FOR YOUNG READERS

A Great Find

Pat and Sue sat down to watch TV. It was time to see T.R. Shorter. They called him the “Animal Man”. He showed animals and read something about each one. A funny little dog called Caps and a baby goat called Red were on TV with him all the time. The other animals he showed were new each time. This time he showed frogs, rabbits, swans, a seal, and a little doe.
After they saw T.R. Shorter and his animals, the children went out.
“Look, Pat,” said Sue. “There is something over there.”
“Do you know what it is?” said Pat.
“No,” Sue said. “But I want to find out.”
Sue put out her hands to the thing they saw. With a wag and a cry, out danced a soft, little dog with a long tail.
“A dog! A dog!” cried Sue, “We have a dog to play with.”
“Not so fast,” said Pat. “We have to think about this. Number one, this is not your dog and it is not my dog. Number two, Mother will not let us have animals at home. And number three...”
But as Pat said “Number three,” the dog ran down the road.
“Stop! Stop!” called Sue. Then she looked at Pat. “Come on,” she said. “We have to get him back.”
Away they went after the little dog.
“There he is,” called Pat, “under that tree. I think I can get him.”
“Good dog,” said Pat as they came to the tree. “Now do not run away again. We will take you home with us.”
Soon the children were back home.
“How can we get him past Mother?” Sue said to Pat.
“Get what past Mother?” said Mother. She looked at her two children. Then she saw the dog. “You know how I feel about dogs,” she said. “I like dogs, but I do not want to have one at home. This dog will have to go.”
“But it has no place to go,” said Pat.
“You may give the dog something to eat,” said Mother. “But then you have to find out where it came from and take it back.”
Sue went to get the dog something to eat. Then the two children sat down to think.
“I feel bad,” said Sue. “I like this dog.”
“I like him too,” said Pat. “But we have to find out where he came from.”
“How?” said Sue.
“We will write up all we know about the dog,” Pat said. “We will say that he is the color of sand, and that he is little and soft. We will say where he was when we saw him. Then we will put what we write on the highest tree so people will see it.”
“We have to give people a number where they can call us,” Sue said.
“Good,” said Pat. “Now we have to get to work.”
The children worked for a long time. Then they went to the big tree and came back home. But no one called about the dog. At last, Pat and Sue had to go to sleep. The little dog went to sleep too.
“It is time to get up,” called Mother.
“OK,” said Sue.
“Here Dog! Here Dog!” called Sue. The little dog ran over to her. Then she and the dog went to find Pat in the hall.
“Mother will not let us have the dog any longer,” Pat said. “After we see the Animal Man on TV, we will have to find it a new home.”
Sue and Pat sat down to see T.R. Shorter and his animals. As they did, the little dog ran over to the TV.
“Look at the little dog run and wag his tail,” said Pat. “What do you think he would like to tell us?”
“I think he sees T.R. Shorter,” said Sue. “Yes, that is it! This is Caps, the dog that is on TV all the time with T.R. Shorter.”
“We have to let T.R. know we have his dog,” said Pat.
“Yes,” said Sue. “We can call him up.” And that is what they did.
After the children made the call, Mother came in.
“Did you find a home for the dog?” she said.
“Yes!” cried the children. “It is a great home too! It is on TV with T.R. Shorter. This is Caps. He ran out to play and ran away. No one could find him. We called T.R. Shorter, and he said we can be on TV! That is where he would like us to give back the dog.”
“How great!” said Mother. “Do you want to be on TV again, Caps?”
Caps let out a little bark and with a wag of his tail, ran over to Mother.
“I think Caps said ‘Yes,’” Pat said.

From Speak & Read