around the yard madly
and blindly, nearly knocking his head off as first he ran dizzily into
this and then into that.
When Zip had watched the excitement as long as he cared to, he thought,
"Now is my time to grab Peter-Kins by the tail and pull him off that
turkey's back before it kills itself."
So with one bound he was through the fence and had Peter-Kins' tail in his
mouth before he ever saw him coming. But the monkey did not drop from the
turkey's back as Zip thought he would. He only clung the tighter, and with
his arms around the turkey's neck and with his knees digging into the
turkey's sides, Zip could not dislodge him.
Zip being too stubborn to let go the monkey's tail, the three queer
looking objects went running around and around the barnyard together,
under wagons, between coops, across the watering trough. Sometimes
running, sometimes jumping or half flying went the long-legged turkey with
the bobbing monkey on its back, whose tail was in the little dog's mouth.
This was what Miss Belinda saw when she returned from market and looked
into her barnyard to see what was causing all her fowls to make such a
fuss.
"Well, I declare, if there isn't a little dog chasing my chickens and
turkeys! But what is that on the big gobbler's back? Sure as I live, it is
Peter-Kins! Here, you horrid little dog, let go my darling Peter-Kins'
tail!" and Miss Belinda picked up a long-handled rake that was leaning
against the fence and went after Zip.
All this time Polly had been screeching, "Help! Help! Naughty Peter-Kinks!
Spank! Spank!"
Zip held on the monkey's tail until the rake appeared over his head, then
he let go quickly, giving an extra bite to the tip, which came off in his
mouth. He jumped back just in time to save himself from being hit on the
head, for the rake came down with such force that it laid both the turkey
and Peter-Kins out flat on their backs, where they lay kicking as if in
the throes of death.
Miss Belinda thought she had killed her pets, and began to cry as she
picked them up.
As for Zip, he slunk away and ran back to the doctor's buggy just in time
to jump in as the doctor started for home. So by the time Miss Belinda had
gathered up Peter-Kins and saw that the turkey was more frightened than
hurt, Zip was blocks away, laughing to himself at the whack the monkey
and turkey had gotten instead of him, and at the funny spectacle the
three of them must have made as they ran around and ar
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