human
I don't know what to do about Rick!
gpt
Why, he hasn't been bad; has he?
human
Oh, no, Rick is a very good boy, his mother answered.
gpt
But he does tease so for a dog!
human
A dog! exclaimed Mr. Dalton.
gpt
Hum, yes, a dog! Well, I s'pose it's natural for a boy to want a dog. I had one when I was a lad.
human
Did he ever bite you?
gpt
No, I can't say he ever did.
human
That's what I'm so afraid of--that if ever Rick did have a dog it might bite him or Mazie. And, if it did----
gpt
Good dogs don't very often bite, unless they're teased, he said.
human
And I don't believe Rick would tease a dog.
gpt
No, but Mazie might. She isn't afraid of anything. The other day she came in with a little snake she had found out in the yard. It was alive, too.
human
Probably a milk, or garter, snake, said Mr. Dalton with a laugh.
gpt
I used to pick 'em up when I was a boy. They're harmless.
human
Oh, dear! exclaimed his wife.
gpt
Would you really want Rick to have a dog?
human
Hum! Well, I don't know, he slowly answered.
gpt
A boy and a dog seem to go together, somehow. But I don't s'pose it would do any harm to wait another year. If Rick teases you too much, let me talk to him, and----
human
Oh, I wouldn't want to do _that_. I can manage him. He's got a notion that Henry Blake might give away his dog. But I don't just like that kind. I'd want a shepherd dog, I think, if ever I let the children have one.
gpt
I don't know much about Henry Blake's dog, spoke Mr. Dalton.
human
But I guess we won't let Rick have one right away. He can wait. Hello, nearly nine o'clock! he went on, as he looked at his watch in the faint light of the moon, which, now and then, shone through the clouds.
gpt
I'll call the children in. Rick's finished playing ball long ago. I hear him talking with the boys over in the lots. We're going to have a storm, I guess, by the way the old ocean is booming to-night. Wind's in the north-east, too!
human
Oh, I don't like north-easters! exclaimed Mrs. Dalton.
gpt
The wind gets so terrible!
human
Yes, a September storm can sometimes tear things up pretty badly, said her husband, as he arose from his seat on the porch.
gpt
Well, maybe this won't be as bad as they sometimes are.