Bowser the Hound | Page 6

Bowser was lost.
"So that's the trouble," muttered Blacky to himself. "That silly dog has
got himself lost. I never will be able to understand how anybody can
get lost. I never in my life was lost, and never expect to be. But it is
easy enough to see that Bowser is lost and badly lost. My goodness,
how lame he is! I wonder what's happened to him. Serves him right for
hunting other people, but I'm sorry for him just the same. What a
helpless creature a lost dog is, anyway. I suppose if he doesn't find a
house pretty soon he will starve to death. Old Man Coyote wouldn't.
Reddy Fox wouldn't. They would catch something to eat, no matter
where they were. I suppose they wouldn't thank me for doing it, but just
the same I think I'll take pity on Bowser and help him out of his
trouble."
CHAPTER VIII
HOW BLACKY THE CROW HELPED BOWSER
The blackest coat may cover the kindest heart.
_Bowser the Hound._
When Blacky the Crow said to himself that he guessed he would take
pity on Bowser and help him out of his trouble, he knew that he could

do it without very much trouble to himself. Perhaps if there had been
very much trouble in it, Blacky would not have been quite so ready and
willing. Then again, perhaps it isn't fair to Blacky to think that he might
not have been willing. Even the most selfish people are sometimes
kindly and unselfish.
Blacky knew just where the nearest house was. You can always trust
Blacky to know not only where every house is within sight of the
places he frequents, but all about the people who live in each house.
Blacky makes it his business to know these things. He could, if he
would, tell you which houses have terrible guns in them and which
have not. It is by knowing such things that Blacky manages to avoid
danger.
"If that dog knows enough to follow me, I'll take him where he can at
least get something to eat," muttered Blacky. "It won't be far out of my
way, anyway, because if he has any sense at all, I won't have to go all
the way over there."
So Blacky spread his black wings and disappeared over the tree-tops in
the direction of the nearest farmhouse.
Bowser watched him disappear and whined sadly, for somehow it made
him feel more lonesome than before. But for one thing he would have
gone back to his bed of hay in the corner of that sugar camp. That one
thing was hunger. It seemed to Bowser that his stomach was so empty
that the very sides of it had fallen in. He just must get something to eat.
So, after waiting a moment or two, Bowser turned and limped away
through the trees, and he limped in the direction which Blacky the
Crow had taken. You see, he could still hear Blacky's voice calling
"Caw, caw, caw", and somehow it made him feel better, less lonesome,
you know, to be within hearing of a voice he knew.
Bowser had to go on three legs, for one leg had been so hurt in the fall
over the bank that he could not put his foot to the ground. Then, too, he
was very, very stiff from the cold and the wetting he had received the
night before. So poor Bowser made slow work of it, and Blacky the

Crow almost lost patience waiting for him to appear.
As soon as Bowser came in sight, Blacky gave what was intended for a
cheery caw and then headed straight for the place he had started for that
morning, giving no more thought to Bowser the Hound. You see, he
knew that Bowser would shortly come to a road. "If he doesn't know
enough to follow that road, he deserves to starve," thought Blacky.
Bowser did know enough to follow that road. The instant he saw that
road, he knew that if he kept on following it, it would lead him
somewhere. So with new hope in his heart, Bowser limped along.
CHAPTER IX
OLD MAN COYOTE GIVES OUT DARK HINTS
A little hint dropped there or here, Is like a seed in spring of year; It
sprouts and grows, and none may say How big 'twill be some future
day.
_Bowser the Hound._
After leading Bowser the Hound far, far away and getting him lost in
strange country, Old Man Coyote trotted back to the Old Pasture, the
Green Forest, and the Green Meadows near Farmer Brown's. He didn't
have any trouble at all in finding his way back. You see, all the time he
was leading Bowser away, he himself was using his eyes and