Chapter V: The Stolen Dog

ONE day, Frankie was going an errand for his mother; and Tony, of course, was following closely at his heels, when he heard the sound of a hand-organ down a lane, and he ran to find it.

The organ-grinder had a box with dolls dressed in lace, dancing and bowing in the funniest manner. There was a crowd of boys around him, who were laughing merrily at the novel sight. Frankie laughed, too. Indeed, I don't think one of the boys enjoyed it more than he did.

By and by, he thought of his errand, and was frightened when he found he had lost the package of thread for which his mother had sent him to the store. He looked on the ground near the place where he had been standing; but it was nowhere to be seen, neither could it be found.

Then he looked behind him for Tony; but she, too, was missing. He called, loudly, "Tony! Tony!" But there was no answer back.

"I saw a dog running off that way," said a boy, pointing in the direction of Frankie's home. "I guess that was your dog."

Frankie looked in the boy's face, and, child though he was, he knew it was not an honest one; then he started off for home, resolved to tell his mother the whole story. The fright about Tony had made him very warm; and he put his hand in his pocket to find his handkerchief to wipe the perspiration from his forehead. But to his surprise, his handkerchief had followed Tony and the package.

He ran now as fast as he could go, looking in every direction for the lost dog, and calling, "Tony! Tony! Good doggy!"

When he reached home, his mother was standing at the door, and she wondered to see him so flushed, and that the dog was not with him.

"O ma!" he began. "Have you seen Tony, and my handkerchief? and your thread is lost, too!"

Half crying, he told his mother what had occurred, at the same time running from room to room in search, for the dog.

Mrs. Colvin was soon convinced that Tony had been stolen. She told Frankie to sit down and cool himself; and then she sent Edward to a neighbor, who was a constable, to ask him what they should do.

Unfortunately the man was not at home; and they were obliged to wait until night, when Captain Colvin returned from the city.

Poor Frank cried until his head ached, and could not eat a mouthful of dinner. He kept saying, "Oh, I wish I hadn't gone down the lane! I'm afraid they'll kill Tony, or starve him to death."

Captain Colvin accompanied the constable to the lane, where there were a number of shabby tenement houses; but nobody had seen the dog, or knew anything about her. At a late hour, he returned home, and found Frankie had cried himself to sleep.

The next morning, advertisements were put up at all the principal stores, at the post-office, and the depot; but that day and the next passed without any news of poor Tony.

"I know she's dead," said poor Frankie, who now looked really ill. "I know I shall never see her again."

A fresh burst of grief prevented him from saying more. He laid his arm on the table and cried as if his heart would break.

His mother tried to soothe him, when suddenly she heard a feeble whine at the gate.

Frankie heard it, too, and ran quickly across the room to open time door. There stood poor Tony, with the lost handkerchief between her teeth. She had grown so thin that she could hardly stand, but tried to crawl forward to her young master's feet.

With a scream of joy, Frankie lay down on the floor by her side and, patting her, covered her with kisses.

Mrs. Colvin rang the bell, and sent nurse for some food for the poor, starved creature.

"We must feed her very cautiously at first," she said, as her boy began to cut the meat from the bones. "Let her eat but a little now, and give her more at the end of an hour."

"I wish Tony could tell where she has been. I'd get the constable to put the people in prison, for treating her so. Look, ma! Here is the rope they tied her with. I do believe the good creature gnawed it off, and ran away!"

Tony seemed to understand what they were saying, for she tried to bark; but she had not strength, and, instead, made such a mournful sound, that Frankie's tears began to flow again. He brought a soft cushion for her to lie upon, and soon had the pleasure of seeing her enjoying a refreshing nap!

Toward the close of the day, cook came into the parlor and told her mistress that there were two boys at the end of the garden, and she had overheard them talking about the dog.

Mrs. Colvin at once sent the hired man to bring them to the house. But the boys saw him coming and ran away, laughing, and shouting loudly, "Catch me if you can."

The man said he knew the boys, and that they were none too good to steal a dog.

When Mr. Colvin came home, he thought it was best to let the constable know that he had found out the names of the thieves. When he reached the gentleman's house, he found out that the two boys had already been detected of crime, having only an hour before been arrested for stealing goods from a store, and were now on their way to the county jail.

When Frankie heard this, he lavished more caresses on his pet, and told her she was safe now.