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Rick and Ruddy

<h3>CHAPTER XXIII HAPPY DAYS</h3> Ruddy growled. Rick stood very still, and then, slowly, his hand went out to grasp his dog's collar, to hold him against being taken away. As for the ragged sailor he just stood there, smiling at Rick. And somehow, as the man smiled, it seemed to make Rick feel better. He was not so much afraid. But still he kept hold of Ruddy's collar. And then, suddenly, that harsh voice called again: "There he is! There he is!" It reminded Rick of a time he had once been to an entertainment in the school, when a ventriloquist had seemed to make a wooden doll, which he held on his knee, speak as though alive. The voice appeared to come from the ragged sailor, yet the strange man of the sea had not opened his lips. And again came the harsh cry: "There he is! Over the fence with him! Ha! Ha! The stormy winds do blow! Do blow! Do blow!" And then, with a start of surprise, Rick saw, crawling up from behind the sailor, and sitting on his shoulder a green parrot. And the parrot, as he pulled himself along the sailor's coat, using claws and his big, hooked beak, opened his mouth, stuck out his queer, thick black tongue and cried: "Ship ahoy! Where away! Two points off on the weather bow! Bow wow! Bow wow!" Ruddy uttered a growl and started forward, his eyes fixed on the green bird, but Rick pulled him back. "Quiet, Ruddy! Down!" spoke the boy in a low voice, and Ruddy, with one look up into his master's face stretched out at his feet. Ruddy, like a good and well-trained dog, had learned to mind, and a dog that will not obey is of very little use, even as a pet. "Well, I've come back, you see!" said the sailor, and he reached up his hand to stroke the gaily-colored feathers of the parrot. "I've come back." "Yes—yes," said Rick, slowly. "I—I see you!" "And do you see my parrot?" went on the sailor. "Do you see Poll? Look at her!" Indeed Rick was looking at the green bird, and the parrot, as she heard her name spoken, screeched out: "Pretty Poll! Very pretty! Polly bite!" "No you don't!" quickly exclaimed the sailor, shaking his finger and tapping the bird's beak. "If you bite not another cracker do you get for a week!" "Ha! Ha! Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll! Over the fence is out! What ho! Sail ho! Ho! Ho!" Thus cried the green parrot, and then from the woodshed came another voice, almost like that of the bird on the sailor's shoulder. "Haw! Haw! Haw!" was shouted from the wood shed. "Get up! Get up! Whew-ew-ew-e-e-e-e-e-ah!" and a shrill whistle ended the jumble of queer sounds, at which Ruddy barked again. "Have you a parrot, too?" asked the ragged sailor, in surprise. "No, that's Haw-Haw, my tame crow," answered Rick, who still stood close to Ruddy, as though guarding his dog. "A—a crow!" the sailor exclaimed. "I didn't know they could talk." "Haw-Haw can't talk very much," answered Rick. "But he whistles a lot. He whistles like I do, and—and you must have whistled like me or my crow once!" he went on, and fear began to come into his eyes. "You whistled like Haw-Haw and Ruddy went out and——" "Yes, I know," said the sailor. "That's what I came back about." "Do you mean about my dog—about Ruddy?" asked Rick and there was a catch in his voice. "Have you come back——" "Yes, I came back about your dog," spoke the sailor. "Are you—are you going to take him—away?" asked Rick in a low voice. He remembered how he had come to own Ruddy—the dog who had suddenly appeared out of the sea, after he had prayed one night. Now here was the sailor, looking as though he were going back to the sea, for, besides the parrot, he had a satchel. Was he going to take Ruddy to the ocean? That was the thought in Rick's mind. And then the sailor smiled—he smiled in a way that, better than words could have done, told Rick everything was all right. And even Ruddy seemed to understand that matters were going well for him, as he thumped his tail on the ground. And that always is a sure sign with a dog—a sign that he is pleased, happy and knows that he is with his friends. "Yes, I have come back, but not to take your dog away," said the ragged sailor. "He's your dog—he did belong to me once, but I know he'll be happier with you. I don't want him now." "Don't you—really?" cried Rick. "No, I'm not going to take him. That's what I came to tell you," went on the sailor. "I'm on my way back to go aboard a ship for a long sea voyage, but Ruddy isn't going with me." "What is all this, Rick?" asked his mother, coming out to the sidewalk. She had heard voices, and had seen the ragged man, with the green bird on his shoulder, standing at the gate talking to Rick. And she remembered about the ragged sailor and the junk man. "What is all this?" she asked. "I came back, lady," spoke the ragged sailor, taking off his hat and making a bow, "I came back to tell your boy he needn't worry any more about losing his dog. I am not going to try to get him back, though he once belonged to me. I have another mascot now. I have something else to bring me good luck. Here she is!" and he pointed to the green bird on his shoulder. "Hip hurray! What ho! What ho! The stormy winds do blow! Do blow!" cried the parrot. "You mean that you are not going to try to whistle Rick's dog away again?" asked Mrs. Dalton. "That's it, yes, lady," answered the sailor, with another bow. "I did whistle the boy's dog away, and I'm sorry for it. You see the dog belonged to me, and he was washed overboard in a storm. After that I had nothing but bad luck. Maybe it was because I wasn't as good to Ruddy as I ought to have been. "Anyhow when I found out where he was, from talking with some fish men, I made up my mind to have the dog back. So I sneaked around until I found him, and then I whistled for him. I'm a pretty good whistler. I can whistle like some birds. Listen!" And then such shrill, trilling and sweet piping whistles came from the sailor's lips that Haw-Haw, the crow, tried to imitate them and answer, and Ruddy barked joyously, while Rick and his mother looked and listened with wonder. "Say, but you can whistle!" cried Rick. "That was great!" "Yes, I have a knack that way," said the sailor. "Well, after I took your dog away in the junk wagon I thought I was going to have good luck. But I didn't. We went to the old house near the swamp, and there I met another sailor. I wasn't good friends with him, for once I had played a mean trick on him. And, just to get even with me, I suppose, he went out in the night and cut loose the dog I had tied up." "Oh, so that's how Ruddy got loose, was it?" asked Rick. "That was it; yes," answered the ragged sailor. "At first I was mad at Jed Porter, but afterward I was glad. Then he and I got to be friends again, and he gave me this parrot." "Pretty Poll! Pretty Poll!" shrieked the green bird. "She always calls herself that when you mention her," went on the ragged sailor. "Well, as I say, after I had the parrot I began to think she would do me as a good luck mascot, instead of the dog, and she did. I began to do better right away. Now I have a chance to sail on a long voyage aboard a good ship, and I'm going to take Polly with me." "Over the bounding waves, we sail, we sail, we sail!" shrilled the bird. "What ho! The stormy winds do blow!" "Now please keep quiet a minute until I finish," called the sailor, shaking his finger close to the bird's beak. She opened it but did not bite. "I've taught her not to," the sailor went on. "Well, as I was saying, when I had this parrot for a mascot I felt I didn't need the dog. So I stopped around to tell you not to worry any more. I'll never whistle him away again." "Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Rick. "Now you belong to me forever, Ruddy!" and he put his arms around the setter's neck. "Yes, he's yours forever," said the sailor. "He was mine, but I give him to you. A dog that could get to shore after being blown overboard the way he was, is a good dog!" "Yes, Ruddy is a good dog, and we all like him very much," said Mrs. Dalton. "And I'm sorry I caused you so much trouble in taking him away," concluded the sailor, as he picked up his valise and was about to travel on. "Oh, we had fun camping out, and I'm going to be a Boy Scout," said Rick. "And Ruddy's going to belong, too!" "That'll be fine!" said the sailor. "Well, now having said all I'm going to, I'll haul up my anchor and get under way. Good-bye!" he added. "Good-bye to you, lady, and to you, boy and you, Ruddy, the red dog! I'll never trouble you again! I'm off on a long voyage!" And with a wave of his cap toward Mrs. Dalton, he swung his valise up on one shoulder while, with the parrot perched on the other, he walked slowly down the street. "Good-bye! Oh, my eye! Ho! Ho! The stormy winds do blow!" cried the green bird. And that was the last Rick saw of the sailor and his parrot for a long time. "But now you're mine, Ruddy! Mine forever!" cried the boy, and then he threw a stick far down the street and the setter raced after it. Chot came out of his yard with Tom. The two boys saw the leaping dog. "Ee-o, Ruddy! Ee-o!" they cried. "Ee-o!" answered Rick. "Oh, fellows! Come here! I have such a lot to tell you!" he added. And you may be sure Tom and Chot opened their eyes in wonder when they heard about the ragged sailor and his green parrot good-luck mascot. "Well, I'm glad Ruddy is yours to keep, and that you don't have to worry about him being whistled away again," said Chot. "So'm I," added Tom. "Come on, now, we'll have some fun!" said Rick, and then boys and dog raced over the meadow toward Weed River. This was the beginning of many happy days for Rick and Ruddy, and Haw-Haw, the tame crow, shared in them, for, having seen the parrot perched on the sailor's shoulder, Rick taught his black pet to do the same trick, and also some new whistles. And on the bright and breezy days of spring and summer you might have seen Rick, Ruddy and Haw-Haw playing about in the fields, or near Silver Lake, whereon the white swans floated. But Ruddy never chased them, now, and so the setter did not have to flee in terror from the big birds. Ruddy had learned his lesson. "Oh, but you are the best dog in the world, Ruddy!" said Rick, over and over again. "What good times we'll have!" And they did have many adventures. If you would like to read more about the boy and his dog I may write another book. I think I shall call it "Rick and Ruddy in Camp," but, as for this volume, we have come to THE END <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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