ace.

"Rrrow!" she screeched. Her claws were sharp. She was telling him,
"This is my home! GO AWAY!"

Rags ran. "Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip," he cried. He ran and ran. The houses
were smaller now, and not so close together. He saw some boxes on a
vacant lot. He went over, crawled into one, and went to sleep.

The boxes belonged to a little boy named Gary. He was building a
playhouse with them. And as soon as he had carried in the wood and
swept the walks, he would call, "Grandma, everything's done! May I
play in my box house now?"

"Yes, dear," said Grandma.

So Gary hurried to the vacant lot. He was proud of his box house. For
days he had worked, dragging the boxes to this grassy spot and
nailing them together. Carefully, he crawled inside.

There in the corner lay Rags ... fast asleep!

"Why you poor little dog!" cried Gary

Rags woke up.

He said, "Woof. Woof!"

Gary understood him.

"You want to stay with me, don't you?" he asked.

"Woof! Woof! Woof!" Rags answered.

And Gary knew that he meant, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Gary gathered him in his arms.

"You're so ragged and dirty," he said, "I'm going to name you Rags."

And Rags said, "Woof." Which meant, "All right."

"Grandma!" Gary shouted, as he ran toward the kitchen. "Rags has come
to live with us."

When Grandma saw Rags she dropped the potato that she was peeling. It
rolled across the floor. "Good gracious, Gary! Where did you find
him!"

"In my play house."

"Well, I don't believe that I ever saw a dirtier, more ragged dog in
all my life!"

"But isn't he dear?" Gary pleaded. "Look, he is wagging his tail at
you."

Indeed, Rags did wag his tail. He wagged and wagged. Then he had a
bright idea. He scooted across the floor, picked up the potato, and
carried it to Grandma.

"See." Gary cried, "Rags will be a helper."

Rags stood still.

His brown eyes looked hopefully into Grandma's face.

She hated to turn him out.

Yet she could scarcely manage their own meals, and felt that she
could never feed a stray dog.

She looked down at Rags. "We'll keep him until tomorrow," she said,
"Then we will hunt a home for him."

Rags was happy.

Grandma gave him some milk.

He said, "Woof! Woof!" for "Thank you." And lapped it up, hungrily.

Then he played with Gary.

And took another nap.

Night came.

Grandma put an old pillow on the kitchen floor. It was warm by the
stove and Rags was happy. He curled up and went to sleep.

Grandma an