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Hello, friends. Before we begin, there's a quick ad and then we'll get right to the story. Hello, friends, and welcome to sleept stories. We are starting a new series about a dog named Don. Don is one of five puppies, and he is the biggest in the bunch. Don has been spoken for by a boy named Bobby, and before he goes to Bobby's, he does lots of exploring with his family. Don the Runaway Dog Part 1. Don was one of five puppies, and he was the biggest of the lot. He lived with his brothers and sisters in a little wooden house called a kennel on a soft pile of straw. When the air turned cool, the puppies all cuddled up close to their mother to keep warm. Don shivered. He was only a few days old and his coat was still thin. But his mother put out her big warm paw over him and the others, and after that, Don felt better. His mother's name was Mrs. Grr. She was called that because of a sound she made away down low in her throat that went something like Grr. Don's eyes were not open yet. They stayed shut tight while he was small, which was just as well, because the sunshine outside the kennel was very bright, and a little puppy with his eyes opened might have had to squint at it. You don't need to see much yet, Mrs. Ger told her puppies. I can tell you everything that happens. You just stay close together while I go out to find a bone, and you'll keep warm and nothing will happen to you. Hmm. Whee. Oui. Went on. Oh, you're cold, are you? Said Mrs. German. Yes, I'm cold, said Don, shivering. Now you might wonder how Don's mother knew what he was saying. It's because dogs have a language all their own. They can't talk the way we do, but they understand us when we speak, and they understand each other. We can only guess what they mean when they bark and growl and whine. Well, cuddle up close to me, said Mrs. Ger. So don and his brothers, Spot and Prince, and his sisters Violet and Ruby, all crept in close. Their mother was a big dog, and her hair was warm, and soon every puppy was warm, too. All sorts of things were going to happen to Don once he grew up, but those came later. This is the beginning, when his eyes were still shut for more than a week, the puppies couldn't see a thing. They could hear noises outside the kennel, but they didn't know what the noises were. One day, the noises were voices. Some boys had come to look at the puppies. Oh, look at them all, said one boy. They're mine, said a boy named Willie. His father owned Mrs. Gurr. Can I have one? Asked the first boy, and he reached into the straw and picked up Don. Mrs. Ger growled low and soft because she didn't like strange boys handling her puppies. Not that one, Charlie, said Willie. I promised him to Bobby. Black Bob picked him out already. He's going to call him Don. He's a fine dog, said Charlie, and he set the puppy back down in the straw. I wish I had one. You can have that one, said Willie, pointing at Prince. Don didn't understand any of this, but his mother did, and she whined a little when she heard the boys talking about giving her puppies away. After a while the boys went off to play ball. Don couldn't play ball, of course, though once a dog at a circus learned how to bounce a big red rubber ball along with his nose, which is almost the same thing. Then one day a wonderful thing happened. Don's eyes opened all at once. The dark he'd been living in turned to light. Out in front of the kennel was a wide patch of sunshine, and the straw looked like streaks of gold. Up above was the blue sky and green trees waving their branches. Oh, what is all this? Said Don. He stood up with his legs far apart, so swaying back and forth because he wasn't very strong yet. That's the world you live in, said Mrs. The sun and the trees and the shadows. What makes the trees wiggle? Asked Prince. The wind, said their mother. And when you go outside, mind the wind doesn't blow dust in your eyes. Your eyes are open now, so you have to take care of them. Is there really more out there? Said Don. I thought the kennel was the whole world. Oh, there's a great deal more than this, said Mrs. Ger with a laughing sort of bark. This is only a very small piece of it. You'll find it's very big when you go out. I hope you don't get lost. What's lost? Asked Dawn. Going so far you can't find your way home again, she said. When you're a bit older, I'll teach you how to find your way back. So the days went by. The sun grew warmer, the leaves grew bigger, and the puppies grew too, until they were strong enough to run outside and tumble about on the ground. They still fell over a lot, though way you might trip if your legs were brand new. Come on, Prince, let's race, said Dawn. One day all right, said Prince. And off they went down the gravel path, faster and faster around the corner of the house until they stopped short. There was a strange little animal in the path ahead of them. What is that? Said Don. I don't know, said Prince. It looks a bit like a puppy, said Don. But it doesn't belong to our family. Look how big its tail is, and its back is all humped up. And listen to the funny noise it's making. The animal was hissing like a kettle that wants to come off the stove. Let's go closer and see, said Don't. So the two puppies crept up on their wobbly legs, and the strange animal jumped straight up in the air. And dawn and Prince each felt something sharp scratch their little black noses. Ouch. Yelped Prince. Wow. Howled Don. It scratched me. Let's go tell Mama. Cried Prince. And with their tails tucked between their legs, the two puppies wobbled home as fast as they could. Mama, you can't guess what happened. Barked Dawn. We saw another puppy, said Prince, with a great big tail and a humped up back. And it stuck something sharp in our noses and it hurt. Oh, you funny puppy, said Mrs. Ger. That wasn't a puppy at all. What was it then? Said Dawn. It had four legs and a tail. Not everything with four legs and a tail is a puppy, said his mother. That was a cat. Cats will scratch dogs, and dogs will chase cats, and that's just how it usually goes. But some cats are perfectly nice, so you leave them be. Besides, you wouldn't find that one now. But Don and Prince were sure they knew better than their mother. That afternoon they went off to find the cat that had made such a big tail at them. They looked all over the garden. They didn't find the cat, but they had a fine time anyway, rolling in the soft dirt, pretending to bite each other's ears and racing about. After a while, Don said, I'm hungry. Let's go home. All right, said Prince. But when the two puppies set off, they couldn't find the kennel. They went one way, then another, and the harder they tried, the worse it got. They were lost, only they didn't know the word for it yet. Oh, what do we do? We Whined Don. I don't know, said Prince. Let's try this way. So off they went a new way. And all of a sudden, Don slipped down a bank and landed right in a puddle of muddy water. Ouch. Oh, wow. Howled Don, all wet. What's going to happen now? But Don, like Most animals knew just what to do in the water. He paddled hard with his little paws and began to swim because he did not want to go under. Can you get out? Can you get out? Howled Prince from the bank. I think so. I'm trying, said Don. And then his mouth filled with water and he couldn't say anything more. He paddled faster than ever. It wasn't a big pottle, but it was all awfully big for a small puppy. Don swam and swam toward the bank, closer and closer, until he could get his paws on the firm earth and pull himself out. What a sorry sight he was. His nice clean coat was soaked through and dripping muddy water. How are you ever going to get dry? Said Prince. Then Don remembered something. He'd once watched his mother come back to the kennel after a rainstorm, and before she went inside, she had given herself one great big shake and the water flew off her like a shower. That's what I'll do, thought Don. And he shook himself as hard as he could. And the water sprayed everywhere. Hey, stop. You're getting me wet. Yelped Prince. Sorry, said Don, but that's how I get dry. You asked. I don't mind, really, said Prince, as long as you're safe. And he went up and kissed his brother on the nose the way dogs do. So Don got out of the puddle safe, but the two puppies were still lost. And now they sat down on the bank and and howled as loud as they could. Back at the kennel, Mrs. Ger was wondering why Don and Prince hadn't come home yet. They went off that way, said Violet, nibbling a bit of puppy cake. They were racing, said Ruby, who was busy trying to catch her own tail. Oh, those too, said Mrs. Ger. I expect they've gone too far to find their way back. Come along, Spot. We'll look for them. Mrs. Ger was very good at finding lost puppies. She and Spot hadn't gone far before they heard a noise. What's that? Said Spot. Listen. Said his mother. How. How. Wow. Brrr. Came the sound. That's them. Said Mrs. Gurr. Come on, Spot. I know just where they are. Soon she found Don and Prince sitting at the edge of the muddy puddle with their heads up in the air, howling for all they were worth. What a noise. Said Mrs. Ger with a dog laugh. What's the matter with you two? Mamma, is that you? Cried Don. We got lost and. And Don fell in and swam out, said Prince. Well, swimming out was clever of him, said his mother. But Getting lost was silly. Look, the kennel's right there, just around that clump of bushes. And sure enough, it was. They'd been close to home the whole time and never knew it. But we couldn't find it, said Dawn. No. And that's why you don't go too far until you know how to get back, said Mrs. Germany. Come along as soon as you're dry. I'll teach you how to find your way home. It didn't take Don long to dry off in the warm sun. Then his lessons began, because puppies have lessons to learn, the same as children do. His mother showed him how to sniff along the ground as he walked. A dog's nose is sniffing so good that when he goes down a new path, his paws leave a little bit of his smell behind in the dust. The smell stays a while, so when the dog wants to go home, he just sniffs along until he finds his own tracks again and follows them back. He can do it even in the dark. Don practiced and practiced until he could run a good way from the kennel, even into the woods, and still find his way home. Now you won't get lost again, said his mother. And I don't want to, said Don. Being lost is no fun at all. That night, the puppies cuddled up close together in the straw, warm and dry, with their mother's big paw resting over them. Don was tired out from his very big day, and he was fast asleep almost before he could think about it. And that is the end of this part. Good night. Sleep tight, Sam.