In Which Zip Is Introduced to the Reader

Zip belongs to Dr. Elsworth, who lives in the big, white house with the green blinds on the edge of the village of Maplewood. And at the present minute he is asleep on the front porch on a soft cushion in an old-fashioned rocking-chair that is swaying gently to and fro, dreaming of the days when he was a puppy chasing the white spot on the end of his tail, thinking it was something following him. And how he would bark at it and run around and around after it until he was so dizzy he would fall over! Then when the ground stopped spinning round, he would get up and go after it again, barking all the time for it to stop following him. Silly little puppy that he was, not to know it was his own tail he was chasing! Often he would bark so loudly in his sleep that it would awaken him, but he would soon fall asleep again and go on dreaming. Sometimes he would be chasing cows, holding on to their long tails; at others, squawking, cackling chickens or anything else that happened to be in the road.

One day when thus dreaming, he was just about to pull a mouthful of tail feathers out of Parson Higgins' pet rooster when the latch on the front gate clicked. Zip was awake in a minute, sitting up on the cushion with ears sticking straight up and every nerve alert to see who was coming in the doctor's yard.

The first look showed him a ragged tramp with battered hat, unshaven face and a bundle of clothes tied up in a dirty, faded red handkerchief strung on a cane over his shoulder. That one look was enough, for if there was one thing Zip despised and detested more than any other, it was a tramp. And for this one to dare to try to come in the front gate—the gate he never allowed anyone to enter unless they were well dressed—was more than he could stand, and he flew at the fellow as if he were the size of a lion and was going to devour him on the spot.

As for the tramp, he hated dogs as much as they hated him. It had been his experience that little dogs had just as sharp teeth as big ones and were much harder to drive off, as they were so quick they could get around and snap a piece out of one's shins before one could help himself. So when he saw Zip bound off the chair and come running toward him with bristles raised and teeth showing, he slammed the gate and started off down the road.

But here he did a silly thing. Instead of going off about his business, he stooped, picked up a stone and threw it at Zip, hitting him squarely on the side and hurting him dreadfully, as the stone was large and sharp. This was too much. He, Zip, would have a piece of that tramp's leg or he would know the reason why! The tramp thought he was safe in hitting the dog as the gate was shut and the fence high. But whoever yet has succeeded in shutting a little dog in a yard by a high fence? Not many people, I am sure, for the dog will always find a hole to crawl through or a pale off where he can squeeze through, or, not finding these, he will dig a hole under the fence. And this is what Zip had done many weeks before, for he found it necessary to have some place he could get through in a hurry to go after the school children who delighted in teasing him. So now quick as a flash he ran for this hole, which was well hidden by a big lilac bush, and before the tramp even knew he was coming, Zip was through the hole and had his little, sharp teeth buried in his shin. With a cry of surprise and pain, the tramp turned to see what had hurt him. When he saw the little dog, he raised his cane to strike him, but as it came down Zip let go his hold and grabbed the bundle that was on the end of the cane and made off with it. This infuriated the tramp and he hobbled after Zip, calling him all sorts of bad names as he came. This Zip did not mind in the least, but kept right on dragging the bundle along with him as he ran down the road.

Now this bundle was round and heavy, and hard for such a small dog to carry, and it kept tripping him up and rolling him over. But he hung on with the tenacity of a bulldog until he saw the tramp was going to overtake him. Then he decided not to try to carry it to the hole in the fence, but to jump the ditch and drop it in the frog pond. The tramp was almost upon him now and had his cane raised to hit him, but when it came down, it hit the earth, not the dog, for just at that moment Zip had made a flying leap over the ditch, taking the bundle with him.

Once there, he dragged it along or held it up off the ground by stretching his neck up high until he came to the edge of the frog pond. Then he let go and watched it disappear under the water.

Splash! went a big stone in the water, and if it had hit Zip, it certainly would have killed him as it was so big, but he jumped aside just in time. Then what did this mischievous, daring little dog do but stand perfectly still and watch the tramp come after him, wading through the tall, wet marsh grass, stumbling as he came. He was within five feet of Zip and was just thinking, "One more step and I can reach him!" when the long tangle grass caught one foot and threw him face down in the soft, oozy mud.

Zip barked a bark that sounded more like a laugh than a bark, making the tramp more determined than ever to kill him, even if he had to fall forty times before he caught him.

Had the tramp stopped to think, he might have known that the dog was going to play some trick on him, for who ever heard of a dog standing still while a man with a big, heavy cane was bearing down on him to brain him? But the tramp was far too angry to reason. All he thought of was to kill the dog that had bitten him and then ran off with his clothes. He picked himself up as best he could, and made a spring at Zip, bringing his cane down at the same time. But as before, when the cane came down there was no dog under it. Zip had jumped into the frog pond and was quietly swimming to the opposite shore.

When he saw this the tramp tore his hair with rage, threw clods of mud at him and fairly yelled with fury, while Zip walked out of the water as if no one were near, shook himself dry and trotted off home down the other side of the pond, leaving the tramp lying on his stomach trying to fish his bundle of clothes out of the water.

Suddenly Zip stopped short, pricked up his ears and listened. Yes, he was right! He had heard the doctor's low, peculiar, penetrating whistle. That meant he was about to start on his rounds to see his patients. He never went without Zip sitting up on the seat beside him in his old-fashioned buggy.

Zip loved these daily trips, for he was a most active, nervous, curious, little dog, and always wanted to know what was going on throughout the village, and these rides gave him a splendid opportunity to find out. While the doctor was in visiting his patients, Zip would jump out of the buggy and go around to the back of the house to call on the family's cat or dog, whichever it happened to be. And though you may not know it, these animals in every household know what is going on in the home from garret to cellar, as well as all the family secrets and neighborhood gossip. So you see Zip was a regular news-gatherer, and he not only gathered the news in that way, but he spread it as he went along with the doctor from house to house, so that anyone hearing Zip talk did not need to read the newspaper to find out all the village gossip. He knew of all the births, weddings and funerals as well as the lovers' quarrels long before anyone else, for generally he was on the spot when they happened. Neither did he mind listening when he saw two young people of the opposite sex strolling down some shady lane, or hanging over a garden gate. And like all gossips, he was never happy until he had told someone all the latest news he had gathered.

The one to whom he enjoyed telling things the most was the big, yellow cat that lived at the doctor's and was the special pet of the cook. The cat's name was Tabby, and she was a big, comfortable, good-natured cat who stayed at home and minded her own business. She was also a good listener, which Zip considered one of her best qualities. Like all talkative people, he would rather do the talking and have someone else do the listening. Consequently Tabby just suited him. After he had come back with the doctor from making his last call for the day, Zip and Tabby would curl up on the front porch or on a garden seat and he would talk away into the night or until time for him to make the rounds of the place. This as a watch dog he felt it his duty to do once or twice during the night, while Tabby went to the barn to catch mice.

"Just like Mrs. Brown to do a thing like that—throw up her hands and give up instead of hustling around heating some milk for the poor little things who must have been hungry after their long journey down from the clouds," sputtered Zip.

To which sage remark Tabby assented.

Another bit of news was that the ladies of the Episcopal Church were going to give a strawberry festival in the Sunday School rooms on Wednesday evening, and all were cordially invited to attend and to bring their friends. Admission, twenty-five cents each.

"This will be nice for us," remarked Zip, "for while Martha is away, we can steal into the milk cellar and lick the cream off the pans. Of course in the morning she will wonder why old Bess, the red cow, did not give as rich milk as usual. But she will think that the chore boy did not feed her enough bran, for she would never suspect Tabby, her pet, of doing such a mean thing!"

And of her own accord, Tabby never would, had not Zip put her up to it.

The next was that Sophie Hooper and James Steadman were going to be married at last. And he was glad of it, for one, for he had seen them courting on the little bridge that crossed the creek in the valley for the last year!

Another was that Mr. Stubbins had a new dog, a red setter hunting dog, which he believed he was going to hate as it had barked at him from its kennel when he ran around the house to see their white cat and pass the time of day with her while the doctor was making a call across the street.

"And really, Tabby, from the way that dog barked and pulled on his chain, I am sure he would have eaten me up could he have gotten at me! But just wait until he finds who I am, and I guess he will quiet down!"