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Show 22 Bored, Cap Mullins squatted on his heels to watch an ant struggle along with a huge crumb of bread. Josh leaned over to see what the attraction was, and soon both boys were using a straw to try to boost the ant over the hard places. Soon Jerry Dooley and Tony Carmody joined them in watching the ant. They began to whisper bets about whether the ant would be able to negotiate a board that lay in its path. The discordant strains of the cellos echoed around them. Avery Snodgrass, his arms folded, looked back at the four boys squatting on the lawn and frowned. He shushed a finger to his lips as Tony said something about the ant and the others giggled. As the entertainment dragged on and on, there was a rustling in the hedge that none of the party-goers noticed. Had they watched, they could have seen a black nose, sniffing the air, emerge from the hedge, followed by a friendly-faced malamute. Bored at home, Chinook had howled for a few minutes after Josh had gone off with his friend. Finally thejlog decided it was time to dig under the fence to freedom. Then he had followed their scent through town, until finally he heard the sounds of the party and caught Josh's smell. With wagging tail he proceeded until another scent, more intriguing, came to him. The dog decided to investigate. What Chinook found on the other side of the hedge, when he stood with his front feet on the long table, was an apparently-abandoned ehocolate cake. Josh looked up from watching the ant to find the stony gaze of Mrs. Okleberry bearing down on the four boys huddled to watch the ant. |