Part 4

And, my goodness, how astonished they were when they saw that Charlie had _ac-tu-al-ly_ finished the dam and what a huge big pool he had made!

But both his Mother and his Auntie could not help laughing when they saw how Charlie was all covered with mud. He had mud all over the front of his overalls, and on his hands, and there was a big splash of mud on the end of his nose!

Then his Mother said, “Now, Charlie, dinner will soon be ready, so you must hurry home and wash your face and hands, and put on a clean suit. Then after dinner you may sail your boat in your beautiful big pool.”

So Charlie ran to the house, and he washed his face, and he scrubbed his hands, and he put on a clean blue sailor suit, and he ate his dinner.

Then he gave Topsy and Bingo and Jane their dinner. And then--he and his Mother and his Auntie went down to the pool to sail the boat. And, what do you think? The mud had all settled at the bottom of the pool while Charlie was eating his dinner, and the pool was as clear as glass so that you could see to the very bottom and you could see the dam that Charlie had built.

Then Charlie launched his boat. The pool was deep enough--but the boat did not sail quite well even yet. No, the boat leaned a little to one side and, when a gust of wind came, it would have turned right over if Charlie had not caught hold of the mast just in time.

Charlie felt very sad that his boat would not sail properly when he had built such a beautiful pool for it.

But his Auntie said, “Cheer up, Charlie, I know exactly what is the matter with the boat so that it will not sail, and it can be fixed so that it will sail _beautifully_. The trouble is that the boat has not enough _ballast_. That means that the masts and the sails are too heavy for the keel. But if we nail a strip of lead along the bottom of the keel the boat will stay upright and will not lean to one side.”

Well, Charlie and his Auntie took the boat and went to the barn, where the farmer was mending his mowing machine.

And his Auntie asked the farmer if he knew where they could get a strip of lead to nail to the keel of Charlie’s boat.

The farmer said, “Right here I have all the lead that you can use.” And he cut off a strip of lead just the size of the keel. Then the farmer also gave Charlie some interesting-looking nails that he said could be just the thing to nail the lead to the keel. They were crooked nails that folded over and looked just like tiny croquet hoops.

Then Charlie’s Auntie took the mast and sails off, and she hammered the nails over the lead so that it was fastened to the keel of the boat. Then she put the masts and sails back. Don’t you think that she was a clever Auntie? Yes, indeed, she was.

So they went back to the pool again, where Charlie’s Mother was waiting to see if the boat would sail right _this_ time.

And what do you think? _It did!_ Yes, the boat sailed beautifully, it sailed right away to the other side of the brook, and when Charlie turned the rudder to the right the boat turned in the opposite direction and sailed right back again!

Yes, that boat could do everything that a real boat does, and when the wind blew hard it keeled over to one side but it did not capsize. No, nothing could make that boat capsize. Even when Bingo stood upon his hind legs and tried to catch it when it went sailing past, he fell splash into the pool and made a great ENORMOUS wave, just like the waves in the middle of the ocean--_still_ that boat did not capsize.

Well, every day after that Charlie sailed his boat in the pool. He made a dock for it, with stones, and he put grass and pebbles on the deck for the cargo, which he loaded and unloaded at the dock, and the boat sailed from side to side of the pool. When the boat got to the other side Charlie would jump across the brook where it was narrow and turn the rudder so that the boat would turn right round and sail back again to the dock.

Yes, Charlie had more fun than I can tell you playing with his boat. And Topsy and Bingo played, too; they jumped across the brook backwards and forwards and they tried to catch the boat as it sailed past. And, Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie liked to help Charlie sail his boat; yes, they enjoyed watching it sail so beautifully before the wind.

And--on Saturday, when Charlie’s Daddy came down to visit them all--my goodness! he was surprised and _de-light-ed_ to see the dam and the pool that Charlie had made all by himself, and to see how beautifully the boat sailed, with its sails blown out by the wind, and with its cargo of grass and pebbles piled up on deck.

Yes, Charlie’s Daddy thought that Charlie was a very clever boy to have made that dam and that pool all by himself--and I think so, too.

CHARLIE BUILDS A REAL HOUSE

Well, the days passed and passed--and at last it was time for Charlie to go back to the city. He said “Good-by” to the stage driver and to the postmaster and to the man at the country store and to the lady at the farm, where he and his Mother and his Auntie lived while they were in the country. And he said “Good-by” to the cows and to the chickens and to the baby pigs.

Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie packed the suitcase and the trunk and put Topsy into his basket, and he did not like it at all and said “Miaouw, miaouw!” And Jane was put into _her_ basket and _she_ did not like it either, but she was a good cat and she did not say a word. Then Charlie put the leash on Bingo’s collar and they all climbed into the surrey, which is a two-seated carriage, and they all drove to the station. Then they all got on to the train and off they went to the city.

This time there was another fireman, as Charlie’s friend was having a day off, so Charlie did not ride on the engine _this_ time; no, _this_ time he rode in the day coach with his Mother and his Auntie and Topsy and Bingo and Jane.

Charlie was feeling rather sad that he had to leave the country and all his new friends, but as the train steamed farther and farther away, he began to think that it was rather nice to be going back to the city after all.

It would be nice to see his Daddy again and the iceman--and he wanted to tell the postman all about the stage driver and how letters are delivered in the country. And Charlie wanted to see his house again, where he lived, and the garden and his electric train and his automobile and his great _e-nor-mous_ flashlight. Yes, Charlie began to feel very glad that he was going home again.

And--when Charlie _did_ get home, what do you think he found? Why, Charlie found that something _most_ interesting and ex-cit-ing had been happening while he was away in the country. Some builders had started to build a house on the other side of the road, and he could sit on his own front gate and watch them build.

The builders had already built quite a lot of the house, and in front of what they had built was a big pile of bricks and also a pile of sand and quicklime to make mortar of.

It was late in the afternoon, so the builders had stopped working, but Charlie wanted to stay right there and look at everything. But his Mother and his Auntie said, “No.” They said that it was getting late and Charlie must come right in and have his supper and go to bed. To-morrow he could watch the builders build as much as ever he wanted to.

So the next day Charlie ran out _immediately_ after breakfast. The builders were already at work--they were working hard, putting the bricks on top of each other. Charlie saw how they put each brick on top of two others, he saw how they did it _very carefully_ so that the brick was _ex-act-ly_ in the middle of the two below it. Then he saw how carefully the builders put the mortar on with a flat, wide knife, so that none of the mortar dripped over the edge of the bricks but made a nice straight line up and across. And, because the bricks were laid, one in the middle of the two below, the white line of the mortar made a most interesting design.

Charlie was _ab-so-lute-ly_ fascinated, he thought that he would _never_ get tired of watching those builders build.

Then Topsy and Bingo came out to see what Charlie was doing and to get him to play with them, but Charlie was _much_ too interested in watching the house being built, so he paid no attention at all. No, he paid no attention to Topsy and Bingo, but went on watching the builders build the house.

After a while one of the builders looked up, and he said, “Hello, you seem to like watching us build this house; I guess you would like to be over here helping us.” And Charlie said, “Oh, yes, I _would_ like to come over and help you, I mean to be a house builder when I grow up.” Then the builder said, “Is that so? Have you had any practice in building houses?” Charlie said, “No, I have never built a _real_ house, but I can build _beautiful_ houses with my wooden blocks.”

But the builder said, “Well, I guess you need more practice than _that_--you have to know how to put the mortar on, and that is not as easy as it looks. How would you like me to give you some bricks and mortar and then you can build yourself a house in the corner of your yard?” Yes, the builder _ac-tu-al-ly_ said that to Charlie! And he also asked him, “Have you an express wagon that you can haul the bricks in?”

Of course Charlie said, “Yes,” and he ran off to the house to tell his Mother and his Auntie all about the house builder, and to ask if he might go across the road by himself to get the bricks. And his Mother and his Auntie both said, “Yes.” They said that it would be perfectly safe for Charlie to go across the road all by himself, because no automobiles were allowed on the road and there was a sign which said, “Closed to Traffic.”

Then Charlie got his express wagon and he went across the road to get the bricks. He loaded the bricks into his express wagon and he dragged them across the road and in at the garden gate to the corner of the garden where there were no flowers and no vegetables. Charlie did this over and over again; he did it so often that his legs ached,--and every time that Charlie went across the road Topsy and Bingo followed him. When Charlie had been across the road four, five, _six_ times getting his express cart full of bricks every time, the builder said, “Now you have enough bricks to start with. Suppose you go now and ask your Mother for a pail and I will give you some mortar, already mixed.”

Charlie ran and got the pail, and the builder filled it with mortar and carried it over to Charlie’s yard himself because it was too heavy for Charlie to carry. The builder certainly _was_ a nice man.

Of course Charlie wanted _immediately_ to start in building the house. But his Mother and his Auntie said, “No.” They said that Charlie had worked enough for one day, and that he had better play a little. And his Mother said, “You had better wait till your Daddy comes home before starting to build your house; I think you ought to ask his advice as to exactly where would be the best place to build it.”

Charlie thought that his Mother was right and he determined to wait till his Daddy came home before building the house. So he went off and had a lovely game with Topsy and Bingo.

At last Charlie’s Daddy came home. Charlie was watching for him out of the dining-room window. As soon as he saw his Daddy come in at the gate, Charlie ran out to meet him and to tell him all about the bricks that the builder had given him and about the house he was going to build.

Charlie’s Daddy was very interested; he was so interested that he said he would like to help Charlie to build the house. Then Charlie’s Daddy went upstairs and changed into his old suit, the one he always wore when he was digging in the garden, and he found a spade, and he said, “Come on, Charlie, let us start building the house.”

So they went into the garden and started to build the house. First Charlie’s Daddy dug a trench, the size that the house was to be; this was to be the foundation so that the house should not blow over in a wind-storm. Charlie helped dig the trench also. It was very hard work digging the trench--it was such hard work that both Charlie and his Daddy were puffing and blowing before they had finished digging. But at last the trench was finished, and while they were both standing still to admire it Charlie’s Auntie came and called them in to supper.

So they both had to go in and change their clothes and eat their supper and, by the time that supper was over, it was too dark to work at the house any longer. Charlie did not like this at all, he said, “I do not want to stop for a single minute until the house is built.”

But his Daddy said, “Cheer up, Charlie, to-morrow is a legal holiday, and I shall be home all day. So I shall be able to help you build your house until it is finished.” Then Charlie was satisfied and he went to sleep the minute he got into bed--and all night long he dreamed about the beautiful house he was going to build.

The next morning both Charlie and his Daddy got up early; they got up at six o’clock! They each had a glass of milk and a cookie, then they went into the garden and began to work.

First they started piling bricks into the trench, one on top of two others, _ex-act-ly_ the way Charlie had seen the builders doing it; and his Daddy showed him how to put the mortar on each brick with a flat trowel that he had found in the woodshed and that looked _ex-act-ly_ like the one the builders used. It is very important to put the mortar on right, as that is what makes the bricks stick together.

Before breakfast Charlie and his Daddy had _ac-tu-al-ly_ finished the foundation! Charlie was very glad that he had his Daddy to help him--why, if it had not been for his Daddy I don’t think that Charlie would have thought of building _any_ foundation for his house, and then it would have blown down!

Well, you may be sure that the moment they had finished breakfast, and when Charlie’s Daddy had smoked just one cigarette, they both of them were hard at work on the house again.

For one reason Charlie was sorry that it was a legal holiday, and that was because the builders were having a holiday, too, and Charlie _would_ have liked them to see him in his overalls that were all covered with mortar and pink with brick dust--so that he looked _ex-act-ly_ like a real builder.

Well, they worked and they worked. And you never can guess how clever Charlie’s Daddy was. He was just as clever as a real builder. Yes, Charlie’s Daddy _ac-tu-al-ly_ knew how to make a window in the house--and a door also! The window went all the way to the top of the roof and so did the door, for Charlie’s Daddy said that there was _one_ thing he did not know how to do that a real builder knows, and that is how to make an arch, with a keystone! Soon the house was tall enough for Charlie to go in at the door, and then his Daddy said that the front of the house was tall enough. But the sides had to be built sloping higher toward the back so that the roof should slope--it is very important that a house should have a sloping roof so that the water may drain off it when it rains.

At last his Daddy said, “There, the house is finished, all but the roof!”

Charlie _was_ excited! He jumped and he shouted, “My house is nearly finished, my house is nearly finished!”

Then his Daddy went off to the woodshed and he brought back a whole lot of boards and a roll of tar paper. He put the boards all across the roof and covered them with tar paper--and THE HOUSE WAS FINISHED!

Yes, it was _ac-tu-al-ly_ finished. It had a beautiful doorway, and a window and a roof--anybody could see that it was a real house.

Topsy and Bingo were nearly as much excited as Charlie. Bingo ran in and out of the door and barked and barked. But Topsy climbed up the wall and in at the window and he did this again and again.

Then Charlie’s Mother and his Auntie came to look at the beautiful house. And, my goodness! they _were_ surprised that Charlie and his Daddy had built a house that looked exactly like a real house.

And Charlie’s Mother said, “Now, we will go back to the house and we will bring Charlie’s little chairs and his table, and I will get a rag rug that is in the attic; then the house will be furnished and Charlie can live in it with Topsy and Bingo and Jane.”

So that is what they did! And Charlie’s Auntie hung some curtains across the window and tied them with blue ribbon, and his mother put the rag rug on the floor, and placed the furniture around the room so that it looked _most_ cozy and _most_ comfortable.

Well, just when everybody was standing and admiring the house, Jane the cat came up, and she looked at the house for a minute. Then she walked straight in at the door and lay down on the rug, and she purred and purred as loud as she could purr, because she liked Charlie’s house so tremendously. But Topsy jumped in at the window and _he_ walked around the house and sat down on every one of the little chairs and even on the table, but when he jumped into the express cart, which was in the corner of the house, he liked it so much that he curled up and went to sleep. But Bingo was the most excited of all--he dashed around and around the house, and he jumped up in the air and barked and barked and BARKED!

The next day, when the builders were at work again, Charlie climbed up on the gate and called out to the builder who had given him the bricks, “Good morning, Mr. Builder! I have finished my house!”

The builder was most interested and he came over to look at the house that Charlie had built.

He said, “Did you build that house _all_ by yourself?”

And Charlie said, “Yes, I built that house _all_ by myself, and my Daddy helped me.”

BINGO LEARNS TO COME WHEN HE IS CALLED

Bingo was a very clever little dog--he learned very quickly all the tricks that Charlie taught. He could sit up and beg, and he could bark three times for the flag, and when Charlie put a piece of cake on his nose Bingo could toss it in the air and catch it in his mouth, and, if Charlie threw a stick, Bingo would always run and bring it back. Yes, Bingo could do all these things and he liked to do them again and again. He was such a clever little dog that all the boys in the neighborhood knew him well, and they used to watch him over the fence doing all the tricks that he had learned.

But there was _one_ thing that Bingo never _would_ learn and that was to come _immediately_ when he was called. If Bingo thought that Charlie was going for a walk or that his dinner was ready, he would come the very minute that Charlie called him; but if he was doing something interesting or something that he should not be doing, Charlie could call “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo,” till he was hoarse, Bingo would not come! He would wag his tail and perk up his ears to show that he had heard, but he would not come.

One day Charlie was playing in the garden with Bingo and Topsy when Bingo suddenly saw something that interested him in the road and he scrambled under the gate and went scampering along down the road.

Charlie did not approve of this at all. He called and he called, “Bingo, Bingo, Bingo”--but Bingo would not come, he went on racing along the road. He had decided that he would like to go out and see the world!

Then Charlie ran into the house to tell his Mother and his Auntie. He could not run after Bingo, because of course he was not allowed to go outside the garden gate by himself. His Auntie did not even wait to put on her sweater though it was very cold; she ran straight out of the gate to bring Bingo back--but Bingo had _ab-so-lute-ly_ disappeared!

Charlie and his Auntie put on their coats and went a long distance down the road, calling Bingo all the time, but they could not find him anywhere. They asked everybody that they met if they had seen a little white dog with black spots but nobody had seen him. Then they went home again, hoping that Bingo would have arrived there before them. But no, Bingo was not there!

Now I will tell you what happened to Bingo. When he had run along the road for quite a distance he came to a turning where the road ran very steeply downhill. There was a boy with a bob sled, and just as Bingo reached the corner the boy lay down flat on his sled, and biff! off he flew down the hill! Bingo was much excited. He barked, “Yap, yap, yap,” and ran after the bob sled as fast as ever he could. He was determined to catch that bob sled! But of course he could not. The boy and the sled reached the bottom of the hill before Bingo, but not long before.

The boy had decided to go home, as it was near his dinner time, and he was dragging his sled after him when Bingo arrived at the bottom of the hill, all out of breath and with his little red tongue hanging out. But he was not too out of breath to jump up at the boy and bark “Yap, yap, yap!” He was trying to tell him how glad he was that he had caught up with him at last.

The boy patted Bingo on the head and talked to him, but of course he did not know his name as he lived quite a distance away and had never seen Bingo before.

Bingo liked the boy very much and decided that he would go for a walk with him. So he followed after him. It was a long, long walk, but at last they arrived at the boy’s house.

It was a tall brick house very much larger than the house in which Bingo lived with Charlie; and it had to be larger too, because a great many people lived in it--two families lived on every floor!

The boy climbed up five flights of stairs; he lived on the top floor of all--and Bingo followed after him.

The boy’s Mother was cooking dinner in the kitchen and she was very much surprised when she saw Bingo. She said, “Who is that dog?” The boy said, “I found him and I am going to keep him for my dog. I have always wanted one.”

But his Mother said, “How can we keep a dog when we live five flights up and have only three rooms? It is impossible. After you have had your dinner you must take him back to where you found him, then he will be able to find his way home. He has a collar on so he must belong to somebody. In the meantime, take him downstairs and tie him up in the yard. I have just washed the kitchen floor and I am afraid he will make it dirty again.”

The boy felt very sad because he could not keep Bingo, but he took him down to the yard as his Mother had told him to, and he tied him up to the fence with a piece of rope.

Bingo did not like this at all. He pulled and he pulled and he pulled, but he could not get loose. He pulled and he pulled and--he PULLED, and--suddenly the fastening of his collar snapped (it snapped because Charlie had not fastened it properly that morning), and Bingo was a free dog.

Then he scampered gayly out of the yard and into the street again. He thought that it was time to go home to Charlie and his dinner. But--what do you think? Bingo could not find his way home! He ran through street after street but he could not find the house where he lived with Charlie and Topsy and Jane. The boy’s Mother must have thought that Bingo was older than he really was when she said that he could find his way home by himself.

Bingo was beginning to be worried--there were a great many children playing in the streets through which he passed and every now and again he thought that he saw Charlie, but it always turned out that he was mistaken. Sometimes some of the children would try to stop him but Bingo always ran away from them. He wanted to go home.

At last he passed four little boys who were walking along together. Bingo was very tired now and he was not running any more; no, he was walking very slowly and limping a little because he had hurt his foot.