158 Pussy Meow 
called, and mistress and Guy rode away with them. 
Our basket and plate had been placed in Mrs. 
Watt’s kitchen, and Charlie fixed us a very nice 
meal at dinner-time, and we played with the grass- 
hoppers in his yard, so the first day went off all 
right. 
But the very next day we saw what threatened 
to destroy our peace of mind at Charlie Watt’s. His 
neighbor had a great fat pug dog, who acted very 
ungentlemanly from the first, and tried his best to 
frighten us, peeping between the fence pickets and 
barking as loud as he could. That very morning 
the grocer had left our gate open, and Pug who had 
been watching for such a chance, came in, snorting 
with rage. It was clearly a declaration of war ; but 
to my great surprise, Budge, who is usually very 
timid, was the first to take up arms against the 
enemy. With the most artistic curve in his back, 
and bristling his tail to suit the occasion, he started 
out, single-handed and alone. Of course, Toddy 
and I were not slow to follow such a courageous 
leader, and for a time the peaceful yard resembled 
a torrid race-track, with Pug in the lead and myself 
on the home-stretch. 
As round after round took a little wider range, 
