Wandeen and the Bo Bo Dog

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 109, 1 February 1930, Page 26

Wandeen and the Bo Bo Dog

XI COLONIAL GOOSE

By

Lauretta Maud Willoughby

For "The Junior Dominion.”

“Dear Tibby Cat, — “To-day Wandeen left us at home because it was very hot and she could not carry us as well as her sunshade. "We were very disappointed, and Rabbit cried so bitterly we felt quite fidgety lest someone should think we were pinching him. “Owl tried to tell him a legend about Hlnemoa — a Maori Princess — but he said he felt too unhappy to listen to stories about princesses, and he thought it would be a long time before he could stop crying, so he would go and sit in the wardrobe where nobody could hear him. “

“Owl said it was a pity he hadn’t thought of it before, because he was almost ashamed to go down to lunch.

“I felt ashamed too, but I did not say so. I told Rabbit I’d have a nice plate of radish and lettuce sandwiches sent up for him to nibble at. “We brushed our- waistcoats and went down to the dining-room. “Owl read the menu out loud, and we chose ‘colonial goose,’ because there is nothing we enjoy more thoroughly than a tasty piece of poultry. “We gave the order very clearly, Mr. Tibby, yet, would you believe it, when our plates were put before us we discovered the waitress had made a mistake and given us ordinary mutton. "We felt so uncomfortable, because neither of us likes mutton even a little bit. “I wanted to send it back, but Owi said that, rather than hurt the cook’s feelings, we must try to eat it. “We ate it, Tibby Cat, but we were determined to have what we ordered before leaving the table, so when the waitress came to see what kind of sweets we would like, I said we didn t fancy any, but we’d have ‘colonial goose’ instead. She seemed so surprised, she almost upset the sugar basin. “Owl whispered that some people showed surprise very easily, and he told me not to take any notice. "I didn't take any notice until she came back again, and then, Mr. Tibby, I had to prick myself with my dessert fork to make sure I was not in a dream she was pushing another plate of mutton under my nose! "I was just opening my mouth to protest when Owl made such a face at me that I closed it again. “‘Oh, Bo Bo,’ he said.when she had gone. ‘l’m so glad you didn’t complain: it would have made us look smaller than ever. It has just occurred to me that “colonial goose” must be another name for mutton.’ “ ‘Another name for deceiving,’ said a scratching voice behind us—and we turned around to see the cream Parrot, his feathers ruffled with rage. Owl said it was quite evident that he had made the same mistake. "We hurried upstairs as quickly as we could to tell Rabbit, but he was nowhere to be found. “I thought he might be bathing his eyes in, one of the bathrooms, and Owl thought he might have fallen asleep in a hat-box —he was not satisfied until he had looked in every one. "And then we found a note by his untouched plate of sandwiches, explaining that he had gone for a long, long walk and that he couldn’t say when he would be back, because he scarcely knew. , . “We looked at each other and we thought of all the hot, bubbling pools

he might fall into, and we felt wty agitated. “Owl said we must put on our hate at once and go in search of him, and I said I thought so, too. “We ran all the way to Ohinemutn. stopping everybody we met to inquire if they had passed a Rabbit wearing a long dust-coat. "One old Maori woman told ns ah® had noticed a. Rabbit sitting by the lake, eating an ice cream, but she couldn’t recollect if he was wearing a coat or not. "While we were talking, some children came and made terrible grimaces at us with their mouths and terrible noises with their Voices. “A gentleman passing by put,; his hand in his pocket and threw them a shining penny. I thought it was in order to make them stop, but, to my horror, Mr. Tibby, it was to entourage them. “We walked as fast as we could until we came to the lake—Owl went one way and I went another, but I hadn’t gone very far before he came hurrying after me to say that he thought it wiser to keep together, as we might end in losing ourselves. “So we kept together and scanned the shores of the lake until our eyes quite ached with gazing at the white sand and the dazzling water. “We were just deciding to continue our search in the gardens when Owl squeezed my arm. so tightly that I almost screamed with pain. “‘Look! Look!’ he cried. ‘lf that’s not Rabbit, who is it?’ “I looked, and it was Rabbit, waving to us from a boat that bobbed up and down on the water like a walnut shell. “He very excited, but kept pointing to the person rowing and jumping up and down, and waving and pointing until I began to think he would overbalance. “We ran down as far as we could to the water without getting our feet wet, and waited. “ ‘l’ve found him! Ive found him I shouted Rabbit. “We couldn’t- understand what ho was talking about. "‘Found who?’ shouted Owl. "The boat was grating on the sand, and Rabbit jumped out, followed by none other than your Uncle Fluffkins! “He, could only spare two or three minutes to talk, as he had a lot of fishing to do, but he wrote down your address very neatly inside his sou’wester, and he said he would make a point of sending you a line in the evening. “He asked me if you were still «. vagabond, and he shook his head and told Owl that it had been the only thing that had stopped him from taking you into partnership. “We helped him to push. his boat from the shore and watched him float away over the water. “I couldn’t help thinking, Mr. Tibby, that if I hadn’t been Wandeen’s Bo Bo bog, I would like very much to have been a fisherman. “We are coming home the day after to-morrow; so this is the last letter; we shall write. “I must go to bed now, Tibby Cat, because it is getting very late end, my mouth feels quite stiff with yawning. "Good night. “YOur affectionate friend, • “BO BO.* THE END.