In a warm little house on the edge of the Downtown Village lived a boy and girl named Paul and Mary. They had long desired to have a pet. One day, Father said to Paul:
“Why don’t you take Mary and get a little puppy?”
So off they went to the dog market in town, and soon they returned with the dearest little shaggy puppy you ever saw. The puppy’s eyes were black and bright; his hair was golden brown, and a long white tip hung down over one ear. They called him Bingo.
Bingo became soon well acquainted with his new home and loved his masters dearly. He was allowed to run in and out of the house as much as he chose, so the children playfully called him _Master of the House_.
Bingo had a whole row of toys, with bright-coloured balls of every shape and sizes, over which he jumped and played, and at every toy he seized he wagged his tail joyfully.
One sad day when the children returned home from school, they found the garden gate standing wide open and no Bingo at home. All the day they called `Bingo! Bingo!’, in hopes he might respond to their well-known voice, till at last, in sheer despair, they sat down to weep in each other’s arms.
“I am afraid,” at last said Paul through his tears, “that we shall never see dear Bingo again. He is probably lost, or has gone home after his usual place of warm supper.”
Mary made no reply; but suddenly, as if to declare the same thought with Paul, she arose, rang the bell, entered the house, and soon returned carrying one of Bingo’s toys in her hand.
“Come, Paul,” said she, “let us go after Bingo.”
So hand in hand they set off down the road into the country. The toy guided them well, and, barking joyfully, Bingo was soon discovered under a bush, where he had lain down in tired sorrow, dreaming that Paul and Mary had forgotten him and gone back to the warm house without him.
Now, with a glad `Bingo!’ from each, he is taken home again, put in his tub of warm water, and then in a basket of bright wool where he slept the sleep of the happy and thankful.