you
know yet what they mean when they are joking us?"

"I only wanted to _know_," said Dot rather grieved.

"Never mind," said Sammy, being left alone with the two smaller girls.
"Let 'em laugh. We won't get mad at 'em till that wire's up and the car
is running all right."

Oh, Sammy Pinkney was a practical lad.

Dot, unable long to keep any exciting happening or interest to herself,
was disseminating the news of the proposed "airship line" throughout the
Corner House household. Uncle Rufus, the brown black-man, who was
working just then in the garden, was vastly astonished.

"Ma 'Lantic Ocean!" he gasped. "What will dese yere chillun be doin'
next, I want to know! Puttin' up a trolley line, is they, fo' airships?
Who ever heard de like?"

"Oh, air-re-ro-planes!" said Dot, having heard a new word and rather
liking the rolling syllables of it. "Air-re-ro-planes are getting very
common, so Aggie says. There is going to be one at the County Fair. Why,
people will be riding in them just like trolley cars, pretty soon!"

"Ma goodness! No!" ejaculated the old man. "I don't want to wake up on
dat day when dat dere comes to pass. Lookut, chile! If de airships was a
steamin' around over our haids, we'd nebber be sure of our lives. Why,
dey'd be throwin' over ashes, and de cooks would be emptyin' garbage
pails over de rails like dey does aboard steamships. Wouldn't be no
sharks dere to gobble down de leavin's--no, ma'am! On'y birds. And folks
aboard would be droppin' t'ings out'n de airship. An' w'en a man fell
overboard--ma mercy, chile! he'd come down plump on you' haid, mebbe!
No, ma'am, dey won't never 'low it," and the old negro shook his head
seriously.

These perfectly good objections to the practicability of airship flying
impressed the smallest Corner House girl deeply. She intended to return
to talk to Sammy and Tess about it; but on her way, as she came along
the path next to the Willow Street fence, she suddenly saw Sammy's
bandy-legged bulldog charging across the street, probably in search of
his young master. The dog had slipped his chain in some way and being a
ferocious-looking beast at best, it was no wonder that pedestrians gave
him a wide berth.

Suddenly Dot, inside the fence, heard a stifled cry of fear outside the
fence. Looking up from her Alice-doll she saw a woman clinging to the
fence pickets as though she contemplated climbing the barrier to escape
the dog; and the dog was standing before her