knew
we were going without him, for he cried so. Father said he must be tied
up in the stable to prevent him from following the trap, and we all went
to say goodbye to him; even Nellie, our nurse, kissed him on the nose.
We missed him so much that evening when we got to Llandudno, but next
morning, when we were sitting at breakfast, we heard a whining and
scratching at the door, and in rushed Jock, with about half a yard of
rope dangling at his neck. He must have gnawed it through, and set off
after us. But wasn't it clever of him to know where we'd gone, and to
find out the very house where we were staying? Father said he must have
heard us talking about Llandudno, and have asked all the other dogs he
met on the road which was the right way! Mother was afraid we should
have to send him home again, but when the landlady heard what he'd done,
she allowed him to stay, and he went everywhere with us, and was no
trouble to anybody.
"One day Nellie took us a long walk on the Great Orme's Head. We had
baskets with us, and we wandered about picking blackberries the whole
afternoon. Artie was quite a little fellow then, not more than three
years old; he hadn't even been put into knickerbockers. I suppose we
were so busy filling our baskets that nobody noticed him; at any rate
he managed to run away from Nellie, and go close to the edge of the
cliff where there were some blackberries growing. We think he must
have been trying to lean down to gather them, and have overbalanced
himself, because we suddenly heard him shrieking at the pitch of his
voice, and when we rushed to see what was the matter, there was our
baby hanging over the cliffside, just caught by the brambles, and Jock
holding on to his kilt like grim death. Artie was howling, and Jock
was making the queerest noise; he couldn't bark properly, because he
daren't open his mouth for fear of letting go Artie's clothes. Nellie
pulled them both back together, and sat down on the grass and cried,
and we all hugged Jock and kissed him. Mother said afterwards she
thought he must have been allowed to find his way to Llandudno on
purpose to save Artie's life.
"After that, of course, he was a greater pet even than he'd been
before, and we never went away from home without taking him. Granny
used to put in a special invitation to Jock when she asked us, and she
made him a little cake once on his birthday, and sent it to him by
post. He ate it in three gulps.
"We were so dr
|