wilted. Jack
whistled sharply. The dog tossed up his head, straightened up his
lopped ear, let fall his other ear, and looked at us. Jack
whistled again, and the dog came. He ran around the wagon, barked
once or twice, sniffed at the pony's heels and got kicked at for
his familiarity, yelped sharply, and came and looked up at us,
and wagged his bushy tail with a great flourish.

"He wants to get in. Give him a boost, Ollie," said Jack.

Ollie clambered over the dash-board and jumped to the ground.
He pushed the dog forward, and he leaped up and scrambled into
the wagon, jumped over on the bed, where he folded his head and
tail on his left side, turned around rapidly three times, and lay
down and went to sleep, one ear up and one ear down.

[Illustration: Snoozer]

"He's just the dog for the Rattletrap," said Jack. "We'll
call him Snoozer."

"That looks a good deal like stealing to me, Uncle Jack,"
said Ollie. "Doesn't he belong to somebody?"

"No," said Jack, "he doesn't belong to anybody but us. He
came here a week ago with a tramp. The tramp deserted him, and
rode away on the trucks of a freight train; but Snoozer didn't
like that way of travelling, because there wasn't any place to
sleep, so he stayed behind. Since then he has tried to follow
every man in town, but none of them would have him. He's a
regular tramp dog, not good for anything, and therefore just the
dog for us."

Snoozer was the last thing we shipped, and after taking him
aboard we were soon out of the harbor of Prairie Flower, and
bearing away across the plain to the southwest. In twenty minutes
we ware among the billowing sunflowers, standing five or six feet
high on other side of the road, which seemed like a narrow crack
winding through them. Ollie reached out and gathered a handful of
the drooping yellow blossoms. The pony was tied behind carrying
her big saddle, and tossing her head about, and showing that she
was very suspicious of the whole proceedings, and especially
of a small flag which Ollie had fastened to the top of the
wagon-cover, which fluttered in the fresh morning breeze. Snoozer
slept on and never stirred. At last the road came to the river,
and then followed close along beside its bank, which was only a
foot or so high. Ollie was interested in watching the long grass
which grew in the bottom of the stream and was brushed all in one
direction by the sluggish current, like the silky fur of some
animal. A