Free Anytime Tales by Enid Blyton Page B

to pick up a shaving. Soon the puppy could growl and show its teeth.
    “One of these days that puppy will be a big dog, and will bite one of you,” Jack’s mother said. “It’s too bad of Mr. Chip to make it so fierce—I do wish you boys would stop teasing the carpenter. You make
him
fierce, too, and he’s not really a bad fellow at all.”
    The puppy grew and grew. It adored Mr. Chip, and Mr. Chip thought it was the best dog in the world. He and the dog were always together, except when Mr. Chip sent it for his paper in the afternoon.
    “Now, Wags—off you go for my paper,” he would say. And Wags would run out of the shop to the paper man at the corner, and bring back a paper in his mouth. The boys thought that was very clever of him. They were afraid of Wags now. He seemed as fierce as his master! It was quite dangerous to dart into the shop and pick up a shaving. Peter nearly got bitten!

    “Horrible dog—and horrible master!” said Kenneth. “I’ve a good mind to throw a stone at Wags when he goes to fetch the afternoon paper for Mr. Chip.”
    “No, don’t,” said Jack. “That would be a hateful thing to do.”
    The boys found that the only safe time to dart into the shop and snatch up shavings from the floor was when Wags was out fetching the afternoon paper! But Mr. Chip was ready for them! He caught Kenneth by his collar and shook him till the boy was afraid bis teeth would fall out.
    He caught Ned and rubbed his nose in a pile of sawdust. He nearly caught Jack, and bellowed so loudly at him that Jack dropped the shavings he had snatched up!
    “Little pest! Wait till I get you!” he roared. “I’ll set my dog on you!”
    Now Jack had a very big wooden engine, painted red. It wasn’t big enough for him to get into the cab, which was a pity—but it was quite big enough to take with him when he went shopping for his mother, because it could carry all the things he bought! He used to stuff them into the cab of his big red engine, and take them home like that.
    The other boys thought it a grand engine. “Be grander still if it had trucks,” said Kenneth. “We could all go shopping together then for our mothers, and use a truck each for our parcels. That would make shopping fun.”
    “Well, there’s only room for
my
shopping,” said

    Jack, afraid that the boys might want to use his engine for all their parcels, too. It would be very heavy to pull then! “This kind of wooden engine doesn’t have trucks!”
    The mothers all smiled to see Jack go shopping, pulling his big engine along empty first of all—and then going back with the cab piled high with all kinds of things. It was wonderful what that engine carried! It even managed to bring home half a sack of potatoes once.
    One afternoon Jack’s mother called him. “Jack! Where are you? Oh, you’re there, reading. I’m so sorry, dear, but I quite forgot to ask you to take your blazer to be cleaned when you went shopping this morning. It won’t be back in time for the beginning of term if you don’t take it to-day. Will you take it now for me?”
    “Right, Mother,” said Jack cheerfully. He really was a very good-tempered boy. He got up and went to fetch his engine.
    “Oh, don’t bother to take your engine, just to carry your
blazer!”
said his mother. “Surely you can take it over your arm, Jack!”
    “My engine likes a run,” said Jack. “It’s just like a dog.”
    He pulled the big engine from its place in the hall cupboard, and stuffed the blazer into the cab. Then he hauled on the rope. “Come on,” he said. “We’ll hurry there and back, and then I can get on with my book.”
    But something happened on the way there. Mr. Chip had sent his dog Wags out for his afternoon paper at just the same time that Jack was taking his blazer to the cleaner’s. Wags had gone to the man at the corner, dropped the money out of his mouth on to the pavement, and let the paperman stuff a folded paper between his teeth.

    He turned to go