Three little Trippertrots

“Oh, do you s’pose we’ll ever catch that dog?” asked Mary Trippertrot of her two brothers, as they raced along after Fido, and Fido was chasing after the cat.

“Of course we will,” answered Tommy.

“And maybe we’ll get the pussy cat, too,” said Johnny, who couldn’t run so very fast, as his legs were rather short.

“But we don’t want the cat,” spoke Mary. “For you see, she and Fido aren’t very well acquainted yet, and they might not like each other. I think we’ll just catch Fido, and then we’ll all go home and get something for him to eat. I’m sure he must be hungry. I know I am.”

“But we don’t know where our home is,” panted Johnny, as he tripped along beside Tommy.

“Why, you silly boy, we can go back to the policeman in the wagon, and he’ll find our home for us,” went on Mary. “Come on, now. We are catching up to Fido.”

So on the Trippertrot children tripped and trotted as fast as they could. And, all of a sudden, Mary slipped, and she would have fallen down, only Johnny caught her. And then Tommy was running so fast that he ran right into a lady who was carrying a basket full of loaves of bread, and the bread all bounced out on the sidewalk.

“Oh, dear! Oh, me! Oh, my!” cried the lady. “Now see what you have done!”

“We are very sorry,” said Tommy politely. “But you see we are lost, and our dog Fido is lost, too, only we know where he is, and we’re chasing after him, and he’s chasing after a cat, and that’s how I happened to run into you. But we’ll help you pick up the bread, though Fido may get so far ahead of us that we can’t find him.”

“Oh, my! What a lot of things to happen to three little children!” said the lady kindly. “Never mind about the bread. I can pick it up myself. You run on after your Fido, bless your hearts!”

So she began to pick up the bread herself, and a man helped her, and the Trippertrots ran on. And about a minute after that Johnny stubbed his toe, but he didn’t even cry half a tear, for he was a brave little fellow.

And then they hurried on again, and they could just see Fido’s wagging tail now, and it was going around in a circle like a merry-go-round, because, you see, he was so excited.

“There he is!” cried Mary. “Hurry up, and we’ll have him in a minute!”

“Look! Look!” cried Tommy. “The cat has run up a tree, and now Fido can’t get her, so he’ll have to stop running, and we can catch up to him.”

And would you ever believe it? That cat did run up a tree, and she sat down on a branch, and Fido, he sat down on the ground at the foot of the tree, for dogs can’t climb, you know.

“Oh, you naughty Fido!” exclaimed Mary, as she came up to him. “Why did you run away?” And Mary had to sit down on the ground, too, so she could get her breath. And then up came Tommy and Johnny, and they also had to sit down, so there they all sat, the three Trippertrots and the dog, at the foot of the tree, and the pussy cat about ten feet up the tree, sitting on a branch.

“Why did you run away?” asked Tommy, taking hold of Fido’s left ear.

“Bow! wow! wow!” answered the doggie, which meant that he didn’t know. Then he wagged his tail sideways on the ground, and he made so much dust that Mary had to sneeze.

And Johnny sneezed, and Tommy sneezed, and then Fido sneezed, to keep them company. And the pussy cat up the tree, she didn’t want to be left out, so she sneezed, also, and in that way they all sneezed.

Then the three Trippertrots laughed, and the cat heard them, and the pussy knew that anybody who laughs real jolly like will never harm any animals, so the cat thought she would come down out of the tree.

And she did. And what do you suppose Fido did? Why, he just barked politely, as if he were saying, “Pleased to meet you!” And he wagged his tail, real friendly like, and he put his cold nose on the pussy cat’s cold nose, and that’s the way they shook hands.

“Now they’re friends,” said Tommy. “I don’t see why we can’t keep them both, Mary.”

“Perhaps we can,” said his sister, “as long as they don’t quarrel. Come, Fido, we must go back to the kind policeman now. Come, Pussy. I wonder what your name is?”

“Me-ow, me-ew!” cried the pussy.

“What did she say?” asked Tommy.

“I guess she said ‘How d’ do?’ But anyhow let’s call her Ivy Vine, because she can climb a tree so well. Come, Ivy Vine.”

So Fido got up, and so did the three Trippertrots, from where they had been sitting on the ground, and Ivy Vine, the pussy, got up also, and they all started down the street together.

“Do you know which way to go to get to the policeman’s wagon?” asked Tommy.

“No. Don’t you?” asked Johnny.

Tommy shook his head.

“Then we’re lost again,” said Mary, “for I don’t know either. Oh, how many things are happening to us to-day! I wonder if we will ever get home again?”

They looked all around, but they couldn’t see any street that looked like the one they lived on, and there was no house in sight like theirs, and they didn’t know what to do. And then, all of a sudden, they heard some nice music. And it was a hand-organ playing, and it played a tune called “Always be happy and never be sad, Always be joyful and jolly and glad.”

“Oh, I hope that hand-organ man has a monkey!” cried Mary.

And just then, surely enough, around the corner came the hand-organ man, and he was playing the jolly tune, and perched up on his organ was a cute little monkey, with a red cap and a blue coat.

“Oh, isn’t this lovely!” said Tommy.

“I don’t mind being lost now,” spoke Johnny.

Then the hand-organ man came up to where the children were standing, with Fido and the pussy cat. And at first the monkey acted as if he wanted to run away from the dog, but Fido wagged his tail so very friendly like that the monkey stayed. And then the children noticed that the hand-organ man looked sick, and he could hardly grind out the music.

“What is the matter, Mr. Hand-Organ Man?” asked Mary.

“Oh, I am very tired and lonesome,” said the man. “I have walked about all day, and played all the tunes in my hand-organ, but no one gave me any pennies. Not even when Fuzzo, my monkey, climbed up to the second-story windows and took off his cap. Oh, dear, I haven’t any money to buy my supper with!”

“Oh, that’s too bad!” exclaimed Tommy. “Maybe we can help you.”

“Let’s try,” said Mary.

“Yes,” said Johnny. “We can go around with you, and sing while you grind the organ, and we’ll take Ivy Vine and Fido with us, and perhaps when the people see all the animals together they may give you pennies.”

“Oh, it would be very kind if you would do that,” said the hand-organ man. So he began to play a jolly little tune, and the children sang, and the monkey danced up on top of the organ, and Fido stood on his hind legs, and Ivy Vine, the cat, turned somersaults.

Well, you ought to have seen the crowd of people stop and look on. Everybody laughed, and thought the children were very cute, and they liked the animals, too. Then Fuzzo, the monkey, took off his red cap and held it out, and the people put a lot of pennies in it.

“Fine! Fine!” cried the hand-organ man as he heard the pennies rattling in Fuzzo’s cap. “Now I can buy some supper.” And more pennies came rattling in, until the cap could not hold them all, and Fuzzo had to put some of them in his pocket.

Well, the Trippertrot children were having a good time, and in spite of being lost they were very happy, because they were helping some one, and the organ man was playing another tune, and Mary was just getting ready to sing a song all alone, when a great big automobile dashed up to the sidewalk, and the man who was in it cried:

“Why, bless my soul! If there aren’t the Trippertrots, nearly two miles from home! I must take them back at once. How did you get here, children?” he called.

“Oh, there’s Mr. Johnson in his auto!” exclaimed Mary. “We are lost, Mr. Johnson. Will you please take us home?” For you see the man in the automobile happened to live next door to the Trippertrots, and he knew them.

“Of course I’ll take you home,” he said kindly. “Get in.”

“Oh, but we must take Fido and Ivy Vine, and Fuzzo and the hand-organ man,” said Tommy. “Fido is our lost dog, and Ivy Vine is our lost cat, and Fuzzo is the monkey. We don’t know the man’s name, but he isn’t lost, neither is Fuzzo, but they are very hungry, and we are going to take them to our house for supper.”

“What! Take you and those animals and the hand-organ man in my auto?” cried Mr. Johnson, in astonishment.

“Yes, and the hand-organ, too,” said Mary. “Then the man can play tunes on the way, and you won’t have to blow your horn. Get in, Fido. Get in, Ivy Vine. Get in, Fuzzo. And you, too, Tommy and Johnny, and Mr. Hand-Organ Man.”

Mr. Johnson laughed, and then he thought the best thing to do would be to take the Trippertrots and everybody and everything that they wanted along with him in the auto.

So they all piled into the car, and away they went; and, surely enough, the hand-organ man played tunes all the way along, and the people in the street laughed when they saw the automobile with its queer load. But the Trippertrots didn’t care, and soon they were right in front of their own house.