nearly drowned to catch hold of him. So he took my clothes in his mouth and began to swim with me to the shore.

THE RESCUE

"I was heavy, and Hero was almost worn out before he got there. But he never once let go. He kept right on until he dropped me on dry land. Then he lay panting on the sand.

"Just then Mother came to see where I was. When she saw what had happened she hugged me hard. Then she hugged Hero hard too. The next day she bought Hero a new collar with his name on it in big letters—HERO. That night Hero had a big bone with lots of meat on it for his supper."

The children enjoyed Paul's story as much as they had Dot's. They thought Hero was a fine name for such a brave dog. They said Paul was a lucky boy to have a pet like that.

On another day little Dot was blindfolded. The slip of paper she drew had this name on it—Betty. So it was Betty's turn to tell about her pet. This is what she told:

"My pet is a pigeon. He is not just a common pigeon like the ones on the church roof. He is a carrier pigeon. My Uncle Fred brought him from France. He calls him the living airplane. Can you tell why?

"He is named Arrow. In France Arrow used to carry messages to the soldiers. These messages were written on tiny slips of paper and tied around Arrow's neck.

"When Uncle Fred came home he taught Arrow to go from my grandmother's house to our house and straight back again. It was a ten mile trip.

"This is the way Uncle Fred did it. Almost every day he would feed Arrow at both places. It was easy for him to do this as he used to ride over to our house a great deal. When he took Arrow away from one place he would leave some grain there. Arrow knew this. So when he was let loose he would fly straight to the grain. He never seemed to lose his way or stop in the wrong place.

"On Valentine's Day, Uncle Fred wanted to surprise me. He turned Arrow loose at Grandmother's house with something tied around his neck by a ribbon. Uncle Fred did not tell anyone what it was.

"Arrow flew straight to our house. When I saw him I ran out to his feeding place. I spied the ribbon and untied it. I found a tiny gold heart with my name on it. I liked this Valentine best of all."

The boys and girls in the class enjoyed the story of Arrow. They liked it so much that Betty said she would ask Uncle Fred to come to school and tell about what Arrow did in France.

Another day when one of the pupils was blindfolded and drew a slip of paper, the name on the slip was Bob. So at last it was Bob's turn. This is the story Bob told:

"My pet is a pony named Dandy. Grandfather bought him for me. He got him from a man who had a pony show. This man had taught Dandy many tricks.

"When I say, 'Dandy, how old are you?' Dandy lifts his right front foot and brings it down three times. This is how he says that he is three years old. When I say, 'Make a bow, Dandy,' he puts his front feet out and bows his head almost to the ground. His mane hangs over his eyes and he looks very funny.

"Dandy can play 'Hide-and-Go-Seek' too. This is the way he does it. I take an ear of corn and show it to him. Then I run and hide it. I call, 'Come, Dandy, come.' He comes and looks all around for the corn. When he finds it, he takes it in his mouth and trots around and around with it. When I say, 'Bring it to me, Dandy,' he comes to me with the ear of corn in his mouth. But when I try to take the corn, he shakes his head and trots away again.

"One day I tried to play 'Hide-and-Go-Seek' with a handkerchief instead of an ear of corn. Dandy did not like it this way. He looked at the handkerchief. Then he sniffed at it. At last he shook his head and turned away. He seemed to say, 'A game like that may be fun for a boy, but it isn't fun for a pony. I am not going to play.'"

Everyone liked the story of Dandy. Some of the children asked to hear some more about him. But Miss West said it was time for recess. So the children went out into the school yard and played "Pony" and "Hide-and-Go-Seek."

Another day someone drew Peggy's name on the slip of paper. And this is what Peggy told:

"My pet is a big green and red parrot. She has a cage in the living room. Mother calls her 'the General' because she likes to give orders. When we sit down Polly calls out, 'Get busy! Get busy! Get busy!' If we are too busy and do not notice Polly she rolls over on her back in the bottom of the cage and cries, 'Come quick! Come quick! Polly's sick! Polly's sick!' In the evening we put a cloth over Polly's cage to keep her quiet. When the cloth is taken off in the morning she begins to shout, 'Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!'

"One evening we forgot to put the cloth over Polly's cage. That night, quite late, my big brother went down into the living room to find a book he had been reading. When he turned on the light, Polly thought it was day. She began to scream, 'Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!'

"Everyone did wake up. At first we were frightened. But when we found out what had happened we laughed and laughed. We laughed more when we heard a voice croak, 'Come quick! Come quick! Polly's sick! Polly's sick!'"

The girls and boys all laughed at the story of Polly. Paul wrote a poem about her. This is what he wrote:

The children went around at recess saying this. They said some of Polly's speeches too.

One day Miss West told the children a true story that was very, very sad. It was about a blind man who sold papers. He had owned a little dog that used to lead him to his work and watch him all day; but the little dog had died. Now the poor man had no one to lead him. So he could not sell his papers.

The children were very sorry for him. They wanted to do something to help.

"Wouldn't it be fine," said Betty, "if we could buy him another dog?"

"But how can we get the money?" said Paul.

"We could give all our pennies, but that wouldn't be enough," said little Dot.

"I know, I know!" cried Bob. "Let's give a show and have our pets for the show animals."

The children thought this was a fine plan. Miss West thought so too. She let them plan for the show.

Then she let them make tickets. Each child made two tickets. They were like the funny picture in the middle of this page.

Everyone who came had to pay for a ticket. Even the children who had pets in the show had to pay.

When the big children heard about the Pet Show they bought tickets too. Then they helped the five little friends get ready for the show.

The school yard was the show ground. The big boys made a