old dog spot was trotting down the road from the mill pond, carrying a bundle of somebody's clothes in his mouth. when he heard frantic shouts from the water, where johnnie green and his friends were swimming, he quickened his pace.
one of the swimmers was known as "red." and it was a favorite trick of his to tie hard knots in other boys' garments while the owners of them were in the pond. usually he wet the knots, because wetting them made them harder to untie.
on this day somebody had turned the tables on red. somebody had crept up behind the big old hickory tree on the bank and had knotted red's clothes tightly. that was why old spot found a bundle under the tree, all tied up and ready to carry off.
it was no wonder that the boys began to yell when they saw spot pick up those clothes and calmly trot away with them. it was no wonder that they swam to the bank and scrambled up to the big hickory to find out whose clothes were missing.
when they saw that red was the unlucky one, everybody else began to whoop and laugh.
but not red! he let out a frightened scream and started to follow old dog spot.
to the great delight of his companions, the rattle of a wagon and the thud of a horse's feet sounded from up the road. and since some one must soon drive over the bridge, which crossed right above the dam, red scurried back again and dived into the pond, into which johnnie green and the others had already plunged.
red rose to the surface spluttering. and finding that he could touch bottom with his feet, he stood with his carroty head out of water, watching for the wagon.
it soon came into view, out of the woods, and the horse that drew it thundered upon the bridge. the horse was old ebenezer; and farmer green was driving him.
"hi!" red shouted. "stop! wait a minute!"
johnnie green's father pulled ebenezer to a halt.
"what's going on here?" he inquired.
"spot took my clothes," red explained. "he's run down the road with them. get them for me—please!"
hoots and catcalls from the other boys followed red's speech, which was a wonderfully polite one—for him.
farmer green couldn't help laughing.
"i'm going to the village," he said. "if i find any clothes along the road i'll pick them up and put them in the wagon. and if you're here when i come back i'll give them to you."
"he'll be here!" johnnie green shouted. "red'll wait for you."
"if you hurry, maybe you can catch spot," red called to farmer green as he drove off. "i can't stay here all day."
"you'll have to," the boys jeered.
"maybe you'll have to wait here till dark," johnnie green suggested.
"i won't!" red replied, as he swam towards the bank. "your dog took my clothes," he cried as he ran up to the big hickory. "and i'm going to take yours."
it was johnnie's turn to yell then. he was on the further side of the mill pond. and long before he could cross it red had snatched up johnnie's clothes from the shade of the hickory and dodged into the bushes with them.
