Part 5 (2/2)
The only question that now seriously concerned them was to find a warm, dry place to keep the puppies in during the cold weather, while they were still so delicate and helpless. It was here that their mother came to their rescue. Having won her main point about keeping the dogs out of the house, she was mollified, and perhaps her conscience troubled her a little. She was really a very tender-hearted woman, and it occurred to her that her ultimatum might be the cause of real suffering on the part of the puppies. So it was she who sent for a carpenter and had him make a sort of room out of one of the old stalls in the stable, quite tight against draughts, and with a door in the front for convenience.
When Mr. Whipple learned of this he laughed and patted his wife on the shoulder. ”I always knew you were a cruel monster,” he said.
He inspected the new abode of Romulus and Remus and expressed his approval.
”It's the best thing in the world for them,” he said to the boys.
”They will be really better off here than in a heated house. They'll grow up st.u.r.dier and stronger. They only need to be protected against draughts and dampness, as b.u.mpus said. But you mustn't forget to keep both doors closed and to warm their milk and water a little, while their stomachs are still tender. They'll curl up close together and never mind the still, dry cold. They'll be all right here.”
CHAPTER IV
IN ROME
Furnis.h.i.+ng and decorating the new home of Romulus and Remus proved to be a most enjoyable task. They took a good-sized box over to the planing mill and got it filled with sawdust, and dragged it home on Ernest's sled. They swept out the old stall carefully and sprinkled the floor liberally with sawdust, holding the rest in reserve, so that there might always be a clean, fresh supply. Housekeeping was thus made easy by simply hoeing out the old sawdust.
For a bed they set a soap box on its side, put in a thick layer of straw, and tacked a piece of old carpet loosely over it so that it would be soft and yet the puppies could not scratch it out. They bought two enameled tin dishes, one for food and one for water, for they discovered that the puppies did not understand the system of each having his own. They nailed bits of wood to the floor to hold the dishes so that they would not be pushed about and overturned. The puppies enjoyed all this activity immensely, making laughable efforts to help, and only wailed and wept when their young masters left the room.
When it was done, the boys surveyed their handiwork with immense satisfaction, but Jack would not be satisfied until they had tacked to the wall several pictures of dogs clipped from papers and magazines, for Jack insisted that the place must be made homelike.
They had read somewhere about the original Romulus and Remus of history, and so they named the apartment Rome. They thought Sam b.u.mpus would approve of this since it began with the letter R. Then they nailed an old horseshoe to the door for luck, called it a day, and knocked off.
The next thing to consider was the education of the puppies, and here the boys felt somewhat at a loss. Romulus and Remus didn't seem to understand a word of English, and the boys couldn't speak Latin. All attempts to secure the prompt obedience that Sam had advised ended in utter failure. Romulus and Remus were very willful and headstrong puppies. Further advice from Sam seemed desirable.
Furthermore, about the end of the second week, both puppies appeared to be ailing. In spite of plenty of milk they had grown thin, and Romulus appeared to have trouble with the action of his hind legs.
Remus seemed to be chiefly afflicted with itching, and had worn a bare spot under each foreleg.
Ernest and Jack became alarmed, and their father could not seem to tell what the trouble was. Various things prevented the boys from making the trip to Sam's shack, and besides they wanted him to take a look at the dogs. They had noticed his free delivery mail box and so Ernest sent him this brief summons on a postal card:
DEAR SAM:--
Romulus and Remus are sick and we don't know what to do.
Could you come down some day after school and see them? Also we want to ask you some things about disaplining them.
Yours truly,
ERNEST AND JACK WHIPPLE.
Sam did not fail them. A couple of days later he appeared at the Whipple gate and gave the low whistle that he used with Nan. The boys, humoring his desire not to go into the house, led him at once to Rome.
”Well, now,” said Sam, inspecting the puppies' home with evidences of approval, ”this is quite a palace for the little princes. Some day I s'pose they'll have hot and cold water, electric lights, and a doorbell.”
Then he proceeded to examine the puppies while the boys looked on anxiously.
”Hm,” said he at length. ”Just as I expected. Nothing but worms.”
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