CHAPTER XXI

BOWSER BECOMES A PRISONER

There is no one in all the Great World more faithful than a
faithful dog.

_Bowser the Hound._


Bowser the Hound was a prisoner. Yes, Sir, Bowser was a sure-enough
prisoner. But there is a great difference in prisons. Bowser was a
prisoner of kindness. It seems funny that kindness should ever make any
one a prisoner, but it is so sometimes.

You see, it was this way: When Bowser had been taken in to that strange
farmhouse, he had been so used up that he had had only strength enough
to very feebly wag his tail. Right away the people in that farmhouse
knew what had happened to Bowser. That is, they knew part of what had
happened to him. They knew that he had been lost and had somehow hurt
one leg. They were very, very good to him. They fed him, and made a
comfortable bed for him, and rubbed something on the leg which he had
hurt and which had swollen. Almost right away after eating Bowser went
to sleep and slept and slept and slept. It was the very best thing he
could have done.

The next day he felt a whole lot better, but he was so stiff and lame
that he could hardly move. He didn't try very much. He was petted and