Page:The old stone house.djvu/23

Rh had thrown him, by Tom himself; and Pete Trone, Esquire, was bought with Tom's first five- dollar bill, and soon proved himself a terrier of manifold accomplishments, — the brightest and most mischievous member of the trio. All the dogs had been carefully, trained by Tom. They could fetch and carry, lie down when they were bid, sit up on their hind legs, and do many other tricks. Aunt Faith used to say, that if Tom would only learn his lessons half as well as he made his dogs learn theirs, there would be no more imperfect marks in his weekly reports.

In the meantime, the dogs had turned the corner of the fence, and were slowly advancing towards the house ; while Grace, carrying Estella, came up the garden-walk. " Halt ! " said Tom, and the three dogs stopped instantly ; Turk, not daring to turn his head to see what was the matter, for fear of losing his balance, blinked out of the corner of his eye, as much as to say, " I wouldn't turn round if I could." "Pete Trone," said Tom gravely, "it is evident