S TO TOWN 96

XXI THE CIRCUS PARADE 101

XXII THE CIRCUS GROUNDS 106

XXIII SPOT SEES THE SHOW 111

XXIV HOME AGAIN 115

ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE

OLD DOG SPOT TEASES MISS KITTY CAT _Frontispiece_

SPOT BOLTED THROUGH THE BARN DOOR 16

SPOT STARTED AFTER FRISKY SQUIRREL 44

SOMETIMES THE PUPPY WOULD BITE SPOT'S TAIL 72

THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT

I

ALMOST TWINS

Nobody ever spoke of old Spot's master as "old Johnnie Green." Yet the
two--boy and dog--were almost exactly the same age. Somehow Spot grew up
faster than Johnnie. He had stopped being a puppy by the time his young
master learned to walk. And when Johnnie was big enough to play around
the farm buildings his parents felt sure that he was safe so long as
"old Spot," as they called the dog, was with him.

Spot thought himself years older than the small boy; or at least he
always acted so. If a goose hissed at little, toddling Johnnie Green,
old Spot would drive the goose away, barking in a loud voice, "Don't you
frighten this child!" If Johnnie went into the stable and wandered
within reach of the horses' heels Spot would take hold of his clothes
and draw him gently back out of danger. And if Johnnie strayed to the
duck pond the old dog wouldn't leave him even to chase the cat, but
stayed right there by the pond, ready to pull his young charge out of
the water in case he happened to fall in.

Spot seemed to enjoy his task of taking care of Johnnie Green. It wasn't
all work. A great deal of pleasure went with his duties, for Johnnie
Green never wanted to do anything but play. And Spot wasn't so grown up
that he couldn't enjoy a lively romp. For that matter, he never did get
over his liking for boisterous fun.

Still, there were some kinds of sport that he didn't care for. He wasn't
fond of having such things as tin cans tied to his tail. He disliked to
be harnessed to a toy wagon. He hated to have his ears pulled. Yet there
was only one offense that ever made him growl. When Johnnie Green took a
bone away from him Spot couldn't help warning him, with a deep, rumbling
grumbling, that he was going too far, even between friends. But he never
snapped at Johnnie. That growling was only Spot's way of teaching
Johnnie Green manners.

Fond as he was of his young master, Spot did not care to spend