d.

"Heah! heah!" shouted the colored man, "You let dem chillers alone,
dog! Go 'way, I tells yo'!"

"That's all right, Sam," said Freddie. "Don't scare him. He's our new
dog Snap, and he's going to do a trick," for the colored gardener had
supposed the dog was running at Flossie and Freddie to bite them.

Snap paid no attention to Sam, but raced on. When a short distance
from where Flossie and Freddie held the hoop, Snap jumped up into the
air, and shot straight through the wooden circle, landing quite a way
off.

"Mah gracious sakes alive!" gasped Sam. "Dat's a reg'lar circus
trick--at's what it am!"

He scratched his head in surprise, and the stick he had picked up,
intending to drive away the dog with, stuck straight out. In a moment
Snap raced up, and jumped over the stick.

"Oh, look!" cried Flossie.

"Another trick!" exclaimed Freddie.

"Mah gracious goodness!" cried Sam. "Dat suah am wonderful!"

Snap ran about barking in delight. He seemed happy to be doing tricks.

"Let's go tell papa," said Freddie. "He'll want to know about this."

"Oh, I do hope he lets us keep him," said Flossie.

Mr. Bobbsey had not yet gone to his lumber office. He listened to what
the little twins had to tell them about Snap, who lay on the lawn,
seeming to listen to his own praises.

"A trick dog; eh?" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey. "I wonder who owns him?"

"Maybe he escaped from the circus," suggested Bert, who came out just
then to see how his pigeons were getting along.

"That's it!" cried Mr. Bobbsey. "I wonder I did not think of it before.
The dog must have escaped from the wrecked circus train, and he
followed us, not knowing what else to do. That accounts for his
tricks."

"But we can keep him; can't we?" begged Flossie.

"Hum! I'll have to see about that," said Mr. Bobbsey slowly. "I
suppose the circus people will want him back, for he must be valuable.
Perhaps some clown trained him."

"But if we can't have Snoop, our cat, we ought to have a dog," asserted
Freddie.

"I'll try to get Snoop back," said Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll have one of my
men go down to the place where the wreck was, today, and inquire of the
railroad men. He may be wandering about there."

"Poor Snoop!" said Nan, coming out to feed some of her pet chickens,
that Sam had looked after all summer.

"And while you are about it," suggested Mrs. Bobbsey, who was on the
front porch, "I wish, Richard, that you would see if you can locate