turned around and said firmly, "To heel!"
Billy looked at him innocently, not knowing what he meant. "To heel!"
exclaimed Ned again. Billy thought he wanted to play, and putting his
head on his paws, he began to bark. Ned laughed; still he kept saying
"To heel!" He would not say another word. He knew if he said "Come
here," or "Follow," or "Go behind," it would confuse Billy.
Finally, as Ned kept saying the words over and over, and pointing to me,
it seemed to dawn upon Billy that he wanted him to follow him. So he
came beside me, and together we followed Ned around the garden, again
and again.
Ned often looked behind with a pleased face, and I felt so proud to
think I was doing well; but suddenly I got dreadfully confused when he
turned around and said, "Hie out!"
The Morrises all used the same words in training their dogs, and I had
heard Miss Laura say this, but I had forgotten what it meant. "Good
Joe," said Ned, turning around and patting me, "you have forgotten. I
wonder where Jim is? He would help us."
He put his fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle, and soon Jim
came trotting up the lane from the street. He looked at us with his
large, intelligent eyes, and wagged his tail slowly, as if to say,
"Well, what do you want of me?"
"Come and give me a hand at this training business, old Sobersides,"
said Ned, with a laugh. "It's too slow to do it alone. Now, young
gentlemen, attention! To heel!" He began to march around the garden
again, and Jim and I followed closely at his heels, while little Billy,
seeing that he could not get us to play with him, came lagging behind.
Soon Ned turned around and said, "Hie out!" Old Jim sprang ahead, and
ran off in front as if he was after something. Now I remembered what
"hie out" meant. We were to have a lovely race wherever we liked. Little
Billy loved this. We ran and scampered hither and thither, and Ned
watched us, laughing at our antics.
After tea, he called us out in the garden again, and said he had
something else to teach us. He turned up a tub on the wooden platform at
the back door, and sat on it, and then called Jim to him.
He took a small leather strap from his pocket. It had a nice, strong
smell. We all licked it, and each dog wished to have it. "No, Joe and
Billy," said Ned, holding us both by our collars; "you wait a minute.
Here, Jim."
Jim watched him very earnestly, and Ned threw the strap half-way across
the garden, and said, "Fetc
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