Freddy Goes to the North Pole by Walter R. Brooks Page A

discouraged.
    In about two hours they came to a cave, which was evidently the headquarters of their captors. Charles shuddered violently as he saw the bones lying about the outside of the cave. “Those are rooster bones, some of them,” he groaned. “Oh, I feel in my own bones that I shall never see my eighteen little ones again.”
    There were several large rooms in the cave and they were led through a narrow doorway into one of these, and a guard was posted outside. After a while the leader of the animals came in. “Now,” he said,” we can have a little talk, and I’ll tell you what I want you to do. If you agree to do it, we’ll let you go. If you don’t, we’ll eat you. You can take your choice.”
    â€œWe don’t want to be eaten,” said Jack.
    â€œAll right, then. Now listen to me. We’ve been following you for several days. There are a little boy and a little girl in your party. We want them. If you will promise to bring them to us, we’ll let you go right away. If you won’t promise—” He smiled politely, but unpleasantly. “Well, in that case, my dear dog, I’m afraid that you and your young feathered friend here—”
    â€œOh, please!” interrupted Charles.” Don’t say it again.”
    â€œVery well. But make up your minds quickly. My friends are impatient—and hungry.”
    â€œBut,” said Jack, “suppose we promise and then just go away and don’t bring them to you.”
    â€œOh, you won’t do that,” said the other. “I fancy that I am a better judge of animal nature than to think that of you. Your friend might do it, but no dog would. No dog will tell a lie, even to save his own skin.”
    This was perfectly true. No dog in the history of the world has ever been known to tell a lie, and that is why man has selected the dog as his chief friend among the animals.
    â€œWhat do you want the children for?” asked Jack. “Are you going to eat them? ”
    â€œOh, my dear fellow!” exclaimed the other. “How could you dream of such a thing? Certainly not! W—ah—well, it’s a little difficult to explain. You see—”
    â€œWe see perfectly well,” interrupted Jack. “And we’re not going to do it. You can eat us if you want to. But wait till our friends find out about it. Eh, Charles?”
    â€œYou bet!” said Charles. Like all roosters, he had plenty of courage when he was angry, and the suggestion that they should betray their friends had made him good and mad. “You great big bully, you! You cheap, sneaky baby-eater! When they get through with you, there won’t be enough left to stop up a keyhole with. You get out of here!” And he flew at the astonished animal, clawing and pecking at his eyes, and drove him out of the room into the other part of the cave.
    â€œThere, Jack,” he said as he smoothed down his ruffled feathers, “I guess I fixed him! Now all we’ve got to do is stand at the doorway. It’s narrow and only one of them can get at us at a time. Let’s see ’em try to eat us up!”
    But Jack was gloomy. “That’s all right for a while,” he said, “but by and by we’ll have to get some sleep, and then they can sneak in and overpower us.”
    â€œWell, anyway,” said the rooster, “we can hold them off for a while, and maybe Uncle William and Mrs. Wiggins and the rest of them will get here by then.”
    â€œMaybe,” said Jack hopelessly. “Well, it’s all we can do.”
    At that moment the sharp muzzle of their enemy appeared again in the doorway. “Keep back!” Charles warned him. But he did not try to come in.
    â€œOh sure, I’ll keep back,” he snarled, glaring at them with his wicked yellow eyes. “We can wait. We’ll have a better appetite tomorrow than we’ve got today. Huh! We