Part 4 (2/2)
XIII POLLY AND JOHNNY CHUCK GO HOUSE HUNTING
Johnny Chuck was happy Yes, Sir, Johnny Chuck was happy--so happy that he felt like doing foolish things You see Johnny Chuck loved Polly Chuck and he kne that Polly Chuck loved hiht with the foolish little dog who had dared to frighten Polly Chuck
After the fight was over, and the little dog had been sent ho, Polly Chuck had crept out of the old stone here she had been hiding and snuggled up beside Johnny Chuck and looked at hiht him the most wonderful Chuck in all the world, as, indeed, she did And Johnny had felt his heart swell and sith happiness until it alan to think of a new ho the world All he wanted noas a new house, built just so, with a front door and a hidden back door, and big enough for two, for no more would Johnny Chuck live alone So, with shy little Polly Chuck by his side, he began to search for a place to ht about it, the more Johnny wanted to build his house over by the lone elm-tree where he had first seen Polly Chuck It was a splendid place Froreat way in every direction
It would be shady on hot su patch of sweet clover It seemed to Johnny Chuck that it was the best place on all the Green Meadows He whispered as much to Polly Chuck She turned up her nose
”It's too low!” said she
”Oh!” replied Johnny, and looked puzzled, for really it was one of the highest places on the Green Meadows
”Yes,” said Polly, in a brisk, decided way, ”it's altogether too low
Probably it is wet”
”Oh!” said Johnny once more Of course he knew that it wasn't wet, but if Polly didn't want to live there, he wouldn't say a word Of course not
”Now there's a place right over there,” continued Polly ”I think we'll build our house right there”
Johnny opened his ain without speaking and meekly trotted after Polly Chuck to the place she had picked out It was in a little hollow Johnny knew before he began to dig that the ground was damp, almost wet But if Polly wanted to live there she should, and Johnny began to dig By and by he stopped to rest
Where was Polly? He looked this way and that way anxiously Just as he was getting ready to go hunt for her, she ca back
{Illustration: If Polly wanted to live there she should}
”I've found a perfectly lovely place for our new home!” she cried
Johnny looked ruefully at the hole he had worked so hard to dig; then he brushed the dirt from his clothes and followed her This tih and dry But Polly had chosen a spot close to a road that wound down across the Green Meadows
Johnny shook his head doubtfully, but he began to dig This time, however, he kept one eye on Polly Chuck, and theand chuckled as he watched her It wasn't long before back she careat excitement She had found a better place!
So they wandered over the Green Meadows, Polly leading the way Johnny had learned by this ti And he hadWhat do you think it was? It was this: He would follow Polly until she found a place to suit him, but when she did find such a place she shouldn't have a chance to change her ain
XIV A NEW HOME AT LAST
Ho or small, Is just the one place in the world That dearest is of all
Johnny Chuck was thinking of this as he worked with , but already he felt that it was hoging at his heart You see, while it was his home, it was Polly Chuck's home, too, and that made it doubly dear to Johnny Chuck, even before it was finished
And where do you think Johnny was building his new hoe of Farmer Brown's old orchard! Yes, Sir, after all the fuss Johnny Chuck hadon the Green Meadows, and after driving the old gray Chuck back to the Old Pasture, Johnny Chuck had left the Green Meadows himself!
It wasn't of his own accord that Johnny Chuck had left the Green Meadows No, indeed! He loved them too well for that But he loved Polly Chuck rumbled a little, he had followed her up to the old orchard, and now they were going to stay there Soht how near were Farmer Brown and Farmer Brown's boy and Bowser the Hound