deep enough, by the dam, to suit the best
swimmers; and it was shallow enough at the upper end for those that were
just learning.

All the boys thought it great fun when a wagon clattered over the
bridge, which crossed right above the dam. Then they ducked into the
water, with only their heads out, and shouted more or less politely at
whoever was passing.

At such times Spot barked, because that seemed to him the gentlemanly
thing to do. But he never could see any sense in jumping into the water
if he happened to be out on the bank when a wagon came along.

The boys threw sticks about the pond for Spot to fetch back to them.
They raced with him. They upset him when he was sunning himself on the
big rock near the dam, and they laughed to see the splash he made when
he struck the water.

No matter what tricks the boys played on him, Spot never lost his
temper. He took everything good-naturedly. And one day, when Johnnie
Green and his friends were swimming in the mill pond he even took a
bundle of clothes from beneath a big hickory on the bank. Yes! Spot
caught up somebody's clothes in his mouth and started along the road
with them.

He was surprised to hear a terrible outcry from the water.

VIII

WHAT RED DID

Old dog Spot was trotting down the road from the mill pond, carrying a
bundle of somebody's clothes in his mouth. When he heard frantic shouts
from the water, where Johnnie Green and his friends were swimming, he
quickened his pace.

One of the swimmers was known as "Red." And it was a favorite trick of
his to tie hard knots in other boys' garments while the owners of them
were in the pond. Usually he wet the knots, because wetting them made
them harder to untie.

On this day somebody had turned the tables on Red. Somebody had crept
up behind the big old hickory tree on the bank and had knotted Red's
clothes tightly. That was why old Spot found a bundle under the tree,
all tied up and ready to carry off.

It was no wonder that the boys began to yell when they saw Spot pick up
those clothes and calmly trot away with them. It was no wonder that they
swam to the bank and scrambled up to the big hickory to find out whose
clothes were missing.

When they saw that Red was the unlucky one, everybody else began to
whoop and laugh.

But not Red! He let out a frightened scream and started to follow old
dog Spot.

To the great delight of his companions, the rattle of a wagon and the
thud of a hor