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Show 13 One summer morning two years earlier, Josh had been pulling his egg wagon through town. At Carmody's Garage there was a truck parked with wire cages in the back. On the side of the truck a sign said, "Olson's Champion Alaskan Malamutes." Josh had just been reading Silver Chief. Dog of the North, so more than anything in the world he yearned for such a dog. Hurrying to the side of the truck, he watched breathless as four puppies-grey and fluffy with black markings-romped in one of the cages. Josh stuck his finger through the wire, and a silver-colored pup, longer and nearly double the size of the others, immediately began to chew his fingers. Intent on the pup, Josh didn't notice a grey-haired man in a slouchy hat walk up behind him. "The Alaskan malamute's the king of the dog world, son," came a gravel voice that made Josh jump. He turned and saw the man was not angry. Josh nodded. "They're sure pretty. How much do they cost?" The man laughed. "Oh, I'm not selling dogs today. I raise them for show. But they go for around three hundred dollars. Some, more." "Oh," Josh gulped. Who had ever had that much money? The grey pup was pulling on his fingers now with a playful growl. Josh looked into its eyes as the pup came to the wire, whimpering to him. In those eyes Josh had felt a deep stirring, a yearning, a kinship. The pup licked his fingers. For a moment he had dreamed of owning such an animal, but then hunched his shoulders in disappointment. It could never be, not at so much money. |