"And you don't equal him as a shot yet, eh?"
"No, sir! no, indeed! Why, even cousin Cal Conly--a big man--can't shoot
as well as papa."
"What an ugly dog!" exclaimed the other children, gathering round.
"What did you buy it for, papa?" asked Gertrude.
"Not for beauty, certainly," laughed Mr. Ross, stroking and patting the
shaggy head of the dog, who was covered with curly hair of a dirty white,
mottled with dull brown, "but for worth which is far better. Isn't it,
Ranger?"
A wag of his bushy tail, was Ranger's only reply.
"Will he bite?" asked little Herbert, shrinking back as the newcomer
turned toward him.
"Tramps and burglars; but not good children," replied Mr. Ross. "You
needn't be afraid of him, my little man."
Through the evening there was a great deal of romping between the children
and the new dog, but little Elsie seemed unusually quiet, scarcely
stirring from her mother's side. She was suffering with toothache, but
kept her trouble to herself; principally, because she had a great dread of
the dentist's instruments.
But in the night the pain grew so severe that she could not keep from
crying and groaning.
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