When breakfast was finished, Grandfather said it was time to get to work.

"Do you mean we are going to start to work, today?" Arthur asked.

Grandfather said every day was work day on a farm and that this was the day they would decide how each of them would like to help.

"What will we do?" Arthur was impatient to know hat was expected of him.

Grandfather said there were dozens of things a boy could do about a farkm and that Arthur should wait and see what they would find that needed doing.

"I can help Miss Mary in the house," Ardath offered. She helped Mother at home a great deal because she was older than Arthur and because there was more housework and not so much outdoor work as on the farm. That is why Arthur was not sure he could really help about the farm and why he was a bit impatient.

"Yes," Grandfather agreed, "Miss Mary will be very glad to have you help her, I'm sure."

"Suppose we have a look at the dogs," Grandfather said as he led the way to the barn. The children had heard the dogs barking, but they had not seen them because the kennels were on the side of the barn that could not be seen from the house or rose garden.

Arthur and Ardath followed Grandfather. Arthur was eager to see the dogs and would have run ahead if he had known where to find them. But he did not know. He did not even ask question as he usually did.

There was a stone path leading back of the barn and right to the kennels which were built against the barn. There were three dog yards. In the first yard they came to, five puppies were running, jumping and yelping.

They looked very muck alike, but the longer the children looked, the more different each appeared to be. Three of the puppies had white breasts, a white streak on the face and white front feet, but the amount of light brown on each varied. On one the back was white and on another it was ll light brown. The other three had color patches on the back and sides.

"How do you like the puppies?" Grandfather asked, but he knew they liked them.

"We like them." Both children answered at once.

Just as Arthur was going to ask if he could pet them, Grandfather said "You can reach through the fence and touch them, if you want to.

The puppies put their front paws on the fence and fell all over one another. When Ardath reached through the fence to touch one, he ran away and she patted another one that came tumbling toward the fence. Both children laughed and tried to catch the puppies, but they were to friskie. They kept jumping and running all the while.

"The won't bite me, will they?" Arthur asked with a bit of concern because the puppies were biting one another, playfully.

"No, they won't bite you," Grandfather assured Arthur, "But they are hungry. Maybe we better feed them before you try to pet them. They will be more content after they are fed."

Just then Adam came around the corner of the barn with a bucket of water. Everyone said, "Good morning" to everyone else.

"You are the very man we want to see," Grandfather greeted. "We want to see you feed the dogs. You may have a helper, here," he said as he looked at Arthur.

Arthur's eyes opened wide. "Do you mean I can help feed the puppies?"

"We have something like that in mind", Grandfather's eyes twinkled. "Do you think you can feed them?"

Arthur said he was very sure he could co it and considered what he should do, first.

Adam opened a door at the end of the kennels and Grandfather told the children to go see what was inside the door. Curious as all children, they did not need to be told twice. They followed Adam into the entry, which was the place the dog food was kept. Right inside the door was a bin with a hinged lid on it. Adam lifted the lid and held it so the children could look inside. There was a partition in the bin and the puppy food was in the part on the right side.

"Here is where we keep the puppy food", Adam showed them. He took the scoop from the bin and filled it with brown puppy food, that looked like tiny peas.

"We mix this with a can of water", Adam said as he picked up a can besides the bin and dipped it into the bucket of water, then handed the filled can to Arthur. "Bring that to the puppy yard", he said.

Ardath watched from outside the fence while Adam and Arthur opened a gate to get into the yard. The puppies almost got out when the gate opened. Adam put a scoop of puppy food in a long trough and told Arthur to pour the water into it. Adam stirred the food and water with a long wooden spoon he had picked up in the entry, but Arthur had not seen him pick it up.

The puppies pushed one another and even got their front feet into the food, sometimes. Both children watched them gobbling up their food.

"They aren't very polite, are they, Grandfather?" Ardath was disgusted at the puppies actions.

Ardath was a proper little girl and very well mannered. Grandfather knew this and explained, "Puppies simply cannot be well mannered at this age. They are nine weeks old, today and are just learning how to eat well. At first, they nursed from their mother, you know."

Ardath wished she could have seen the puppies when they were first born and were fed by their mother. "Where is the puppies's mother, now?" she wondered.

"Give the puppies a minute to eat, then we will see their mother," Grandfather told Adam to let Hettie out of her pen.

Adam opened a gate between the first dog yard and the second one. He pulled a rope that was fastened to a pulley. A little door was pulled upward and a big collie dog with long hair and a bushy tail came bounding out the door with big leaps, barking to tell how glad she was to get into her yard. She looked toward her puppies and seemed satisfied that they were eating their breakfast.

Grandfather said "Good morning, Hettie", just as though the big dog were a person and understood. Maybe she did understand for she gave two short barks and stood with her front paws on the fence while Grandfather stroked her head. Hettie was white and light brown, too. Her face was white, but her ears were colored. There was more white on her body than light brown.

Before the children had tome to get properly acquainted with Hettie, Adam went into the next yard and opened another door with a rope attached to a pulley. A bigger dog that Hettie and darker in color came leaping forward. His face was brown except for a white spot between his beg brown eyes.

"Children, this is Hector. He is the sire of the puppies - that means he is their father", Grandfather introduced. "Hector, this is Ardath and Arthur. You will be seeing them everyday for awhile so I want you to be careful of them."

Hector seemed to understand because he gave several barks as though he might be saying, "I'm glad to meet the children and I will be careful of them."

Both children watched Hector, but they stayed close to Hettie's yard. Hector did not wag his tail as much as Hettie wagged her tail. That made them think Hettie was more friendly than Hector.

"Hector is really a very fine dog, but he likes you. You would not expect it and he could knock you down. That is why I told him to be careful of you."

"He can't knock us down if he stays in his yard", Arthur boasted and felt safe.

"That is right, Arthur, but every day we leave Hettie and Hector out of the yard for a little run. If you are out of doors playing at the time you never can tell what may happen. He may want to play with you, too." Grandfather cautioned.

"Arthur, do you think you can feed the puppies, tomorrow, while adam feeds Hettie and Hector? Adam will show you where to get the water."

"I can feed them all alone and I can feed Hettie and Hector, too", Arthur offered. Grandfather laughed at his sureness.

"No one showed you how to feed the big dogs. It will be just fine if you feed the puppies." Grandfather corrected Arthur.

"All right", Arthur agreed. "I'll feed only the puppies, tomorrow. " Arthur really wanted to learn to feed all the dogs.

"Now then, young man." Grandfather looked squarely at Arthur. "You have two chores to do, tomorrow. You feed the puppies and you get the mail from the mail box and take it to my study."

Arthur said he would remember to do both.

The puppies finished eating and the children went into their yard and petted them. Grandfather had been right, they were much easier to pet after they had been fed. Ardath even picked one up and held the fluffy puppy close to her.
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