13
Speaker 1: all were cordially invited to attend and to bring their friends.
11:17
Speaker 1: admission 25 cents each. This will be nice for us,
11:23
Speaker 1: remarked Zip, for while Martha is away, we can steal
11:27
Speaker 1: into the milk cellar and lick the cream off the pans.
11:30
Speaker 1: Of course, in the morning she will wonder why old Bess,
11:33
Speaker 1: the red cow, did not give as rich milk as usual.
11:37
Speaker 1: But she will think that the chore boy did not
11:39
Speaker 1: feed her enough bran, for she would never suspect Tabby,
11:43
Speaker 1: her pet, of doing such a mean thing. and of
11:47
Speaker 1: her own accord, Tabby never would, had not Zip put
11:51
Speaker 1: her up to it. The next was that Sophie Hooper
11:55
Speaker 1: and James Stedman were going to be married at last,
11:58
Speaker 1: and he was glad of it, for one, for he
12:01
Speaker 1: had seen them courting on the little bridge that crossed
12:03
Speaker 1: the creek in the valley for the last year. Another
12:07
Speaker 1: was that Mr. Stubbins had a new dog, a red
12:10
Speaker 1: setter hunting dog, which he believed he was going to hate,
12:14
Speaker 1: as it had barked at him from its kennel when
12:16
Speaker 1: he ran around the house to see their white cat
12:19
Speaker 1: and pass the time of day with her while the
12:21
Speaker 1: doctor was making a call across the street. And really, Tabby,
12:27
Speaker 1: from the way that dog barked and pulled on his chain,
12:30
Speaker 1: I am sure he would have eaten me up could
12:32
Speaker 1: he have gotten at me. But just wait until he
12:35
Speaker 1: finds who I am, and I guess he will quiet down.
12:40
Speaker 1: End of chapter 1 CHAPTER II OF ZIP THE ADVENTURES
12:51
Speaker 1: OF A FRISKY FOX TERRIER BY FRANCIS TRIGO MONTGOMERY THIS
12:56
Speaker 1: LIBERVOX RECORDING IS IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN RECORDING BY LEANNE
13:01
Speaker 1: HOWLETT ZIP'S EXCITING NEWS Why, Zip Ellsworth, where in the
13:09
Speaker 1: world have you been? You look all fagged out and
13:12
Speaker 1: you are spattered with mud from head to foot. The
13:16
Speaker 1: doctor has been whistling for you for half an hour,
13:19
Speaker 1: and I just heard him tell Martha to save you
13:21
Speaker 1: a good dinner, for you would be mighty hungry when
13:24
Speaker 1: you came in, as you would have to come a
13:26
Speaker 1: good ten miles if you got left at the last
13:28
Speaker 1: place he called, for it was away over at Mapleville.
13:33
Speaker 1: He said he never noticed you were not in the
13:35
Speaker 1: buggy until he was nearly home, and then he thought
13:38
Speaker 1: you must be running on behind, as you sometimes do
13:41
Speaker 1: so you can chase chickens, dogs, and cows that are
13:44
Speaker 1: in the road, just for the fun of it. Tabby,
13:47
Speaker 1: don't talk to me until I have had a drink.
13:50
Speaker 1: I don't want anything to eat. I am too excited
13:53
Speaker 1: to taste a morsel, and it would stick in my
13:55
Speaker 1: throat if I tried to swallow it. Goodness gracious me!
14:01
Speaker 1: It must be something awful if it excites you this way,
14:04
Speaker 1: for you generally love excitement, and it doesn't tire you
14:07
Speaker 1: a bit. Come with me until I get a drink
14:11
Speaker 1: and take a swim in the watering trough to get
14:13
Speaker 1: off this mud and then I will tell you my news,
14:17
Speaker 1: and be prepared for a big surprise.'' Lands sakes!' exclaimed Tabby.'
14:23
Speaker 1: Who has gone and hung himself to the rafters of
14:27
Speaker 1: his barn? Or has someone's house burned down with them
14:30
Speaker 1: in it?'' No, it is neither of those things, and
14:35
Speaker 1: you might as well stop guessing and prepare to listen
14:37
Speaker 1: to what I tell you, for you will never know
14:40
Speaker 1: it otherwise.' as I am the only one in the
14:42
Speaker 1: whole village who knows all the ins and outs of
14:45
Speaker 1: the thing. While they were talking, Zip was running from
14:49
Speaker 1: one end of the watering trough to the other, trying
14:52
Speaker 1: to wash the mud off his white coat. Tabby thought
14:55
Speaker 1: he never would get clean. He stayed in so long,
14:59
Speaker 1: and she was nearly bursting with curiosity to hear what
15:02
Speaker 1: he had to tell. At last he was through, and
15:06
Speaker 1: jumping out and giving himself a good shake, they sought
15:09
Speaker 1: a sunny spot in the back garden where they would
15:12
Speaker 1: not be disturbed, and Zip began his story. In the
15:17
Speaker 1: first place, have you heard the doctor or anyone else
15:20
Speaker 1: talking about the burglars that got in Judge Perkins' house
15:24
Speaker 1: last night and stole all the silver knives, forks, spoons,
15:28
Speaker 1: and other things they could lay their hands on, besides
15:32
Speaker 1: eating up the pies and the cold chicken that were
15:34
Speaker 1: on the pantry shelf? Oh, do tell me about it.
15:39
Speaker 1: I'm all excitement. I just love to hear about burglars.
15:44
Speaker 1: It is so exciting it makes me feel all creepy,
15:47
Speaker 1: just like I make the mice feel when they smell
15:50
Speaker 1: me sitting outside their holes waiting for them to come
15:52
Speaker 1: out so I may pounce upon them. Begin and tell
15:56
Speaker 1: me all about it. Don't leave a thing out that
15:58
Speaker 1: you know. I want it all. How many were there?
16:03
Speaker 1: How did they get in? What did they take and
16:05
Speaker 1: have they been caught? Go slow, Tabby. One question at
16:10
Speaker 1: a time, if you please. And now, if you will
16:13
Speaker 1: keep still, I'll tell you all I know from the
16:16
Speaker 1: very beginning. Do you remember my telling you about a
16:20
Speaker 1: tramp I bit the other day? The one whose bundle
16:23
Speaker 1: of clothes I dropped in the frog pond? Oh, bother
16:27
Speaker 1: the tramp! Who wants to hear about him now? I
16:31
Speaker 1: only want to hear of the burglars, replied Impatient Tabby. Well,
16:37
Speaker 1: I have to tell you about this tramp to tell
16:39
Speaker 1: you the story, and if you don't keep still and listen,
16:42
Speaker 1: I won't tell it at all. And Tabby, knowing he
16:47
Speaker 1: would keep his word, curled her tail more tightly around
16:50
Speaker 1: her legs and sat up stiffly, prepared to listen. To
16:54
Speaker 1: begin at the beginning, said Zip. When the doctor and
16:58
Speaker 1: I got uptown this morning, he went into the drugstore
17:02
Speaker 1: to get some medicines, and I followed. WHEN WE WERE
17:05
Speaker 1: INSIDE WE HEARD A LOT OF EXCITED MEN TALKING ABOUT
17:08
Speaker 1: THE BURGLARS WHO HAD GOTTEN IN JUDGE PERKINS' HOUSE AND
17:12
Speaker 1: MADE OFF WITH THE SILVER WITHOUT BEING CAUGHT. THE JUDGE
17:15
Speaker 1: WAS IN THE MIDST OF THEM, TELLING ALL HE KNEW,
17:19
Speaker 1: SO I LISTENED AND GOT THE NEWS FIRST HAND, AND
17:22
Speaker 1: THIS IS WHAT HE SAID. HIS WIFE AWOKE AND THOUGHT
17:26
Speaker 1: SHE HEARD SOMEONE MOVING AROUND DOWNSTAIRS. THEN SHE WAKENED THE
17:31
Speaker 1: JUDGE AND THEY BOTH LISTENED. Yes, there surely was someone
17:35
Speaker 1: moving cautiously around under them in the dining room. Next
17:40
Speaker 1: they heard whoever it was move to the hall door
17:42
Speaker 1: and begin to mount the stairs. As the judge had
17:46
Speaker 1: no firearms, he said he picked up a chair and
17:49
Speaker 1: tiptoed to the head of the stairs, intending to bring
17:52
Speaker 1: it down on the burglar's head when he came within
17:54
Speaker 1: hitting distance. The hall was as black as your hat,
17:58
Speaker 1: and he could hear nothing now but his wife's frightened whispers,
18:02
Speaker 1: begging him to come back or the burglar would kill him.
18:05
Speaker 1: Then he heard the burglar's soft step on the stairs.
18:09
Speaker 1: He had reached the first landing, for the judge could
18:12
Speaker 1: tell by the sound of his steps just where he
18:15
Speaker 1: must be. Then a loud howl rent the air. The
18:19
Speaker 1: burglar had stepped on their pet cat, who always sleeps
18:23
Speaker 1: on the stair landing. This surprised the burglar so that
18:27
Speaker 1: he stepped back, lost his balance, and fell bumpity-bump to
18:31
Speaker 1: the bottom. The judge rushed back into the bedroom, lit
18:36
Speaker 1: a candle, and holding it high over his head, hurried
18:39
Speaker 1: down the stairs. His wife followed behind with a big
18:43
Speaker 1: umbrella clasped in her hand, while the judge was armed
18:47
Speaker 1: with a big black briarwood cane with a silver knob
18:50
Speaker 1: on the end. And the judge said that if he
18:53
Speaker 1: ever got a crack at that burglar with that cane,
18:56
Speaker 1: it would split his head open. When they reached the
18:59
Speaker 1: dining room, they heard the burglar stumbling down the cellar stairs.
19:04
Speaker 1: They followed him, but were too late, for as they
19:07
Speaker 1: reached the foot of the stairs, the burglar was just
19:10
Speaker 1: climbing out of a window, the way he had gotten in,
19:14
Speaker 1: propping it open with an old cane that had a
19:16
Speaker 1: bundle of clothes tied on the end of it, all
19:19
Speaker 1: done up in a dirty red handkerchief. The minute the
19:23
Speaker 1: judge got to this part of his story, I left.
19:26
Speaker 1: for at the mention of the bundle done up in
19:28
Speaker 1: a dirty red handkerchief on the end of a cane,
19:31
Speaker 1: I thought of the tramp I had bitten yesterday. I
19:35
Speaker 1: felt sure it was he that was the burglar. So
19:38
Speaker 1: I determined not to lose any time, but to go
19:41
Speaker 1: over there and nose around and see if I could
19:43
Speaker 1: not track him by the scent of his footsteps, even
19:46
Speaker 1: if I should not be fortunate enough to get a
19:48
Speaker 1: smell at the bundle he had left behind, for I
19:51
Speaker 1: should know the dirty smell of that man's shins and
19:54
Speaker 1: his old bundle anywhere.' And is that where you have been,
19:59
Speaker 1: chasing that tramp? Did you find him?' asked Tabby.' Tabby,
20:05
Speaker 1: will you keep still and stop asking questions?' You throw
20:09
Speaker 1: me all off my story. If you will only keep
20:12
Speaker 1: quiet and let me stop long enough to get my breath,
20:15
Speaker 1: I'll tell you all. But mind, it is going to
20:18
Speaker 1: be in my own way. Very well, then. I will
20:23
Speaker 1: keep still. But I am so excited. I feel I
20:26
Speaker 1: must ask a question now and then or blow up.
20:30
Speaker 1: So once again Tabby wrapped her tail tightly around her
20:34
Speaker 1: legs to keep from tapping the end of it in
20:36
Speaker 1: her nervousness. and Zip proceeded with his story.' Well, when
20:41
Speaker 1: I got out of the drugstore, I ran just as
20:44
Speaker 1: fast as I could to Judge Perkins's house across lots,
20:47
Speaker 1: through mud puddles and down lanes.'' And you looked it
20:51
Speaker 1: when you got here,' broke in Tabby. To which remark
20:56
Speaker 1: Zip paid no attention but went right on with his story.'
20:59
Speaker 1: When I reached the judge's, I made straight for the
21:03
Speaker 1: cellar window.' hoping to find the cane with the bundle
21:07
Speaker 1: of clothes still on it propping up the window.' Was
21:11
Speaker 1: it there? Was it there?' interrupted Tabby.' Yes, it was there,
21:17
Speaker 1: and I went up and smelt of it, and no
21:19
Speaker 1: mistaking the odor. It was the same dirty bundle I
21:23
Speaker 1: had dropped in the frog-pond. I paid no more attention
21:27
Speaker 1: to it, but began to look for footprints and smell
21:29
Speaker 1: around on the ground by the window.' just as I
21:33
Speaker 1: thought it was the same tramp. I started on his scent,
21:38
Speaker 1: which was easy to follow, as his feet were big
21:41
Speaker 1: and the scent strong. They led me down through the garden,
21:45
Speaker 1: past the barn, and into a thick clump of trees
21:48
Speaker 1: by the stone wall at the end of the judge's place.
21:52
Speaker 1: Here the fellow had stopped, dug a hole, and buried
21:55
Speaker 1: the silver. He had done it hurriedly, and with his hands,
22:00
Speaker 1: for I could see finger marks on the ground and
22:03
Speaker 1: the handle of one spoon sticking out. I waited for
22:07
Speaker 1: no more, but ran along the wall trying to find
22:10
Speaker 1: a place to get through, but I could not until
22:13
Speaker 1: I reached the gate. Then I crawled under and then
22:16
Speaker 1: ran back to where the tramp had climbed the wall
22:19
Speaker 1: and dropped down on the other side. Here I picked
22:22
Speaker 1: up his trail again and followed it to the railroad track,
22:25
Speaker 1: where the freight trains stand on a siding. I lost
22:29
Speaker 1: it here, so I think he must have jumped on
22:31
Speaker 1: a freight and escaped that way. Now what do you
22:35
Speaker 1: think of that for a story? I think you are
22:39
Speaker 1: a very clever dog. But isn't it too bad that
22:42
Speaker 1: they will never find their silver, and there it will
22:45
Speaker 1: be all the time, buried in their own backyard? Of
22:50
Speaker 1: course they will find it, exclaimed Zip. I would like
22:55
Speaker 1: to know how, for they won't be digging in that
22:58
Speaker 1: part of the garden. Well, they just will, for I
23:02
Speaker 1: am going to lead them to it, Zip said. How
23:07
Speaker 1: are you going to do that when you can't talk?
23:10
Speaker 1: I should like to know. No, I can't talk, but
23:15
Speaker 1: I can bark and make such a fuss that they
23:17
Speaker 1: will follow me to the place, and then I will
23:19
Speaker 1: scratch around and reveal the silver. My, but I should
23:24
Speaker 1: like to be there and see their faces when the
23:26
Speaker 1: first spoon comes flying out of the earth when you scratch.
23:31
Speaker 1: You can be. I will tell you when I am going,
23:35
Speaker 1: and you may go ahead and be sitting on the
23:36
Speaker 1: fence when I bring them to the spot. You are
23:41
Speaker 1: a dear, Zip, and I'll give you all the meat
23:44
Speaker 1: they give me for dinner for three days. All right.
23:48
Speaker 1: It's a bargain. When are you going? Right away, for
23:54
Speaker 1: I want to be there when the judge gets home.
23:57
Speaker 1: Come ahead and let's start. and five minutes later you
24:01
Speaker 1: could have seen a little spotted dog and a big
24:04
Speaker 1: yellow cat running side by side across lots and down
24:08
Speaker 1: lanes in the direction of Judge Perkins' home. End of
24:14
Speaker 1: Chapter 2 Chapter 3 of Zip! The Adventures of a
24:25
Speaker 1: Frisky Fox Terrier by Francis Trego Montgomery This LibriVox recording
24:31
Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Recording by Leanne Howlett Zip
24:38
Speaker 1: Unearths the Stolen Silver Listen, Tabby. I hear the sound
24:44
Speaker 1: of wheels and of horses' feet on the road. And
24:48
Speaker 1: stopping to look and listen, Zip spied the judge's fat
24:51
Speaker 1: white horse trotting down the road toward him, and he
24:55
Speaker 1: also recognized the village constable sitting beside the judge. SEE, TABBY,
25:01
Speaker 1: HE HAS BROUGHT THE CONSTABLE ALONG WITH HIM TO HELP
25:03
Speaker 1: GET A CLUE TO THE BURGLAR. LET US HURRY ALONG
25:06
Speaker 1: AND WE CAN GET THERE FIRST BY GOING ACROSS LOTS.
25:10
Speaker 1: THIS THEY DID, SO WHEN THE JUDGE ARRIVED HOME AND
25:13
Speaker 1: WENT TO SHOW THE CONSTABLE THE WINDOW WHERE THE BURGLAR
25:16
Speaker 1: GOT IN, HE FOUND ZIP SITTING DEMURALLY BESIDE IT. HELLO, ZIP,
25:22
Speaker 1: WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? HE ASKED. YOU MAY THINK
25:26
Speaker 1: IT'S STRANGE THE JUDGE KNEW ZIP'S NAME. but not so
25:29
Speaker 1: in a little village. Generally everyone knows the name of
25:33
Speaker 1: all the dogs and cats and call them by name
25:35
Speaker 1: when they chance to meet them in any unlooked-for place,
25:38
Speaker 1: as now. Did you hear them talking of my burglar
25:42
Speaker 1: in town and come to see for yourself where he
25:44
Speaker 1: got in? asked the judge. Zip stopped the judge's questions
25:50
Speaker 1: by jumping up and down on the windowsill, smelling the
25:53
Speaker 1: bundle of clothes, jumping up and down, nosing around the
25:57
Speaker 1: tracks and then running with nose to the ground, barking
26:00
Speaker 1: as he went. What in the dickens does the dog
26:04
Speaker 1: mean by such behavior? said the judge. Looks as if
26:09
Speaker 1: he were following the scent of some person, replied the constable.
26:14
Speaker 1: Perhaps he is, from the judge. See, he is jumping
26:19
Speaker 1: upon the stone wall as if trying to get over it.
26:23
Speaker 1: That would appear as if the person whose track he
26:25
Speaker 1: is on had climbed the wall at that point. Here
26:29
Speaker 1: Zip came back with head up. Well, what do you want, Zip?
26:34
Speaker 1: asked the judge, for Zip had caught his trouser leg
26:38
Speaker 1: in his teeth and was trying to pull him after him.
26:42
Speaker 1: I think he is trying to tell us to follow him,
26:44
Speaker 1: said the constable. At this Zip let go the judge's trousers,
26:50
Speaker 1: jumped up and down on the constable as much as
26:52
Speaker 1: to say, That is just what I mean, and then
26:56
Speaker 1: darted off down the path again. Seeing the men did
27:00
Speaker 1: not follow him, he came back and jumped up and
27:03
Speaker 1: down on the judge and then ran down the path
27:05
Speaker 1: once more. Surely that is what he wants, agreed the judge,
27:11
Speaker 1: and so the two walked just behind, following the dog
27:14
Speaker 1: until he stopped and began to scratch the dirt away
27:17
Speaker 1: from the roots of a clump of trees. and as
27:20
Speaker 1: he dug, spoons, knives, forks, and sugar-bowl lids began to
27:25
Speaker 1: fly out from under his feet. When a big tablespoon
27:28
Speaker 1: landed at the judge's feet, he exclaimed, By all that
27:33
Speaker 1: is wonderful, see this spoon. That dog has discovered where
27:36
Speaker 1: the burglar hid my silver. Pretty clever work for a
27:40
Speaker 1: little dog. One would think he was a police dog
27:44
Speaker 1: and had been trained to hunt down thieves, said the constable. Well, Zip,
27:51
Speaker 1: you shall have a silver collar for this, made out
27:54
Speaker 1: of one of my solid silver spoons, promised the judge
27:58
Speaker 1: as the men went to the hole Zip was digging
28:00
Speaker 1: and helped push away the earth. Soon they counted the
28:03
Speaker 1: pieces and found that they had recovered all that had
28:06
Speaker 1: been missing. Hello, exclaimed the constable. Whose cat are you?
28:13
Speaker 1: I never saw such a large cat in my life.
28:17
Speaker 1: Where is any cat? asked the judge. Up there on
28:22
Speaker 1: the wall, replied the constable, pointing his finger at Tabby,
28:26
Speaker 1: who was quietly sitting on top of the wall enjoying
28:29
Speaker 1: the unearthing of the stolen property. Oh, that is Zip's playfellow.
28:35
Speaker 1: I have often seen them playing together when I have
28:37
Speaker 1: been at the doctor's, said the judge. Just like a
28:42
Speaker 1: smart dog to select a cat as a chum instead
28:45
Speaker 1: of another dog, and I tell you what, I should
28:48
Speaker 1: like to own that dog myself, but I suppose the
28:51
Speaker 1: doctor would not sell him at any price. I should
28:55
Speaker 1: say not, replied the judge. That little dog has been
28:59
Speaker 1: his constant companion for three years when visiting his patients.
29:03
Speaker 1: Be the day ever so hot or cold, it is
29:06
Speaker 1: never too hot, never too cold for Zip to go along.
29:10
Speaker 1: In winter he sits up beside the doctor wrapped to
29:13
Speaker 1: the chin in a big warm robe. and in summer
29:16
Speaker 1: in a light one to keep the flies from biting him.
29:20
Speaker 1: Here comes my wife down the garden path. She must
29:23
Speaker 1: have heard us drive in, and our not coming to
29:25
Speaker 1: the house has aroused her curiosity, and now she's coming
29:29
Speaker 1: to see what we are doing. Won't she be surprised
29:33
Speaker 1: and delighted when she sees we have found her silver?
29:36
Speaker 1: And she surely was, but even more surprised at the
29:40
Speaker 1: way they had found it than at the discovery. She
29:43
Speaker 1: looked around to pet Zip and take him to the
29:45
Speaker 1: house and give him some cake and milk, of which
29:47
Speaker 1: he was very fond, but he and Tabby had both disappeared.
29:52
Speaker 1: The next day it all came out in the Maplewood
29:55
Speaker 1: Daily Paper, telling how Zip, Dr. Ellsworth's little fox-terrier had
30:00
Speaker 1: tracked the burglar to the spot where he had buried
30:03
Speaker 1: his booty, and that they had recovered it all, not
30:06
Speaker 1: losing so much as a spoon. It also recounted how
30:10
Speaker 1: the judge had ordered the jeweler to make a solid
30:12
Speaker 1: silver collar for Zip, with his name engraved on it,
30:16
Speaker 1: and what he had done to deserve this honor. When
30:20
Speaker 1: Zip and Tabby came trotting up the front path on
30:22
Speaker 1: their return from the judge's, The doctor was sitting on
30:25
Speaker 1: the front porch, reading the afternoon paper. On seeing Zip,
30:30
Speaker 1: he put it down and exclaimed, Well, you rascal, where
30:34
Speaker 1: have you been all this time? And what do you
30:37
Speaker 1: mean by making me take all my rides alone? You
30:40
Speaker 1: look all draggled and dirty and as if you had
30:43
Speaker 1: been in mischief. Perhaps you have been getting Tabby into mischief, too,
30:47
Speaker 1: for I see she is with you. So you think
30:52
Speaker 1: he has been in mischief, do you? mewed Tabby in
30:55
Speaker 1: a cross voice, and she avoided his hand when he
30:59
Speaker 1: attempted to stroke her. She thought to herself, The doctor
31:03
Speaker 1: will feel badly when he reads in tomorrow's paper that Zip,
31:07
Speaker 1: instead of being in mischief, has made himself the hero
31:10
Speaker 1: of the town. But Zip did not mind. He knew
31:14
Speaker 1: his looks and behavior were against him, but that on
31:17
Speaker 1: the morrow all would be explained and the doctor would
31:20
Speaker 1: be as proud as Punch of him. so he quietly
31:23
Speaker 1: trotted around the corner of the house and went for
31:26
Speaker 1: a swim in the horse trough. The next day, when
31:30
Speaker 1: the doctor drove into town, was zipped by his side.
31:33
Speaker 1: Everyone wanted to pet him and talk about how clever
31:36
Speaker 1: a dog he had been, and they gave him so
31:38
Speaker 1: much candy, cakes, and sweets that he had a high
31:41
Speaker 1: fever the next day. However, he went with the doctor
31:45
Speaker 1: just the same, only instead of running around visiting all
31:49
Speaker 1: the dogs and cats he knew wherever the doctor stopped,
31:52
Speaker 1: He just lay still on the seat and slept. At
31:56
Speaker 1: last the doctor noticed and said, Zip, I believe you
32:00
Speaker 1: feel sick today. You are so quiet. Let me feel
32:04
Speaker 1: your nose. That is what a doctor does for a dog,
32:08
Speaker 1: just as he feels the pulse in a person. If
32:11
Speaker 1: the nose is hot, the dog is sick. If it
32:14
Speaker 1: is cold, he is all right. Being a homeopathic physician... Dr.
32:19
Speaker 1: Ellsworth opened his case and gave Zip three little sugar pills,
32:23
Speaker 1: or so Zip thought, but they had medicine inside of them,
32:27
Speaker 1: and he swallowed them just as if he had been
32:29
Speaker 1: a sick little boy. Inside of two or three hours
32:33
Speaker 1: he felt better, and before he went to bed that
32:36
Speaker 1: night the doctor gave him another dose, so when Zip
32:39
Speaker 1: awoke the next day he was feeling as frisky as ever.
32:45
Speaker 1: End of chapter 3 CHAPTER FOUR OF ZIPP THE ADVENTURES
32:56
Speaker 1: OF A FRISKY FOX TERRIER by Francis Trego Montgomery This
33:02
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Leanne
33:07
Speaker 1: Howlett Zipp's Disastrous Jump As the doctor's buggy came to
33:13
Speaker 1: a standstill before Mrs. Mason's house, Zipp smelt the delicious
33:18
Speaker 1: spicy odor of freshly baked ginger snaps wafted to his
33:22
Speaker 1: nostrils around the corner of the house from the kitchen.
33:26
Speaker 1: Knowing Mrs. Mason's cook, Diana, to be considered the best
33:29
Speaker 1: cake and cookie maker in the whole village of Maplewood,
33:33
Speaker 1: he decided to run to the rear of the house
33:36
Speaker 1: and see if she would not give him one. Failing
33:39
Speaker 1: in this, he determined to steal one if he could
33:42
Speaker 1: get it in no other way, so he cautiously crept
33:46
Speaker 1: up the back kitchen steps so he could peek in
33:48
Speaker 1: the open door to see if Diana was alone. but
33:52
Speaker 1: just as he reached the top step he had a surprise,
33:55
Speaker 1: for the mason's big spotted cat was curled up asleep
33:58
Speaker 1: under the window. She smelt dog, opened her eyes, and
34:03
Speaker 1: without a moment's hesitation bounded on his back. She hated
34:08
Speaker 1: dogs worse than rats, and being nearly the size of Zip,
34:12
Speaker 1: and having long sharp claws, she was not an enemy
34:15
Speaker 1: to be sneezed at. Consequently, it was either fight and
34:20
Speaker 1: arouse the household, and so lose his chance of a
34:23
Speaker 1: ginger snap, or get out of her way. He decided
34:27
Speaker 1: on the latter. Seeing a kitchen window open, he gave
34:31
Speaker 1: one bound and jumped through. But horrors! What had he
34:35
Speaker 1: landed on? Not the kitchen floor as he thought he would,
34:39
Speaker 1: but on something soft and squashy. Not a pillow, either,
34:43
Speaker 1: for it was all soft and gooey, and he was
34:46
Speaker 1: sinking into the soft white stuff deeper and deeper every second.
34:50
Speaker 1: He tried to jump out, but could not. The stuff
34:54
Speaker 1: was spongy and sticky and clingy, and he had now
34:57
Speaker 1: sunk deep into it up to his stomach. Whatever shall
35:01
Speaker 1: I do, he thought to himself, when horrors, the kitchen
35:06
Speaker 1: door opened and Diana, a big fat darky with a
35:09
Speaker 1: red and yellow spotted turban on her head, appeared in
35:12
Speaker 1: the doorway. On seeing a little head looking at her
35:16
Speaker 1: from the pan of dough, she threw up her hands
35:19
Speaker 1: in fright, turned and fled down the hall, calling, Miss Mason,
35:24
Speaker 1: Miss Mason, come here quick. Someone done gone and left
35:28
Speaker 1: a little nigga baby in my bread dough. As she
35:32
Speaker 1: ran through the hall, Zip made an extra effort to
35:35
Speaker 1: jump out, but instead of doing so, he upset the
35:38
Speaker 1: pan off the chair, and dog and dough rolled on
35:42
Speaker 1: the kitchen floor together. Shaking off as much of it
35:45
Speaker 1: as he could, Zip raced out the door. leaving a
35:49
Speaker 1: trail of dough behind him. He did not dare get
35:52
Speaker 1: in the doctor's buggy in that mess, so he crawled
35:55
Speaker 1: under the garden fence and ran down to the river,
35:58
Speaker 1: where he might wash himself off before going home. When
36:02
Speaker 1: the mason cat saw him disappear under the garden fence,
36:06
Speaker 1: she went into the kitchen to see what he had done,
36:09
Speaker 1: to make all the noise he had just before he
36:11
Speaker 1: ran out all covered with the white stuff. As she
36:15
Speaker 1: stood by the pan smelling the dough to discover what
36:17
Speaker 1: it was, DIANA AND MRS. MASON CAME HURRYING INTO THE ROOM.
36:23
Speaker 1: NOT SEEING ANYONE THERE BUT THEIR CAT, WHO WAS STANDING
36:26
Speaker 1: RIGHT BESIDE THE DOUGH, THEY OF COURSE THOUGHT IT WAS
36:29
Speaker 1: SHE THAT HAD CAUSED ALL THIS TROUBLE. SO DIANA GRABBED
36:32
Speaker 1: UP A BROOM AND WOULD HAVE POUNDED HER TO A
36:34
Speaker 1: JELLY IN HER ANGER AT SPOILING ALL HER NICE BREAD DOUGH.
36:38
Speaker 1: BUT PUSSY WAS TOO QUICK FOR HER. SHE SAW WHAT
36:41
Speaker 1: WAS COMING AND FLEW OUT THE DOOR AND HID UNDER
36:43
Speaker 1: THE CURRENT BUSHES IN THE GARDEN. from which place she
36:46
Speaker 1: could hear Diana scolding and talking to herself as she
36:49
Speaker 1: cleaned up the mess. I do declare to goodness, I
36:54
Speaker 1: done going to kill that cat some of these days.
36:57
Speaker 1: Just wait till I catch her. I'll tie a pepper
36:59
Speaker 1: box to her tail. Hark! said the cat. I wonder
37:05
Speaker 1: who is giving that long, penetrating whistle. Oh, I know
37:09
Speaker 1: now whose dog that was. It was Zip. Dr. Ellsworth's
37:13
Speaker 1: pet fox-terrier that everyone thinks so smart, and that everyone
37:17
Speaker 1: is talking about in the village these last few days
37:20
Speaker 1: because he found the silver the burglar had stolen from
37:23
Speaker 1: the judge. If I had known it was he, I
37:26
Speaker 1: would not have pounced on him, but I was only
37:28
Speaker 1: half awake when I saw a dog trying to sneak
37:31
Speaker 1: into our kitchen. It is a law with me to
37:34
Speaker 1: jump on every dog I see before he has time
37:36
Speaker 1: to pounce on me. Now I am awfully sorry about this,
37:41
Speaker 1: for I have been wanting to meet Zip for ever
37:43
Speaker 1: so long, as I think I am the only cat
37:45
Speaker 1: in town who doesn't know him. When Zip was nearly
37:49
Speaker 1: to the river, he heard the voices of children playing
37:52
Speaker 1: on the bank, so he crept carefully forward under the
37:55
Speaker 1: bushes until he came to a place where he could
37:57
Speaker 1: peer through. There, sure enough, were five or six little
38:02
Speaker 1: boys and girls having a picnic. Some were in waiting,
38:06
Speaker 1: skirts and trousers rolled up above the knees, while others
38:09
Speaker 1: were just spreading out a tablecloth on the mossy bank,
38:12
Speaker 1: preparatory to setting their table for luncheon. While Zip was looking,
38:18
Speaker 1: one little girl took out of her basket some delicious-looking
38:21
Speaker 1: fried chicken, and as she piled the nicely browned pieces
38:24
Speaker 1: on a plate, she put the breasts on top to
38:27
Speaker 1: make it look more tempting. It made Zip's mouth water
38:31
Speaker 1: so for a taste that he decided to keep well
38:33
Speaker 1: hidden and see if they would not leave the table
38:36
Speaker 1: for a moment. so he might jump out and steal
38:38
Speaker 1: a piece. As he waited, another little girl lifted out
38:42
Speaker 1: of her basket some nut cookies and big thick slices
38:46
Speaker 1: of angel cake, while a third arranged some stuffed eggs
38:49
Speaker 1: and big dill pickles. Now all these things Zip adored,
38:54
Speaker 1: with the exception of the pickles, so he lay down
38:57
Speaker 1: with nose stretched out in their direction as far as
39:00
Speaker 1: he could without being seen that he might at least
39:03
Speaker 1: smell the goodies while he waited. but as he waited
39:06
Speaker 1: the bread dough on his back dried and hardened and
39:09
Speaker 1: made his coat stick up in all sorts of queer shapes,
39:12
Speaker 1: though he never once thought of it. He was much
39:16
Speaker 1: too occupied deciding just which piece of chicken he would
39:19
Speaker 1: take when he had the chance, and he was too
39:21
Speaker 1: delighted to move when one of the boys began chasing
39:24
Speaker 1: all the others with his cup full of water. And
39:27
Speaker 1: before he knew it the boy's trying to escape ran
39:31
Speaker 1: straight into the bushes where zip lay concealed and nearly
39:34
Speaker 1: stepped on him one boy looked down caught sight of
39:39
Speaker 1: a queer looking animal with bright eyes and funny hair
39:42
Speaker 1: that stuck up all over him he gave one scream
39:45
Speaker 1: and jumped back just in time to get the full
39:48
Speaker 1: cup of water in his face but he cared not.
39:52
Speaker 1: He just turned and fled, screaming, A porcupine! A porcupine!
39:57
Speaker 1: Look out or he will fill you full of quills!
40:00
Speaker 1: This alarm made the girls jump up and run from
40:03
Speaker 1: their table of goodies in a panic. The lad who
40:06
Speaker 1: had thrown the water thought the other boy was merely
40:08
Speaker 1: fooling when he peered into the bushes and said he
40:11
Speaker 1: saw a white porcupine and fled. Now was Zip's chance.
40:16
Speaker 1: Not waiting for them to get out of sight, he
40:19
Speaker 1: boldly rushed out and helped himself to the biggest piece
40:21
Speaker 1: of chicken he saw and gulped it down in his
40:24
Speaker 1: haste to get another piece and to steal some cake
40:27
Speaker 1: before the children should recover from their fright in return.
40:31
Speaker 1: As they ran, one little girl turned around to see
40:35
Speaker 1: if the porcupine was chasing them. What she saw was
40:38
Speaker 1: some animal eating up their goodies, and she began to cry,
40:42
Speaker 1: for she was terribly hungry and had been thinking of
40:45
Speaker 1: all the good things they had to eat when, lo!
40:48
Speaker 1: it was snatched out of their mouths, one might say,
40:51
Speaker 1: for their fright had come so suddenly. One of the
40:54
Speaker 1: larger boys stopped running and looked back, and as he
40:58
Speaker 1: had once seen a porcupine, he knew this animal now
41:01
Speaker 1: eating their luncheon had two long legs and his nose
41:04
Speaker 1: was too thin to be a porcupine. Having gotten over
41:07
Speaker 1: his first panic, and being very hungry, his courage began
41:11
Speaker 1: to come back and he called,' Here!' Let's stop running
41:16
Speaker 1: away and go back and kill that animal, whatever it is.
41:19
Speaker 1: It won't eat us. It is too small. So, like
41:23
Speaker 1: frightened sheep, when their leader stopped, the children all halted.
41:28
Speaker 1: Get long sticks, he commanded, and we'll drive him away.
41:33
Speaker 1: This was easily done, for there were lots of long,
41:35
Speaker 1: strong sticks about, and each child got one. Armed with these,
41:41
Speaker 1: they came running back as bravely as they had cowardly
41:44
Speaker 1: run away. all howling like Comanche Indians on the warpath.
41:49
Speaker 1: Seeing this, Zip grabbed a leg of chicken in his
41:52
Speaker 1: mouth and, running to the river, jumped in and swam
41:55
Speaker 1: to the opposite shore, where he soon disappeared in the
41:58
Speaker 1: thick underbrush. Once in his safe retreat, he lay down
42:03
Speaker 1: and devoured his bone, then got up and looked at himself.
42:07
Speaker 1: He was a sorry sight, for the quick swim across
42:10
Speaker 1: the creek had not washed the dough off. but had
42:13
Speaker 1: merely softened it and now he was a sticky mass
42:16
Speaker 1: from head to foot. Whatever shall I do to get
42:20
Speaker 1: this stuff off? he said to himself. I'll try rolling
42:25
Speaker 1: in the mud, which he did, but alas it was
42:29
Speaker 1: not successful. It only turned the dough black and made
42:32
Speaker 1: it stick all the tighter. I see where I shall
42:36
Speaker 1: have to go stand in some water and let it
42:38
Speaker 1: soak off. Guess I'll go home and get Tabby to
42:41
Speaker 1: come and talk to me while I am in the trough,
42:43
Speaker 1: for it is stupid being all alone. So he trotted
42:47
Speaker 1: on home, taking good care not to let anyone see him,
42:51
Speaker 1: and when he reached home, he hid under the big
42:54
Speaker 1: leaves of the rhubarb plants in the garden, just the
42:57
Speaker 1: other side of the fence from the watering trough. Here
43:00
Speaker 1: he stayed until the doctor had driven off on his
43:03
Speaker 1: afternoon round of visits to his patients, and everyone else
43:06
Speaker 1: on the place was taking a nap. Then he barked
43:09
Speaker 1: three quick snappy barks for Tabby, but she did not come.
43:14
Speaker 1: He barked again. Still she did not appear, and he
43:18
Speaker 1: was standing with drooping ears and tail between his legs
43:21
Speaker 1: in a most dejected manner when he was aroused by
43:23
Speaker 1: Tabby saying, Why, Zip Ellsworth, where in the world have
43:29
Speaker 1: you been? You are as dirty as a pig, I
43:31
Speaker 1: do declare, and your hair is all sticking up like
43:34
Speaker 1: a porcupine's quills. At the word porcupine, Zip braced up
43:39
Speaker 1: and said, Never mind about my looks. If you will
43:44
Speaker 1: sit on the edge of the watering trough while I
43:46
Speaker 1: soak this stuff off, I'll tell you how I got
43:48
Speaker 1: in this mess. So Tabby obediently jumped up on a
43:52
Speaker 1: board at one end and fixed herself comfortably to hear
43:54
Speaker 1: of Zip's adventure. But first I want to tell you
43:59
Speaker 1: that the doctor is very much displeased with you, said Tabby.
44:04
Speaker 1: I heard him tell Martha, the housekeeper, that he did
44:06
Speaker 1: not know what had gotten into you lately, that you
44:09
Speaker 1: were never around to go with him any more, and
44:12
Speaker 1: if you were here, that you disappeared somewhere on the
44:15
Speaker 1: trip and he had to come back without you. He
44:17
Speaker 1: also said that unless you were around more, he was
44:20
Speaker 1: going to take me. He didn't say anything of the
44:25
Speaker 1: kind I know. Indeed he did. Ask Martha, retorted Tabby.
44:33
Speaker 1: you are safe in saying that for you know i
44:35
Speaker 1: can't ask martha well he did whether you believe me
44:40
Speaker 1: or not i shan't give him the chance for from
44:44
Speaker 1: today i shall be on hand to go with him
44:47
Speaker 1: and what is more i will stay with him and
44:49
Speaker 1: come back when he does i shall cut my visits
44:52
Speaker 1: short until he forgets all about my neglecting him well
44:56
Speaker 1: do you want to hear what i've been up to
44:58
Speaker 1: or not i certainly do go ahead I'm all ears.
45:05
Speaker 1: So while Zip walked up and down in the trough
45:07
Speaker 1: to get clean, Tabby sat curled up on the board
45:10
Speaker 1: at the end, purring contentedly as she listened to Zip's
45:14
Speaker 1: account of his morning's doings. End of Chapter 4 Chapter
45:26
Speaker 1: 5 of Zip The Adventures of a Frisky Fox Terrier
45:30
Speaker 1: by Francis Trego Montgomery Zip is stuck in the stovepipe.
45:44
Speaker 1: The next day at noon, when Zip came home with
45:47
Speaker 1: the doctor from making his morning visits to his patients,
45:50
Speaker 1: he was surprised to see all the furniture moved out
45:53
Speaker 1: into the side yard. At first he thought there must
45:56
Speaker 1: have been a fire, but when he saw Martha, with
46:00
Speaker 1: a towel wrapped around her head, and Mrs. Huggins, the
46:03
Speaker 1: scrub-woman of the village, trying to squeeze a wide table
46:07
Speaker 1: through a narrow door, while Noah, their half-witted chore-boy, was
46:12
Speaker 1: beating carpets on the lawn. He knew it was spring house-cleaning. This,
46:17
Speaker 1: the doctor vowed, was worse than a fire and as
46:20
Speaker 1: bad as a moving, for Martha never would do one
46:23
Speaker 1: room at a time, but must upset the whole house
46:26
Speaker 1: at once and dump everything outdoors. And from the time
46:29
Speaker 1: the furniture was moved out until it went back, All
46:33
Speaker 1: one could smell or see in the house was soap
46:35
Speaker 1: suds and bare, wet floors. If one wished to sit down,
46:39
Speaker 1: they had to retire to the yard and repose on
46:42
Speaker 1: a pile of carpets. If they wished to eat, they
46:46
Speaker 1: had to do so off the kitchen table on the
46:48
Speaker 1: side porch. If they wanted to dress, their clothes were
46:51
Speaker 1: in the yard, under chairs, pictures, and bedding, and the
46:55
Speaker 1: task was so trying that finally one did not want
46:57
Speaker 1: to change so much as a collar. The doctor always
47:01
Speaker 1: groaned when he got the first glimpse of housecleaning and
47:04
Speaker 1: gave a sigh of relief when it was over. This
47:07
Speaker 1: was one time when he made longer calls on his
47:10
Speaker 1: patients and idled his time away at the drugstore. As
47:14
Speaker 1: for Martha, she went around with a frown on her
47:17
Speaker 1: face and with a nervous, jerky manner, all the while
47:21
Speaker 1: talking of the terrible amount of hard work there was
47:23
Speaker 1: to do and grumbling that she had never seen such
47:26
Speaker 1: a dirty house in all her life. but down in
47:29
Speaker 1: her heart she enjoyed it, for she liked nothing better
47:32
Speaker 1: than to scrub and clean. As for the dirty house,
47:36
Speaker 1: a fly would have slipped and broken its neck, the
47:39
Speaker 1: rooms were so clean from cellar to garret, there being
47:42
Speaker 1: only the doctor to keep house for, and no children
47:45
Speaker 1: to clutter up things. But just the same, on the
47:49
Speaker 1: 1st of May and 1st of September, the house had
47:52
Speaker 1: to be upset from top to bottom and cleaned thoroughly,
47:55
Speaker 1: for Martha was born in New England, and lived up
47:58
Speaker 1: to the rules of housekeeping she had learned in her girlhood.
48:02
Speaker 1: As for Zip, he loved it for it gave him
48:05
Speaker 1: such a chance to nose into everything, and you can
48:08
Speaker 1: rest assured he did it. There was not a band-box
48:11
Speaker 1: of any kind that he did not push the lid
48:14
Speaker 1: off with his nose and look into it, or a
48:16
Speaker 1: bag of any kind that he did not smell and
48:19
Speaker 1: smell until he discovered what was in it. He got
48:22
Speaker 1: under everyone's feet and nearly tripped them when their arms
48:24
Speaker 1: were full of things, and they could not see where
48:27
Speaker 1: they were stepping. He was kicked by Noah, hit with
48:30
Speaker 1: the mop by Martha, and had the scrubbing brush thrown
48:33
Speaker 1: at him by the scrub woman. But these things did
48:36
Speaker 1: not disconcert him in the least. They only added to
48:39
Speaker 1: the excitement. As for Tabby, she hated it as much
48:43
Speaker 1: as the doctor did, and generally took advantage of these
48:47
Speaker 1: times to go to visit her cousin who lived across
48:50
Speaker 1: the fields a mile and a half away. Zip had
48:54
Speaker 1: just come from the watering trough where he had been
48:56
Speaker 1: trying to get the dirt and cobwebs off his coat,
48:59
Speaker 1: which he had gotten on under the eaves in the attic,
49:02
Speaker 1: and was up on a table nosing around when he
49:04
Speaker 1: thought he smelt mice in a band box. He cocked
49:08
Speaker 1: his head to listen, and sure enough he heard the
49:10
Speaker 1: mice moving around inside, so he cautiously tried to open
49:15
Speaker 1: the lid. It fitted loosely, so slipped off easily, and
49:19
Speaker 1: Zip peered in. What he saw made him smile at
49:23
Speaker 1: the horror it was going to give Martha when she
49:25
Speaker 1: discovered it. There on the crown of her best winter
49:28
Speaker 1: bonnet was a mouse nest, with three tiny little mice
49:32
Speaker 1: in it and the father and mother scampering around. At
49:37
Speaker 1: the sight of Zip, THE OLD MICE RAN FOR THE
49:40
Speaker 1: HOLE THEY HAD KNOT IN THE SIDE OF THE BOX
49:41
Speaker 1: AND TRIED TO ESCAPE, BUT ZIP SAW THEM AND GAVE CHASE.
49:46
Speaker 1: THEY JUMPED FROM THE TABLE AND TRIED TO HIDE UNDER
49:48
Speaker 1: A SOFA, BUT ZIP WAS ON THEIR TRACK, AND UNDER
49:52
Speaker 1: HE CRAWLED AFTER THEM. THEN THEY DODGED IN AND OUT
49:55
Speaker 1: OF SOME BOXES AND AT LAST JUMPED INTO A CRACKER BOX,
49:58
Speaker 1: THINKING TO HIDE SAFELY UNDER THE CRACKERS, BUT ZIP SOON
50:02
Speaker 1: SCRATCHED THE LAYER OF CRACKERS OFF AND AGAIN THEY HAD
50:04
Speaker 1: TO RUN. This time they saw a nice big black hole,
50:09
Speaker 1: and into it they scampered, thinking it too small a
50:12
Speaker 1: place for Zip to follow. But they did not know Zip.
50:16
Speaker 1: The hole was black enough inside and out to suit anyone,
50:19
Speaker 1: for it was nothing more or less than a long
50:21
Speaker 1: piece of stovepipe from the kitchen stove which had been
50:25
Speaker 1: put there for Noah to clean out the soot when
50:27
Speaker 1: he was through beating the carpets. It was a pretty
50:30
Speaker 1: tight squeeze for Zip, but he never thought of that
50:33
Speaker 1: until he had himself wedged into it. neither did he
50:36
Speaker 1: think of his clean white coat. All he thought of
50:39
Speaker 1: was to catch the mice. So in he rushed, but
50:43
Speaker 1: he had to crouch down and literally squeeze himself through,
50:47
Speaker 1: and once or twice he thought he would suffocate from
50:49
Speaker 1: the amount of soot he shook down. He grew so
50:52
Speaker 1: tired creeping with his legs doubled up under him that
50:55
Speaker 1: when he was halfway through he gave up and howled
50:58
Speaker 1: for help. It was a long time before anyone heard him,
51:02
Speaker 1: and when they did, they could not for the life
51:05
Speaker 1: of them tell where the sound came from, for the
51:08
Speaker 1: pipe made his howls sound so queer. When at last
51:11
Speaker 1: he heard Martha and Noah talking, he barked and howled
51:15
Speaker 1: most dismally as when a dog bays at the moon.
51:19
Speaker 1: They looked everywhere, under boxes and barrels, thinking he might
51:23
Speaker 1: have turned one over on himself, and under piles of
51:26
Speaker 1: carpet and bedding. Still they could not find him. The
51:30
Speaker 1: sound seems to come from the earth. Right down under
51:34
Speaker 1: my feet, said Martha. The poor, simple-minded Noah, with tears
51:39
Speaker 1: in his eyes, for he was very fond indeed of Zip, replied,
51:44
Speaker 1: He's done and gone and buried hisself. Just then the
51:49
Speaker 1: doctor drove up the lane, and Martha ran to him
51:52
Speaker 1: to tell him that Zip was fast under something somewhere
51:55
Speaker 1: and that they could not find him. When the doctor
51:58
Speaker 1: reached the side yard, where all the household things were piled,
52:02
Speaker 1: He began to look puzzled and move the things just
52:05
Speaker 1: as the others had done. Martha declared it was no
52:08
Speaker 1: use as they had already looked under all of that stuff.
52:12
Speaker 1: Do listen to him now. His cries are going fainter.
52:16
Speaker 1: He surely is dying. She wailed and threw her apron
52:20
Speaker 1: over her head and began to cry. At this moment,
52:24
Speaker 1: the doctor stepped back and accidentally struck his foot against
52:27
Speaker 1: the side of the stovepipe, which brought another howl of
52:31
Speaker 1: agony from Zip. The doctor picked up the pipe and
52:34
Speaker 1: quickly disjointed it in the middle, and out fell the
52:37
Speaker 1: dirtiest but most delighted little dog you ever saw, for
52:41
Speaker 1: he was free once more, and everyone was as pleased
52:44
Speaker 1: that he was found as he was that he was rescued,
52:47
Speaker 1: and their tears were turned to smiles at the comical
52:50
Speaker 1: picture he made, all covered with soot. After trying to
52:54
Speaker 1: jump up on the doctor to lick his hands in
52:57
Speaker 1: thanks for his freedom, he started for his usual bathtub,
53:01
Speaker 1: the watering trough. Here, where are you going so fast, Zip?
53:07
Speaker 1: Better stay here until I get a bucket of hot
53:09
Speaker 1: soap suds to wash you off, called his master. But
53:13
Speaker 1: Zip did not stop, and the doctor followed him. Imagine
53:18
Speaker 1: his surprise when he saw him jump in the trough
53:20
Speaker 1: where he always watered his horses. So you are the
53:25
Speaker 1: cause of my finding the water so often dirty and
53:28
Speaker 1: all stirred up, are you? I have been wondering and
53:31
Speaker 1: wondering what caused it. well, you can just stop riling
53:35
Speaker 1: old Jim's drinking water. But to Zip's dismay, the soot
53:40
Speaker 1: would not come off as the mud and dough had.
53:43
Speaker 1: It stuck and made him look greasy and black. Eerie
53:47
Speaker 1: little rascal, come with me, and I will get soap
53:50
Speaker 1: and towels and give you a good bath. And that
53:53
Speaker 1: is how it happened that when Tabby came home from
53:56
Speaker 1: her visit to her cousin, the first thing she saw
53:59
Speaker 1: was the doctor sitting on the lower step of the
54:01
Speaker 1: side porch, with scrubbing brush in one hand and a
54:04
Speaker 1: cake of soap in the other, scrubbing Zip for all
54:07
Speaker 1: he was worth. Well, whatever has happened to you, Zip?
54:13
Speaker 1: asked Tabby. Oh, go lie down and I'll tell you
54:17
Speaker 1: after a while, barked Zip in a cross voice, for
54:21
Speaker 1: he was not enjoying the scrubbing in the least, as
54:24
Speaker 1: every once in a while a lot of soap suds
54:26
Speaker 1: would run into his eyes, making them smart dreadfully. But
54:30
Speaker 1: the doctor kept on rubbing. not knowing what was making
54:33
Speaker 1: Zip squirm so. He thought it was just because he
54:36
Speaker 1: hated to be washed in this way. At last Zip
54:40
Speaker 1: could stand it no longer, and he bounded from the
54:43
Speaker 1: doctor's hands and shot out of the yard into the
54:45
Speaker 1: road and deliberately lay down in the softest, dirtiest place
54:49
Speaker 1: he could find and then rolled and rolled, trying to
54:52
Speaker 1: dry himself. And though the doctor called and called and
54:55
Speaker 1: whistled himself hoarse, Zip did not come back. He waited
55:00
Speaker 1: until it grew dark. and then he sneaked in and
55:03
Speaker 1: jumped into the watering trough again. This time he came
55:07
Speaker 1: out nice and clean, for the soft sand had acted
55:10
Speaker 1: as a scrubbing brush, and his coat was all shiny
55:13
Speaker 1: and glossy and clean when he jumped out, and this
55:16
Speaker 1: time he managed to keep it so until the next day.
55:22
Speaker 1: End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 of Zip THE ADVENTURES
55:33
Speaker 1: OF A FRISKY FOX TERRIER by Francis Trego Montgomery. This
55:38
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Leanne
55:43
Speaker 1: Howlett Zip and Peterkins Several days after this Zip was
55:50
Speaker 1: asleep on the seat of the buggy in front of
55:53
Speaker 1: the house of one of the doctor's patients who was
55:55
Speaker 1: so very ill that he had been visiting there each
55:58
Speaker 1: day for a week. Consequently Zip, as usual, had called
56:03
Speaker 1: on every dog and cat in this neighborhood. Today he
56:07
Speaker 1: thought he would sleep instead of running around to visit
56:10
Speaker 1: and making the doctor wait and whistle for him to
56:12
Speaker 1: come back. But presently he was awakened by hearing the
56:16
Speaker 1: doctor's whistle across the street. He was up in a
56:19
Speaker 1: moment looking in all directions, for though he heard him,
56:23
Speaker 1: he could not see his master. He leaped out of
56:27
Speaker 1: the buggy and ran across the street from where the
56:29
Speaker 1: sound seemed to come. As he ran, the whistle was repeated,
56:33
Speaker 1: loud and shrill, but no doctor could Zip see. He
56:39
Speaker 1: must be hiding behind that thick bush in the yard,
56:42
Speaker 1: decided Zip. So he crawled under the fence and went
56:46
Speaker 1: nosing around the shrubbery, but the doctor was not there.
56:50
Speaker 1: He sniffed here and there, but could not get so
56:53
Speaker 1: much as a tiny whiff of the doctor's scent. He
56:56
Speaker 1: stood still at last, with ears standing up straight, and
57:00
Speaker 1: one foot held off the ground, as he did when
57:03
Speaker 1: listening intently. Again he heard the doctor whistle right over
57:08
Speaker 1: his head. He looked up to see if the doctor
57:11
Speaker 1: was in an aeroplane, but all he discovered was the
57:14
Speaker 1: clear blue sky. Then a laugh sounded behind him, and
57:18
Speaker 1: turning quickly, he saw Miss Belinda Simpkins' pet Paul Parrot
57:23
Speaker 1: swinging on the limb of a tree, laughing at him.
57:27
Speaker 1: This was too much for Zip's dignity. to have a
57:31
Speaker 1: Paul parrot make a fool of him. So he ran
57:34
Speaker 1: to the tree where she sat and barked furiously up
57:38
Speaker 1: at her. But to make Zip still more angry, Polly
57:42
Speaker 1: kept on whistling and laughing at him. She had heard
57:45
Speaker 1: the doctor whistle for Zip every day and had learned
57:48
Speaker 1: to imitate him perfectly. She really was a very smart bird,
57:53
Speaker 1: and everyone in the village knew of Miss Belinda's parrot
57:56
Speaker 1: and monkey. for they were always doing exceedingly smart mischievous things,
58:01
Speaker 1: some of which I will tell you about, but now
58:04
Speaker 1: I must finish relating what happened to Zip. He was
58:08
Speaker 1: still looking angrily at Polly when he heard a queer
58:11
Speaker 1: chattering and squeaking noise up in a tree behind him,
58:14
Speaker 1: and turning to look, he saw a gray object drop
58:18
Speaker 1: from one of the limbs. He looked down at the ground,
58:21
Speaker 1: expecting to see whatever it was drop under the tree,
58:25
Speaker 1: but nothing landed. Still he knew he had seen something
58:28
Speaker 1: start to fall. What could it be that could stop
58:32
Speaker 1: in mid-air, for there was no other branch under the
58:35
Speaker 1: one from which it had dropped on which it could catch?
58:39
Speaker 1: But when he glanced up, what should he discover but
58:42
Speaker 1: Miss Belinda's pet monkey swinging by its tail from the
58:45
Speaker 1: branch on which it had been sitting? Now Zip hated
58:49
Speaker 1: monkeys as a cat does rats. How as nice a
58:52
Speaker 1: little old maiden lady as Miss Belinda could stand it
58:56
Speaker 1: to live all alone in a house with only a
58:59
Speaker 1: parrot and a monkey for companions was more than he
59:02
Speaker 1: could understand. Zip ignored the monkey and began barking again
59:07
Speaker 1: at the parrot, telling her just to wait until an day,
59:11
Speaker 1: then he would come back and get even with her yet,
59:13
Speaker 1: and that the next time he left it would be
59:15
Speaker 1: with a mouthful of her tail feathers. Help! Help! screeched Polly.
59:22
Speaker 1: And her voice was so nearly like that of a
59:24
Speaker 1: human that the doctor, hearing it, hurried across the street
59:28
Speaker 1: to see who was calling for aid. As he opened
59:31
Speaker 1: the gate to go into the yard, something tore past him.
59:35
Speaker 1: Looking around to see what it was, he beheld Zip
59:39
Speaker 1: running for all he was worth, with a little gray
59:42
Speaker 1: monkey perched on his back, clinging to his silver collar
59:46
Speaker 1: which the judge had given to him. The doctor was
59:50
Speaker 1: about to go to his rescue when Zip dove under
59:53
Speaker 1: the fence, which knocked off the monkey and and he
59:56
Speaker 1: rolled over and over on the ground, dazed for several seconds.
1:00:00
Speaker 1: He had hit his head on the fence so hard
1:00:02
Speaker 1: that it had stunned him. The doctor took a step
1:00:06
Speaker 1: forward to pick him up, when again he heard that
1:00:08
Speaker 1: piercing scream, Help! Help! Help! that seemed to come from
1:00:14
Speaker 1: the upper window of Miss Belinda's cottage. Gracious! exclaimed the doctor.
1:00:21
Speaker 1: Someone must be trying to kill Miss Belinda. and he
1:00:24
Speaker 1: started for the cottage, intending to break down the door
1:00:27
Speaker 1: if it should be locked. Before he had gone two steps,
1:00:31
Speaker 1: the voice he heard before called once more, Help! Help!
1:00:37
Speaker 1: Beat it! Beat it! And then, looking up, he saw Polly.
1:00:44
Speaker 1: You rascal, said the doctor, shaking his finger in a
1:00:48
Speaker 1: playful manner at her. You surely did fool me. but
1:00:52
Speaker 1: I must go and see if Zip has killed your playfellow.
1:00:56
Speaker 1: When he reached the gate, he found the monkey sitting
1:00:59
Speaker 1: up rubbing his head with his forefoot and running slowly
1:01:03
Speaker 1: toward home on three legs. Seeing he was all right,
1:01:07
Speaker 1: the doctor whistled for Zip to come, but no Zip appeared.
1:01:12
Speaker 1: So after calling him once or twice more, the doctor
1:01:15
Speaker 1: concluded he did not wish to come back for fear
1:01:17
Speaker 1: the monkey would get him again and try to take
1:01:19
Speaker 1: a free ride. He probably has trotted home across lots,
1:01:25
Speaker 1: thought the doctor, or else he may be waiting for
1:01:28
Speaker 1: me partway home. On hearing the doctor whistle, the monkey
1:01:33
Speaker 1: ran to the side of the road, jumped up on
1:01:36
Speaker 1: the fence and ran along its top until he reached
1:01:39
Speaker 1: Miss Belinda's yard. Once there, he ran up a tall
1:01:43
Speaker 1: tree to a place of safety where no dogs could
1:01:46
Speaker 1: reach him, and there the doctor left him, rubbing his head.
1:01:51
Speaker 1: As Zip trotted home across lots, he made up his
1:01:54
Speaker 1: mind that he would go to Miss Belinda's every day
1:01:57
Speaker 1: until he had a chance to get even not only
1:02:00
Speaker 1: with Polly, but with the monkey, too. For I am
1:02:03
Speaker 1: sorry to say that Zip was a very revengeful dog,
1:02:07
Speaker 1: and he never forgot an injury, at least not until
1:02:10
Speaker 1: he had paid back in like coin anything he had suffered.
1:02:15
Speaker 1: You may rest assured, he said to himself, that I
1:02:19
Speaker 1: shall take one at a time, however, and look around
1:02:22
Speaker 1: well before tackling either one, to see that the other
1:02:25
Speaker 1: is nowhere about. Miss Belinda was out when all this happened,
1:02:31
Speaker 1: so was very much alarmed when she returned to see
1:02:33
Speaker 1: Peterkins hopping around on two legs, holding his head with
1:02:38
Speaker 1: his hands, and still more so when she took him
1:02:41
Speaker 1: in her arms and saw that there was a big
1:02:43
Speaker 1: bump on his forehead the size of a hen's egg,
1:02:46
Speaker 1: which was still swelling and by this time threatening to
1:02:49
Speaker 1: close one eye. You poor darling little pet! Did you
1:02:54
Speaker 1: fall out of the tree and bump your head? I
1:02:57
Speaker 1: is so sorry! And talking such baby talk to him,
1:03:02
Speaker 1: she carried him off into the house to put witch
1:03:05
Speaker 1: hazel and a bandage on his head. All this time
1:03:09
Speaker 1: Polly kept screaming, Help! Help! Help! Someone must have thrown
1:03:16
Speaker 1: a stone and hurt Peterkins, decided Miss Belinda, or Polly
1:03:21
Speaker 1: would not be calling for help. The next time I
1:03:24
Speaker 1: go out, I will shut them in the house so
1:03:26
Speaker 1: nothing can happen to them. End of Chapter 6 Chapter
1:03:38
Speaker 1: 7 of Zip! The Adventures of a Frisky Fox Terrier
1:03:43
Speaker 1: Zip lay quietly on the seat until the doctor had
1:03:46
Speaker 1: disappeared in the house. and then he quickly jumped out
1:04:14
Speaker 1: of the buggy, tiptoed across the street, and quietly slipped
1:04:19
Speaker 1: under the fence. Once under, he stood stock still and listened,
1:04:25
Speaker 1: eyes up and ears alert to catch any sound or
1:04:28
Speaker 1: see any movement of his old enemies, the monkey and
1:04:31
Speaker 1: the parrot. All was quiet in the front yard, and
1:04:35
Speaker 1: not even Polly's cage was to be seen swinging on
1:04:38
Speaker 1: its accustomed hook beside the front door. Still, Zip listened
1:04:42
Speaker 1: and looked in every tree and bush to make sure
1:04:45
Speaker 1: the monkey was not hiding under the leaves, ready to
1:04:48
Speaker 1: pounce on him. He had just come to the conclusion
1:04:52
Speaker 1: that they had been shut in the house when he
1:04:55
Speaker 1: heard a terrible commotion and cackling going on in the
1:04:57
Speaker 1: chicken yard, and above it all, Polly's voice screaming, Help! Help!
1:05:04
Speaker 1: Naughty Peter Kinks! This was Polly's name for Peterkins. Spank! Spank! Help! Help!
1:05:13
Speaker 1: Polly had heard Miss Belinda say this so many times
1:05:16
Speaker 1: that she had learned to imitate her perfectly. That monkey
1:05:21
Speaker 1: is up to some mischief, thought Zip. I'll run and
1:05:25
Speaker 1: see what he's up to, and maybe I'll have a
1:05:27
Speaker 1: chance to get even with him for running his claws
1:05:29
Speaker 1: into my back when he was taking that ride. Soon
1:05:33
Speaker 1: Zip was at the fences that divided the chicken yard
1:05:36
Speaker 1: from the lawn, and looking through the pails, this is
1:05:39
Speaker 1: what he saw. Peterkins ran down the trunk of a
1:05:43
Speaker 1: big elm tree that shaded part of the chicken yard.
1:05:48
Speaker 1: Then he grabbed up a tiny little fluffy yellow chicken
1:05:51
Speaker 1: right from under the old hen's very bill and made
1:05:55
Speaker 1: off with it up the tree. This made the old
1:05:58
Speaker 1: hen so angry and frightened that she cackled and carried
1:06:02
Speaker 1: on just like people do when terrified. Then just when
1:06:06
Speaker 1: all the rest of the chickens had quieted down a little,
1:06:09
Speaker 1: and the old hen had gathered the rest of her
1:06:11
Speaker 1: brood under her wings. Peterkins threw the little peep at
1:06:15
Speaker 1: mother hen's head, which killed the little chicken instantly and
1:06:19
Speaker 1: upset all the rest of the fowls in the barnyard
1:06:22
Speaker 1: once more. I'll just keep hidden and wait till he
1:06:27
Speaker 1: comes down, planned Zip, and then I will pounce out
1:06:31
Speaker 1: and grab him by the back of his neck and
1:06:33
Speaker 1: shake him as if he were a rat. But instead
1:06:36
Speaker 1: of coming down the trunk as he had before— Peterkins
1:06:40
Speaker 1: ran out on one of the long, slender, drooping limbs
1:06:43
Speaker 1: that reached nearly to the ground, and when it bent
1:06:46
Speaker 1: within three feet of the earth, he dropped and lit
1:06:48
Speaker 1: on the back of a rooster. Then the fun began,
1:06:52
Speaker 1: for the poor old rooster was beside himself with fright,
1:06:56
Speaker 1: and ran around and around the yard, trying to get
1:06:59
Speaker 1: between the palings of the fence and to holes no
1:07:02
Speaker 1: larger than his head, and to chicken coops and out,
1:07:06
Speaker 1: and amongst the other fowls, squawking and gurgling as he went.
1:07:10
Speaker 1: Then all of a sudden he was relieved of his rider,
1:07:14
Speaker 1: for Peterkins leaped from his back onto a turkey-gobbler that
1:07:17
Speaker 1: was strutting around the yard all swelled out with pride,
1:07:21
Speaker 1: every feather spread out to its fullest extent. Now another
1:07:26
Speaker 1: race began, the turkey-gobbling and the monkey-chattering as they made
1:07:30
Speaker 1: the rounds. Now while Peterkins had been riding the rooster—
1:07:35
Speaker 1: this very gobbler called out,' You stupid fellow! Stop running
1:07:41
Speaker 1: round and round! Go under the fence and scratch that
1:07:44
Speaker 1: beast off your back!' But alas for him! He could
1:07:49
Speaker 1: give advice but not live up to it himself, for
1:07:52
Speaker 1: while he was gobbling, Peterkin's leap from the rooster's back
1:07:56
Speaker 1: to his own, and with shrunken feathers, he began running
1:08:00
Speaker 1: around and around the yard, just as the rooster had done.
1:08:04
Speaker 1: too frightened to know what he was doing or to
1:08:06
Speaker 1: pay attention to his own advice, while all the chickens
1:08:10
Speaker 1: were now cackling at him.' Run under the fence, run
1:08:13
Speaker 1: under the fence and scratch him off!'' Run under the
1:08:17
Speaker 1: fence and scratch him off!' quacked the ducks.' Run under
1:08:21
Speaker 1: the fence and scratch him off!' hissed the geese.' Run
1:08:25
Speaker 1: under the fence and scratch him off!' gobbled his wife,
1:08:29
Speaker 1: the old turkey hen. But no!' He was deaf to
1:08:34
Speaker 1: their cries, and with pride gone and feathers clinging to
1:08:37
Speaker 1: his sides, he was running and jumping around the yard
1:08:41
Speaker 1: madly and blindly, nearly knocking his head off as first
1:08:45
Speaker 1: he ran dizzily into this and then into that. When
1:08:48
Speaker 1: Zip had watched the excitement as long as he cared to,
1:08:51
Speaker 1: he thought, Now is my time to grab Peterkin's by
1:08:55
Speaker 1: the tail and pull him off that turkey's back before
1:08:58
Speaker 1: it kills itself. So with one bound he was through
1:09:02
Speaker 1: the fence and had Peterkin's tail in his mouth before
1:09:05
Speaker 1: he ever saw him coming. But the monkey did not
1:09:09
Speaker 1: drop from the turkey's back as Zip thought he would.
1:09:12
Speaker 1: He only clung the tighter, and with his arms around
1:09:15
Speaker 1: the turkey's neck and with his knees digging into the
1:09:18
Speaker 1: turkey's sides, Zip could not dislodge him. Zip, being too
1:09:24
Speaker 1: stubborn to let go the monkey's tail, the three queer-looking
1:09:28
Speaker 1: objects went running around and around the barnyard together, under wagons,
1:09:33
Speaker 1: between coops, across the watering trough, sometimes running, sometimes jumping
1:09:39
Speaker 1: or half-flying through the long-legged turkey with the bobbing monkey
1:09:43
Speaker 1: on its back, whose tail was in the little dog's mouth.
1:09:47
Speaker 1: This was what Miss Belinda saw when she returned from
1:09:50
Speaker 1: market and looked into her barnyard to see what was
1:09:53
Speaker 1: causing all her fowls to make such a fuss.' Well,
1:09:58
Speaker 1: I declare, if there isn't a little dog chasing my
1:10:02
Speaker 1: chickens and turkeys. But what is that on the big
1:10:05
Speaker 1: gobbler's back? Sure as I live it is Peterkin's. Here,
1:10:10
Speaker 1: you horrid little dog, let go my darling Peterkin's tail.'
1:10:15
Speaker 1: and Miss Belinda picked up a long-handled rake that was
1:10:18
Speaker 1: leaning against the fence and went after Zip. All this time,
1:10:23
Speaker 1: Polly had been screeching, Help! Help! Naughty Peter kinks! Spank! Spank!
1:10:30
Speaker 1: Zip held on the monkey's tail until the rake appeared
1:10:33
Speaker 1: over his head. Then he let go quickly, giving an
1:10:37
Speaker 1: extra bite to the tip, which came off in his mouth.
1:10:41
Speaker 1: He jumped back just in time to save himself from
1:10:43
Speaker 1: being hit on the head. for the rake came down
1:10:46
Speaker 1: with such force that it laid both the turkey and
1:10:49
Speaker 1: Peterkins out flat on their backs, where they lay kicking
1:10:53
Speaker 1: as if in the throes of death. Miss Belinda thought
1:10:57
Speaker 1: she had killed her pets and began to cry as
1:10:59
Speaker 1: she picked them up. As for Zip, he slunk away
1:11:03
Speaker 1: and ran back to the doctor's buggy just in time
1:11:06
Speaker 1: to jump in as the doctor started for home. So
1:11:09
Speaker 1: by the time Miss Belinda had gathered up Peterkins and
1:11:12
Speaker 1: saw that the turkey was more frightened than hurt, Zip
1:11:16
Speaker 1: was blocks away, laughing to himself at the whack the
1:11:19
Speaker 1: monkey and turkey had gotten instead of him, and at
1:11:23
Speaker 1: the funny spectacle the three of them must have made
1:11:25
Speaker 1: as they ran around and around the yard. And won't
1:11:30
Speaker 1: Tabby laugh when I tell her about it, he thought.
1:11:36
Speaker 1: End of Chapter 7 Chapter 8 of Zip THE ADVENTURES
1:11:47
Speaker 1: OF A FRISKY FOX TERRIER by Francis Trego Montgomery This
1:11:52
Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Leanne
1:11:58
Speaker 1: Howlett Zip at the Candy Pool That evening the doctor
1:12:05
Speaker 1: had no calls to make, so Zip was left to
1:12:07
Speaker 1: amuse himself as best he could. He had finished telling
1:12:11
Speaker 1: Tabby about the monkey and the turkey, and was wondering
1:12:14
Speaker 1: what to do with himself. when he heard children laughing
1:12:17
Speaker 1: in the backyard of the house opposite. Looking up, he
1:12:21
Speaker 1: saw that the house was lighted more than was usual,
1:12:25
Speaker 1: and he knew right away that they must be having
1:12:27
Speaker 1: a little dance or a children's party of some kind.
1:12:30
Speaker 1: Just then he thought he got a whiff of boiling molasses.
1:12:35
Speaker 1: He stuck his nose up in the air and gave
1:12:36
Speaker 1: a long sniff. Yes, it was molasses he smelled. They
1:12:43
Speaker 1: are having a candy pull! THAT'S WHAT IS GOING ON.
1:12:47
Speaker 1: I'LL JUST GO ON OVER AND STICK AROUND UNTIL THEY
1:12:50
Speaker 1: HAVE REFRESHMENTS, AND THEN PERHAPS I CAN SNEAK INTO THE
1:12:53
Speaker 1: KITCHEN AND STEAL A PIECE OF CAKE, THOUGHT ZIP. BUT ALAS,
1:12:59
Speaker 1: HE WAS SO BUSY GAZING UP AT THE LIGHTED WINDOWS
1:13:01
Speaker 1: TO SEE WHAT WAS GOING ON INSIDE THE HOUSE THAT
1:13:04
Speaker 1: HE NEGLECTED TO LOOK WHERE HE WAS STEPPING, AND THE
1:13:07
Speaker 1: FIRST THING HE KNEW HE WAS STANDING WITH ALL FOUR
1:13:11
Speaker 1: FEET IN A PAN OF HOT MOLASSES CANDY. and he
1:13:14
Speaker 1: found himself sticking fast in an entirely different way than
1:13:18
Speaker 1: he had meant when he left home. The candy was
1:13:22
Speaker 1: just in that state of cooling when the top is
1:13:24
Speaker 1: a little hard and the bottom is soft and sticky,
1:13:28
Speaker 1: so when he tried to lift his feet, the candy
1:13:31
Speaker 1: pulled up from the bottom of the pan and made long,
1:13:34
Speaker 1: stringy ends but did not leave his feet. Instead, it
1:13:38
Speaker 1: got between his toes and held him still faster. He
1:13:42
Speaker 1: tried to bite it off, but instead of coming off,
1:13:45
Speaker 1: it only stuck to his teeth and he found himself
1:13:48
Speaker 1: sticking to the pan with his mouth as well as
1:13:50
Speaker 1: his feet. Indeed, he was held securely by the sticky,
1:13:54
Speaker 1: stringy candy. Just then he thought he heard the children
1:13:58
Speaker 1: coming to see if their sweets were cool. Yes, they
1:14:01
Speaker 1: were surely coming. He could not stand it to have
1:14:05
Speaker 1: these children he saw every day find him in such
1:14:08
Speaker 1: a fix. He would never hear the last of it.
1:14:11
Speaker 1: so he made a frantic effort to loosen himself. In
1:14:15
Speaker 1: doing this he pulled backwards so far that his feet
1:14:18
Speaker 1: slipped somehow, and he sat down in the candy. And
1:14:22
Speaker 1: now he was caught, for his four feet, mouth, one ear,
1:14:27
Speaker 1: and tail were all sticking to the pan of candy.
1:14:31
Speaker 1: As the children began to come down the back steps,
1:14:34
Speaker 1: he gave one yelp, doubled himself up, and began to roll,
1:14:39
Speaker 1: so that what the children saw was was a big
1:14:41
Speaker 1: ball of molasses candy rolling down the sloping walk. All
1:14:46
Speaker 1: they could see in the semi-darkness was the candy, for
1:14:49
Speaker 1: Zip was too balled up to show a bit of
1:14:51
Speaker 1: dog sticking out of the soft mess. The children ran
1:14:56
Speaker 1: after it, screaming with laughter, but when they caught up
1:14:59
Speaker 1: to the rolling ball and discovered their well-known mischievous Zip
1:15:03
Speaker 1: rolled up so tight he was helpless, they clapped their
1:15:06
Speaker 1: hands with delight. He looked so crestfallen and funny that
1:15:10
Speaker 1: they forgave him on the spot for the loss of
1:15:13
Speaker 1: their candy. Hal, they did shout with laughter as they
1:15:16
Speaker 1: were trying to get the candy off him. I know
1:15:19
Speaker 1: the best way to get the sticky stuff off, said
1:15:22
Speaker 1: Helen Hardaway, the little girl who was giving the party.
1:15:26
Speaker 1: Let's put him in the bathtub and soak it off.
1:15:30
Speaker 1: Just the very thing, one of the boys replied. Wait
1:15:34
Speaker 1: till I get something to wrap him in so I
1:15:36
Speaker 1: won't get all stuck up with the candy. On hearing this,
1:15:41
Speaker 1: Zip began to struggle and squirm, for he had visions
1:15:44
Speaker 1: of hot water and soap suds in his eyes, with
1:15:47
Speaker 1: each one of the children feeling it was their duty
1:15:50
Speaker 1: to give him an extra scrub.' Here, you Zip, keep still,
1:15:56
Speaker 1: or you'll slip out of the apron you're wrapped in
1:15:58
Speaker 1: and get my best suit all sticky,' called the little
1:16:01
Speaker 1: boy who held him in his arms and was carrying
1:16:04
Speaker 1: him up to the bathroom. By squeezing him tightly, THE
1:16:08
Speaker 1: BOY MANAGED TO GET HIM TO THE ROOM AND WAS
1:16:10
Speaker 1: JUST ABOUT TO DROP HIM IN THE TUB FROM THE
1:16:12
Speaker 1: APRON WHEN HE DISCOVERED THAT THE APRON WAS STICKING TO
1:16:15
Speaker 1: THE CANDY. ONE OF THE BOYS GAVE IT A JERK
1:16:18
Speaker 1: TO LOOSEN IT, BUT SAD TO RELATE, HE GAVE TOO
1:16:22
Speaker 1: VIGOROUS A PULL AND ZIPPED DROP FROM THE BOY'S ARMS,
1:16:26
Speaker 1: NOT INTO THE TUB, BUT AT ONE SIDE AND BY
1:16:29
Speaker 1: A MIGHTY EFFORT HE GAVE HIMSELF TWO ROLLS WHICH BROUGHT
1:16:33
Speaker 1: HIM TO THE HEAD OF THE STAIRS. Another roll sent
1:16:36
Speaker 1: him tumbling bumpety-bump down the long flight that led to
1:16:39
Speaker 1: the kitchen. On the way he hit a hamper of
1:16:42
Speaker 1: clothes on the landing, and it joined him and went bumpety-bump,
1:16:46
Speaker 1: bangety-bang to the bottom and out into the kitchen, hitting
1:16:49
Speaker 1: the waitress who was carrying a tray of glasses filled
1:16:52
Speaker 1: with fruit lemonade to the little guests in the parlors
1:16:55
Speaker 1: who had not joined the dog hunt. The sudden appearance
1:16:59
Speaker 1: of a hamper apparently on legs coming toward her surprised her,
1:17:04
Speaker 1: but nothing like the queer thing that was rolling about
1:17:06
Speaker 1: her feet, and which she could not see for the
1:17:09
Speaker 1: big tray in her hands. She could not seem to
1:17:12
Speaker 1: escape it, and finally she stumbled and fell, sending the
1:17:16
Speaker 1: glasses of delicious lemonade flying in all directions. Hearing a
1:17:21
Speaker 1: noise on the back stairs, as if the house was falling, Mrs.
1:17:25
Speaker 1: Hardaway went to see what the trouble was, and opened
1:17:28
Speaker 1: the kitchen door just in time to receive a full
1:17:31
Speaker 1: glass of lemonade squarely on the chest. When the waitress stumbled,
1:17:37
Speaker 1: she fell on zip, pinning him under her. In his
1:17:41
Speaker 1: roll down the stairs he had lost some of the candy,
1:17:44
Speaker 1: so that now his mouth and nose were free, though
1:17:47
Speaker 1: he was minus a tooth, and several of his long,
1:17:50
Speaker 1: smeller whiskers. Now he began to howl as if being killed.
1:17:55
Speaker 1: This brought more of the guests to the spot, and
1:17:57
Speaker 1: you would have laughed could you have seen their faces
1:18:00
Speaker 1: when first they peered into the kitchen, which looked as
1:18:03
Speaker 1: if a cyclone had struck it. A few feet from
1:18:06
Speaker 1: the door was the maid, sitting with limbs outspread, two
1:18:10
Speaker 1: days to move, while from under the corner of her
1:18:13
Speaker 1: skirt rolled a big sticky ball of some kind that
1:18:16
Speaker 1: howled as it rolled. Beyond him was an overturned hamper
1:18:20
Speaker 1: of soiled clothes, with stockings, collars, sheets, and petticoats spilling
1:18:26
Speaker 1: out of it. At the other end of the room
1:18:28
Speaker 1: stood Mrs. Hardaway, wiping the lemonade off her dress. while
1:18:32
Speaker 1: all over the place were slices of lemon and pieces
1:18:35
Speaker 1: of fruit and maraschino cherries when all the children came
1:18:39
Speaker 1: from upstairs they told mrs hardaway how it had all
1:18:42
Speaker 1: come about from zip getting in their candy and their
1:18:45
Speaker 1: trying to wash it off his coat as zip was
1:18:48
Speaker 1: still in a ball and could not extricate himself, the
1:18:52
Speaker 1: same boy who had carried him to the bathroom before
1:18:55
Speaker 1: put the apron around him again and took him back upstairs.
1:18:59
Speaker 1: This time they got him in the tub safely and
1:19:01
Speaker 1: began to turn the water in. The tub was slippery,
1:19:05
Speaker 1: and so was the candy. And as the water crept
1:19:08
Speaker 1: up to where Zip was tied, not hand and foot,
1:19:12
Speaker 1: but worse still, head, nose, ears, and all four legs
1:19:16
Speaker 1: as well as tail, he howled and howled until one
1:19:19
Speaker 1: could have heard him a block away. He was so
1:19:22
Speaker 1: afraid of being drowned before the water would soak off
1:19:25
Speaker 1: the candy, and when the children tried to pull it
1:19:27
Speaker 1: off it nearly killed him with pain, for it took
1:19:30
Speaker 1: all the little fine hairs of his coat with it.
1:19:33
Speaker 1: The window of the bathroom was open. and the doctor,
1:19:36
Speaker 1: coming out on his front porch to look at the
1:19:39
Speaker 1: sky before retiring, heard Zip howling somewhere across the street.
1:19:44
Speaker 1: He was crying in such a pitiful, frightened manner that
1:19:47
Speaker 1: the doctor knew he must be fast somewhere or hurt
1:19:50
Speaker 1: so he could not get home. Consequently, he hurried across
1:19:54
Speaker 1: the street to see where his pet was, with the
1:19:56
Speaker 1: worried Tabby close at his heels. The doctor made the
1:20:01
Speaker 1: circuit of the house and stable yard, but could find
1:20:03
Speaker 1: no Zip. The howls seemed to come from up in
1:20:06
Speaker 1: the air somewhere, as from the top of the house.
1:20:10
Speaker 1: So finally the doctor rapped on the hardaway kitchen door
1:20:13
Speaker 1: to ask the maid if Zip had not slipped in
1:20:16
Speaker 1: the house and gotten up on the roof. He knocked repeatedly,
1:20:19
Speaker 1: but no one answered. As he still heard Zip howling,
1:20:23
Speaker 1: and several people were talking all at once, he made
1:20:27
Speaker 1: bold to open the door and step in. What he
1:20:30
Speaker 1: saw you already know. as by this time the children
1:20:34
Speaker 1: had started to bathe Zip, the doctor was told to
1:20:37
Speaker 1: go right upstairs. When he appeared in the door, all
1:20:41
Speaker 1: the children stopped laughing and stepped back to give him
1:20:44
Speaker 1: a chance to see Zip. And this is what he saw.
1:20:48
Speaker 1: Just one of Zip's eyes stuck out of a hole
1:20:51
Speaker 1: where the candy had dropped off, and his poor little
1:20:54
Speaker 1: tail stuck out like a handle on the other side
1:20:56
Speaker 1: of the ball. That was all that could be seen
1:20:59
Speaker 1: of Zip at that moment. for in his numerous rolls
1:21:03
Speaker 1: the candy had spread all over him until he was
1:21:06
Speaker 1: no longer a dog with legs, but just one round
1:21:09
Speaker 1: ball of molasses candy. Seeing the water was fast climbing
1:21:14
Speaker 1: up to where it would reach Zip's mouth, and knowing
1:21:17
Speaker 1: it would drown him, the doctor turned off the spigot.
1:21:21
Speaker 1: The children had never thought that the poor dog could
1:21:23
Speaker 1: not move his head to keep out of the water.
1:21:26
Speaker 1: Now the doctor hurriedly took off his coat, rolled up
1:21:29
Speaker 1: his sleeves, and then a jiffy had Zip and the
1:21:33
Speaker 1: molasses ball in his hands and was holding it so
1:21:36
Speaker 1: that the water could not get to Zip's head. Then
1:21:39
Speaker 1: with one hand he gently threw the water upon the
1:21:42
Speaker 1: candy until it began to loosen and fall off. First
1:21:46
Speaker 1: he released the little dog's head, which had been bent
1:21:50
Speaker 1: down between his forelegs. As the candy began to loosen
1:21:54
Speaker 1: and drop off, first one black ear stood up and
1:21:57
Speaker 1: then the other, and last the little legs began to
1:22:00
Speaker 1: shoot out. All this made the children laugh to see
1:22:04
Speaker 1: what appeared to be a big ball of candy develop
1:22:07
Speaker 1: into a little dog. At last, when Zip was entirely
1:22:11
Speaker 1: clean and had been wrapped in a big bath towel
1:22:14
Speaker 1: to dry, Dr. Ellsworth apologized to Helen for his little
1:22:18
Speaker 1: dog spoiling her candy pull, but she declared that he
1:22:21
Speaker 1: had given them more fun than if he had not
1:22:23
Speaker 1: come over, and the molasses had cooled, and they had
1:22:27
Speaker 1: had a regular candy pull. But when it came to
1:22:31
Speaker 1: apologizing to Mrs. Hardaway for the mess Zip had caused
1:22:34
Speaker 1: in the kitchen, the doctor did not know what to say.
1:22:37
Speaker 1: He felt so badly about it. But he could have
1:22:40
Speaker 1: saved himself all the worry, for Mrs. Hardaway was a
1:22:44
Speaker 1: sensible woman and knew that accidents will happen, and she
1:22:48
Speaker 1: met with the doctor smilingly. Besides, the doctor had been
1:22:52
Speaker 1: her family physician for years, and they were all very,
1:22:55
Speaker 1: very fond of him, as well as of Zip. It
1:22:59
Speaker 1: was hard to think of the doctor without Zip, as
1:23:02
Speaker 1: they were always together. So when the doctor began to apologize, Mrs.
1:23:07
Speaker 1: Hardaway stopped him short and told him to drink Zip's
1:23:10
Speaker 1: health and a glass of freshly made lemonade and say
1:23:14
Speaker 1: no more about it. The doctor, thanking her from the
1:23:17
Speaker 1: bottom of his heart, drank not to Zip's health, but
1:23:21
Speaker 1: to hers. and thus the exciting evening ended peacefully and
1:23:25
Speaker 1: everyone was happy, including Zip, as the doctor gave him
1:23:29
Speaker 1: all the Marasino cherries in his glass, something he dearly loved,
1:23:34
Speaker 1: though you may think it was a queer thing for
1:23:36
Speaker 1: a little dog to like. End of Chapter 8 Chapter
1:23:42
Speaker 1: 9 of Zip THE ADVENTURES OF A FRISKY FOX TERRIER
1:23:54
Speaker 1: by Francis Trego Montgomery This LibriVox recording is in the
1:23:58
Speaker 1: public domain. Recording by Leanne Howlett Zip and Peterkins have
1:24:06
Speaker 1: a fight For several days after the molasses candy episode,
1:24:11
Speaker 1: Zip stayed at home and did not go snooking into
1:24:14
Speaker 1: anybody's backyard. But on the fifth day he felt he
1:24:18
Speaker 1: needed a little excitement. so he decided to call at
1:24:21
Speaker 1: Miss Belinda's and see what Peterkins and Polly were doing,
1:24:25
Speaker 1: and incidentally get a snap at Peterkins. So about three
1:24:29
Speaker 1: o'clock in the afternoon, when the doctor was taking a
1:24:32
Speaker 1: little snooze in the hammock under the big maple, Zip
1:24:35
Speaker 1: sneaked off across the gardens and down the side streets
1:24:38
Speaker 1: to Miss Belinda's. When he arrived, everything was quiet, not
1:24:43
Speaker 1: even a leaf on the trees stirred or a chicken crowed.
1:24:47
Speaker 1: The blinds were all down in the house. which showed
1:24:50
Speaker 1: that Miss Belinda was either taking a nap or gone calling.
1:24:54
Speaker 1: Polly's cage was nowhere in sight, so she must be indoors,
1:24:58
Speaker 1: thought Zip. And if Polly was in the house, Peterkins
1:25:03
Speaker 1: was sure to be also, he reasoned. After making a
1:25:07
Speaker 1: tour of the garden and barnyard, he was about to
1:25:10
Speaker 1: return home, when, chancing to raise his eyes to the
1:25:13
Speaker 1: kitchen window, whom should he see but Peterkins perched on
1:25:18
Speaker 1: the back of a chair looking out at him? So, so,
1:25:23
Speaker 1: thought Zip. Miss Belinda has gone out and for fear
1:25:28
Speaker 1: something would happen to her pets, she has shut them
1:25:30
Speaker 1: in the house. Oh, what a chance for some fun
1:25:34
Speaker 1: if I only could get in. As he stood gazing
1:25:38
Speaker 1: at the monkey, Peterkins began making faces at him. You
1:25:42
Speaker 1: have heard boys call out to one another, Stop making
1:25:45
Speaker 1: monkey faces at me, haven't you? Well, I guess they
1:25:49
Speaker 1: get the habit from seeing some monkey-making faces. At any rate,
1:25:54
Speaker 1: the horrible faces Peterkins made at Zip were enough to
1:25:57
Speaker 1: drive a boy crazy, much less a little dog with
1:26:01
Speaker 1: Zip's snappy disposition, and he barked back, Just you wait
1:26:06
Speaker 1: until I get a hold of you again, and I'll
1:26:09
Speaker 1: not only snip a piece off your tail, but I'll
1:26:11
Speaker 1: bite the whole tail right off. At this, Peterkins ran
1:26:16
Speaker 1: his tongue out at Zip, Then Zip flew at the
1:26:19
Speaker 1: door and barked and scratched as if he would tear
1:26:22
Speaker 1: the house down. Peterkins pressed his face close to the
1:26:26
Speaker 1: window pane and grinned at him. Right then the grocery
1:26:30
Speaker 1: boy came and, seeing a little dog barking and scratching
1:26:33
Speaker 1: on the door, thought he belonged there and was trying
1:26:36
Speaker 1: to get in. So when he opened the door to
1:26:39
Speaker 1: put the groceries on the kitchen table, he let Zip in,
1:26:43
Speaker 1: deposited his parcels on the table and left, shutting the
1:26:47
Speaker 1: door after him regardless of the fact that Polly was screeching, Help! Murder! Thieves! Fire!
1:26:55
Speaker 1: at the top of her voice, and Peterkins was jumping
1:26:59
Speaker 1: around wildly at the end of the string with which
1:27:01
Speaker 1: he was tied to a chair. Zip sat quietly in
1:27:04
Speaker 1: the middle of the kitchen floor, enjoying their fright until
1:27:08
Speaker 1: the sound of the grocery wagon had died out down
1:27:11
Speaker 1: the street. Then he barked, Ha! Ha! I've gotten you
1:27:16
Speaker 1: now just where I want you, and I am going
1:27:18
Speaker 1: to bite your tail clear off. I see you have
1:27:21
Speaker 1: it done up in a white rag with witch hazel
1:27:23
Speaker 1: on it, for I smell the stuff. Sip really did
1:27:27
Speaker 1: not intend to bite his tail off, but only pretended
1:27:30
Speaker 1: to do so, giving it a good pinch between his teeth.
1:27:34
Speaker 1: With a shrill scream of fright, the monkey jumped onto
1:27:38
Speaker 1: the kitchen table that stood beside his chair, and he
1:27:41
Speaker 1: pulled so hard that the string broke. Its giving way
1:27:45
Speaker 1: so suddenly sent him flying off the table onto the floor,
1:27:48
Speaker 1: but he was up in a minute and leaped to
1:27:50
Speaker 1: the stove. The fire was out, but the stove was
1:27:53
Speaker 1: still warm, so he jumped upon the tea kettle. There
1:27:57
Speaker 1: he perched, hanging to the handle until Zip, seeing there
1:28:01
Speaker 1: was no fire in the stove, jumped on the hearth
1:28:04
Speaker 1: and from the hearth up on the stove. As Zip
1:28:07
Speaker 1: landed there, Peterkins ran up the stovepipe, but he kept
1:28:12
Speaker 1: slipping back, it was so smooth. From there he leaped
1:28:15
Speaker 1: to the top of the roller towel, but horrors, it
1:28:18
Speaker 1: began to roll up, and when he stuck his claws
1:28:21
Speaker 1: into the towel, it unwound and took him nearly to
1:28:24
Speaker 1: the floor. He was afraid to let go and drop
1:28:27
Speaker 1: to the floor. Still, if he held on, Zip could
1:28:31
Speaker 1: reach him too. He was wondering just where he could
1:28:34
Speaker 1: go to escape the dog when Zip jumped off the
1:28:37
Speaker 1: stove and grabbed the end of his long tail. Peterkins
1:28:41
Speaker 1: gave a jerk and tried to run up the towel
1:28:43
Speaker 1: leaving his bandage in Zip's mouth. While Zip was trying
1:28:47
Speaker 1: to get the cloth out of his mouth Peterkins dropped
1:28:50
Speaker 1: to the floor and climbed up on the kitchen table.
1:28:53
Speaker 1: Seeing a basket of eggs the grocery boy had left
1:28:57
Speaker 1: he began throwing them at Zip who was having a
1:28:59
Speaker 1: hard time getting rid of the bandage, for the more
1:29:02
Speaker 1: he pulled, the tighter it wedged itself between his sharp teeth.
1:29:07
Speaker 1: Now Zip was in a pretty fix, for he could
1:29:10
Speaker 1: not bite with the wad of cotton in his mouth,
1:29:12
Speaker 1: neither could he run and jump, for in trying to
1:29:15
Speaker 1: get the bandage from between his teeth, he had gotten
1:29:18
Speaker 1: it twisted around his legs and fast between two of
1:29:21
Speaker 1: his toes, which made it only possible for him to
1:29:24
Speaker 1: walk slowly. and all this time Peterkins kept pelting him
1:29:28
Speaker 1: with the eggs, which broke and ran all over his
1:29:31
Speaker 1: back and down into his eyes, while Polly shrieked and
1:29:35
Speaker 1: cried out all the names she had ever been taught
1:29:37
Speaker 1: without the least knowing what they meant. Every time an
1:29:40
Speaker 1: egg would hit Zip, she would laugh and call out,'
1:29:43
Speaker 1: Soak him, Jimmy!' Then Zip would glare at her and
1:29:47
Speaker 1: make as if going for her, which would cause her
1:29:50
Speaker 1: to cry out,' Help! Fire! Murder!' Thieves. Buttons. Polly want
1:29:55
Speaker 1: cup coffee. Naughty boy. Spank, spank. T-doll. D-T-doll-dumb. Catch em,
1:30:02
Speaker 1: catch em. Crackers, crackers. Pretty Polly. All on a jumble.
1:30:08
Speaker 1: At last Zip managed to get his leg loose, and
1:30:11
Speaker 1: he was working on the plug in his mouth and
1:30:12
Speaker 1: not watching Peterkins, when he had the surprise of his life,
1:30:16
Speaker 1: by getting a full dipper of water thrown all over him,
1:30:20
Speaker 1: for the monkey had dipped it from the pail of
1:30:22
Speaker 1: water on the table. The sudden twist Zip gave his
1:30:25
Speaker 1: head when the water hit him full force loosened the
1:30:28
Speaker 1: cotton in his mouth and out it flew. With a bound,
1:30:32
Speaker 1: Zip was now on the chair, then on the table,
1:30:35
Speaker 1: snapping and barking, while the monkey was trying to hit
1:30:38
Speaker 1: him with the empty dipper, when the kitchen door unexpectedly
1:30:42
Speaker 1: opened and in the doorway stood Miss Belinda. Without a
1:30:46
Speaker 1: second's thought, Zip jumped past her and ran for dear
1:30:49
Speaker 1: life toward home, never stopping to look back even once.
1:30:54
Speaker 1: until he was safe in his own barnyard, standing beside
1:30:57
Speaker 1: the watering trough, preparatory to jumping in and washing the
1:31:01
Speaker 1: eggs off his coat. Again his encounter with the monkey
1:31:05
Speaker 1: had been unsatisfactory, and as for what poor Miss Belinda
1:31:09
Speaker 1: thought when she saw the mess in her nice clean kitchen,
1:31:12
Speaker 1: it is beyond words to tell. End of Chapter 9
1:31:25
Speaker 1: CHAPTER X OF ZIP THE ADVENTURES OF A FRISKY FOX
1:31:29
Speaker 1: TERRIER by Francis Trego Montgomery This LibriVox recording is in
1:31:34
Speaker 1: the public domain. Recording by Leanne Howlett Zip's curiosity is
1:31:42
Speaker 1: his undoing. About a week after Zip's last visit to
1:31:46
Speaker 1: Miss Belinda's, he was out on one of his midnight prowls,
1:31:50
Speaker 1: about which the doctor had scolded him time and time again.
1:31:54
Speaker 1: In fact, he had forbidden him to leave the yard
1:31:57
Speaker 1: at night, warning him that someday he would be shot
1:32:00
Speaker 1: while poking around in other people's backyards, or that he
1:32:04
Speaker 1: would be poisoned by eating some meat that had been
1:32:06
Speaker 1: prepared purposely for stray cats or dogs. But Zip thought
1:32:10
Speaker 1: he was smart enough not to get caught, and he
1:32:13
Speaker 1: did not believe that anyone could put poison on meat
1:32:15
Speaker 1: and he not be able to smell it. So this
1:32:19
Speaker 1: night he went with a rat terrier, a friend of his,
1:32:23
Speaker 1: down into a poor quarter of the town, where they
1:32:26
Speaker 1: often went to kill rats, just for the fun of it,
1:32:29
Speaker 1: and to see who could kill the most. Tonight there
1:32:32
Speaker 1: seemed to be no rats in sight, and while nosing
1:32:36
Speaker 1: around to get on the track of some, Zip smelt meat,
1:32:39
Speaker 1: and soon came upon a small piece of fresh juicy beefsteak,
1:32:43
Speaker 1: which he gobbled down without a thought. As he swallowed
1:32:47
Speaker 1: the last bit, he thought he detected a queer taste
1:32:50
Speaker 1: to it, and the thought flashed through his mind. I
1:32:55
Speaker 1: have been poisoned. I might have known no one would
1:32:58
Speaker 1: throw away so good a piece of meat as that
1:33:00
Speaker 1: without a purpose. That meat was prepared for some cat, dog,
1:33:04
Speaker 1: or rat to eat and die. Oh, my! I am
1:33:07
Speaker 1: beginning to have fearful pains in my stomach now, and
1:33:10
Speaker 1: I feel myself beginning to swell already. Rats, he called,
1:33:16
Speaker 1: for that was his friend's nickname. I've eaten a piece
1:33:19
Speaker 1: of meat with rat poison on it, and I must
1:33:21
Speaker 1: get home before I swell up so I can't walk
1:33:24
Speaker 1: at all. If I'm able to get to the doctor,
1:33:26
Speaker 1: he will help me, I know. I thought you had
1:33:31
Speaker 1: more sense than to eat a piece of meat, cheese,
1:33:33
Speaker 1: or anything else you saw lying around in places where
1:33:36
Speaker 1: they have lots of rats. You might have known it
1:33:39
Speaker 1: had rat poison on it, replied his friend. I know,
1:33:44
Speaker 1: but I did not think. For mercy's sake, don't scold
1:33:47
Speaker 1: me when I am in such awful pain, but help
1:33:49
Speaker 1: me get home, wailed Zip. They made as good headway
1:33:55
Speaker 1: as they could, though Zip had to roll on the
1:33:57
Speaker 1: grass every once in a while to relieve his pain.
1:34:00
Speaker 1: But he did not dare stop often, for his stomach
1:34:03
Speaker 1: was swelling so rapidly that he felt it would burst
1:34:06
Speaker 1: before he reached his home. At last they reached the
1:34:09
Speaker 1: doctor's house, but too late to find the doctor still up.
1:34:14
Speaker 1: He had gone to bed. so Zip told his friend
1:34:17
Speaker 1: to howl as if he was being killed, and the
1:34:19
Speaker 1: doctor would hear him and think it was his own dog,
1:34:22
Speaker 1: and come down to see what was the matter. The
1:34:25
Speaker 1: rat terrier howled lustily, while Zip dropped down on the
1:34:29
Speaker 1: doormat and groaned as loudly as he could. Rats barked, howled,
1:34:34
Speaker 1: and threw himself against the front door, making a terrible
1:34:37
Speaker 1: noise generally. Presently the doctor stuck his head out of
1:34:41
Speaker 1: an upper window and called, Zip, for mercy's sake, shut up!
1:34:46
Speaker 1: What is the matter with you? But when in the
1:34:50
Speaker 1: bright moonlight he saw it was not Zip, but a
1:34:53
Speaker 1: strange dog instead, with Zip lying at his feet, and
1:34:57
Speaker 1: when he heard Zip groan, he hurriedly stepped into his
1:35:00
Speaker 1: bathrobe and slippers and came downstairs. Then he opened the
1:35:04
Speaker 1: front door and saw Zip on the mat, all swollen
1:35:08
Speaker 1: up the size of two pups. He knew at a glance,
1:35:11
Speaker 1: of course, that his pet had been poisoned. so he
1:35:14
Speaker 1: picked him up tenderly in his arms and carried him
1:35:17
Speaker 1: up straight to the bathroom and began pumping out the
1:35:20
Speaker 1: contents of his stomach. This done, he heated some milk
1:35:24
Speaker 1: and made Zip drink a lot of it, as milk
1:35:27
Speaker 1: is a very good thing to take when one has
1:35:29
Speaker 1: been poisoned. Besides, it was warm and soothing to his
1:35:33
Speaker 1: poor stomach. Then he rolled him up in a big
1:35:36
Speaker 1: blanket shawl and carried him to his own room, where
1:35:39
Speaker 1: he put him on the cushion of a big cozy rocking-chair.
1:35:42
Speaker 1: and pulled it up close beside his bed, where he
1:35:45
Speaker 1: could watch him the rest of the night and give
1:35:47
Speaker 1: him medicine every once in a while.' You poor little fellow,'
1:35:53
Speaker 1: said the doctor.' I am awfully sorry you are in
1:35:56
Speaker 1: such pains, but I hope it will teach you a
1:35:59
Speaker 1: lesson to stay at home nights and not disobey my
1:36:02
Speaker 1: orders and go gallivanting off into other people's yards. Why,
1:36:06
Speaker 1: you are shaking as if you had a chill.' Just
1:36:09
Speaker 1: a second now and I will get a hot water
1:36:11
Speaker 1: bag and put it on your stomach. Oh, my! Oh, my!
1:36:16
Speaker 1: I believe I am going to die, wailed Zip to himself.
1:36:22
Speaker 1: If ever I get well, I never will disobey the
1:36:25
Speaker 1: doctor again. He is so good to me and I
1:36:28
Speaker 1: am ashamed to think what a naughty dog I have been.
1:36:31
Speaker 1: But I do so love to go snooking around and
1:36:34
Speaker 1: not stay at home nights like Tabby does. i never
1:36:38
Speaker 1: saw such a good cat as tabby is she never
1:36:41
Speaker 1: goes prowling around though most cats do and it isn't
1:36:44
Speaker 1: because she is not coaxed to go either for nearly
1:36:47
Speaker 1: every night the neighbor's cats come and try to persuade
1:36:50
Speaker 1: her to go with them to somebody's house or barn
1:36:53
Speaker 1: just then the doctor came back with a nice warm
1:36:56
Speaker 1: hot-water bag which he put close against zip's stomach and
1:37:00
Speaker 1: then he wrapped him up snugly in the shawl once
1:37:03
Speaker 1: again there little fellow You will be all right in
1:37:07
Speaker 1: the morning. Go to sleep now and forget all your trouble.
1:37:11
Speaker 1: But if you hadn't gotten to me when you did,
1:37:13
Speaker 1: you would have been a little angel dog by this time.
1:37:17
Speaker 1: The poison was working so fast that I could not
1:37:19
Speaker 1: have saved you had you come twenty minutes later. By
1:37:23
Speaker 1: the way, that is a smart friend you have, and
1:37:25
Speaker 1: he has good lungs, I think, by the noise he
1:37:28
Speaker 1: was making. He must have awakened all our neighbors. If
1:37:32
Speaker 1: he is around in the morning, I will give him
1:37:34
Speaker 1: a good hot breakfast.' I never would have known you
1:37:37
Speaker 1: were home and sick if he had not kicked up
1:37:39
Speaker 1: such a racket, for you were far too ill to
1:37:41
Speaker 1: make noise enough to awaken me. And patting Zip on
1:37:46
Speaker 1: the head, the doctor crawled into his bed and was
1:37:48
Speaker 1: soon fast asleep. Zip was about to fall into a
1:37:53
Speaker 1: doze when he heard a noise down on the front porch.
1:37:57
Speaker 1: Listening intently, the voices of Tabby and his friend Rats
1:38:01
Speaker 1: came floating in the window. and he knew by the
1:38:04
Speaker 1: soft murmur they made that they were talking in a
1:38:06
Speaker 1: most friendly manner and not fighting with each other. I
1:38:10
Speaker 1: am glad that Tabby found rats, for now he can
1:38:13
Speaker 1: tell her all that has happened to me, thought Zip.
1:38:17
Speaker 1: The warm milk and the hot water bottle were beginning
1:38:20
Speaker 1: to soothe Zip and make him feel comfortable, and in
1:38:23
Speaker 1: fifty winks he was fast asleep and snoring. And so
1:38:28
Speaker 1: once more Zip's adventures ended happily for him.