Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/81

Rh Bess. “But never mind. Come in before you freeze, boys.”

The next moment, screams of hysterical laughter were heard from the parlor, and Mr. Carter opened the kitchen door, saying,—

“Just see here a minute.”

The boys ran into the next room, and Bess followed, to find Mrs. Carter lying back in her chair, while tears of mirth ran down her cheeks. Before her sat Fuzz, the image of dejection and shame, with the long, soft locks about his nose and mouth smeared and stiffened with the fast-drying molasses until they resembled so many dingy spines. As the boys came in, with a sheepish wag of his tail, he sat up straight and  deprecatingly waved two little forepaws, one of  which was caught and held fast in the missing dish of candy.

As soon as any one could speak, the mystery was explained. Fuzz had teased to go out of doors, and his master, not thinking of the candy, had let him have his own way. He found the candy, promenaded across the small platter once or twice, and then settled himself for a feast, unmindful of the fact that, while he