and never during the three
years he had stood on the parlor mantel-piece had the China poodle done
the surprising feats with which this mysterious dog now proceeded to
astonish the little girls almost out of their wits.

First he sat up, put his fore-paws together, and begged prettily; then
he suddenly flung his hind legs into the air, and walked about with
great ease. Hardly had they recovered from this shock when the hind
legs came down, the fore legs went up, and he paraded in a soldierly
manner to and fro, like a sentinel on guard. But the crowning
performance was when he took his tail in his mouth and waltzed down the
walk, over the prostrate dolls, to the gate and back again, barely
escaping a general upset of the ravaged table.

Bab and Betty could only hold each other tight and squeal with delight,
for never had they seen anything so funny; but when the gymnastics
ended, and the dizzy dog came and stood on the step before them barking
loudly, with that pink nose of his sniffing at their feet and his queer
eyes fixed sharply upon them, their amusement turned to fear again, and
they dared not stir.

"Whish, go away!" commanded Bab.

"Scat!" meekly quavered Betty.

To their great relief the poodle gave several more inquiring barks, and
then vanished as suddenly as he appeared. With one impulse the children
ran to see what became of him, and after a brisk scamper through the
orchard saw the tasseled tail disappear under the fence at the far end.

"Where _do_ you s'pose he came from?" asked Betty, stopping to rest on
a big stone.

"I'd like to know where he's gone, too, and give him a good beating,
old thief," scolded Bab, remembering their wrongs.

"Oh dear, yes! I hope the cake burnt him dreadfully if he did eat it,"
groaned Betty, sadly remembering the dozen good raisins she chopped
up, and the "lots of 'lasses" Ma put into the dear lost loaf.

"The party's all spoilt, so we may as well go home," and Bab mournfully
led the way back.

Betty puckered up her face to cry, but burst out laughing in spite of
her woe, "It was _so_ funny to see him spin round and walk on his head!
I wish he'd do it all over again; don't you?"

"Yes; but I hate him just the same. I wonder what ma will say
when--why! why!"--and Bab stopped short in the arch, with her eyes as
round and almost as large as the blue saucers on the tea-tray.

"What is it? oh, what is it?" cried Betty, all ready to run away if any
new terror appear