Читать книгу Shadow, the Sheep-Dog - Enid blyton - Страница 4

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Johnny was so pleased to have a dog of his own that he couldn’t bear to part with him, even at night. He smuggled him up the stairs and into his bedroom, and very soon Shadow was sleeping at the foot of the boy’s bed, on a bit of old blanket.

Johnny didn’t tell his mother about this. He knew he should have asked her, but he was afraid she would say no. All the same it wasn’t very long before Mother found out—she was so surprised to find a bit of old blanket on Johnny’s bed each morning.

“Johnny,” she said, holding out the blanket to him, “this smells of puppy-dog. Is Shadow sleeping at the foot of your bed?”

“Yes, Mother,” said Johnny. “I do love him so. He keeps my feet warm—and oh, Mother, he makes the funniest puppy-noises in his sleep. Don’t say he must go and sleep out in the yard.”

Mother laughed. “What a funny lot boys are!” she said. “I wouldn’t have a dog in my bedroom for anything—but your father is always worrying me to let him have Jessie. And my two brothers, your uncles, had three dogs in their rooms at night! Well—I suppose if you want it so much, you must have your way. But I warn you, if I find any smelly old bones in your bed I’ll shoo Shadow out every night myself, Johnny!”

“Oh, Mother, thank you!” cried Johnny, delighted, and he gave his mother a hug. “I’ll see that Shadow doesn’t dirty my bedroom at all. He’s a really good dog. I do love him when he nibbles my toes in the morning, Mother, to wake me up!”

So all night long Shadow slept at Johnny’s feet, and all day long he ran at Johnny’s heels. Johnny was his master. Johnny was the most marvellous person in the world to Shadow. Nothing that Johnny could do was wrong, and if the boy was sad or somebody scolded him, Shadow’s tail would go right between his legs, and he would whine as if he had been scolded himself.

“Shadow, you must learn some lessons now,” said Johnny to his puppy one day. “Jessie, your mother, has taught you quite a lot of things, but I must teach you some too. You must learn to know my whistle and come at once when you are called, no matter WHAT you are doing. That’s the first lesson. I’ll teach you to-day.”

Shadow listened, his tail wagging like a windmill. What an easy lesson! He already knew Johnny’s whistle by heart. He knew his shout too. There was no voice in the world like Johnny’s, Shadow was sure. He loved Johnny’s smell too. Even Johnny’s footsteps smelt of Johnny. Sometimes Shadow would find some in the yard and would spend a lovely minute following up the smell of the footprints until he came to Johnny himself.

“You have a sharp nose, Shadow,” Johnny said to him. “That’s good. One day it may be useful to you, if a sheep is lost.”

Johnny took Shadow out into the fields. Shadow loved the fields because of the exciting smells everywhere. He ran about, his nose to the ground, smelling rat, mouse, hedgehog, rabbit, hare, and fox. Oh, delicious! Too exciting for words, Shadow thought. He put his head down a rabbit-hole and a big smell of furry rabbit came up.

Shadow went quite mad. He began to sniff and scrape, his nose well down the hole. Johnny smiled a little and went on down the field, leaving Shadow behind. Now the puppy was to get his first lesson!

When he was at the end of the field, Johnny stopped. Shadow was still scraping at the rabbit-hole. Johnny whistled. “Pheeeeeeeeee!”

Shadow heard the whistle—but how could he leave this exciting rabbit-smell? Why, he might get to the rabbit in half a minute! He took no notice of Johnny’s whistle and went on sniffing and scrabbling.

“PHHHHHHHHHEEEEEEEEE!” The whistle came again, much louder. Shadow took his head out of the hole. He saw Johnny waiting for him. He wondered if he should go. No—Johnny could wait a minute till he got that rabbit! And into the hole went his eager puppy-head again.

Then Johnny shouted loudly: “Shadow! Shadow! Come here!”

But still Shadow didn’t come. He felt that he couldn’t leave such a wonderful rabbit-smell. And then Johnny walked all the way back till he came to the puppy. Shadow felt a sharp hand smack him, and he yelped. He took his head out of the hole and looked up in astonishment at Johnny. Johnny had smacked him! Oh, what a very dreadful thing!

“SHADOW! YOU HEARD ME WHISTLE, AND YOU DIDN’T COME,” SAID JOHNNY.

“Shadow! You heard me whistle, Pheeee, and you didn’t come. You heard me call you loudly, and you didn’t come. You are a bad dog.”

Poor Shadow! His tail was lost between his legs, his ears drooped, he couldn’t look at Johnny. He crept after him, whining softly, the most unhappy and ashamed dog in all the world. Never, never would he put a rabbit-hole before his master again.

When they came to another rabbit-hole Johnny stopped. “Rabbits!” he said. “Rabbits! Go in and fetch them then.”

Shadow at once went to scrape and sniff at the hole, and in a trice Johnny ran down the field. He turned and whistled. He must see if the puppy had learnt his first lesson! “PHEEEEEEEE!” The whistle went loud and clear over the field.

And this time Shadow took his head out of the hole at once, and tore off to Johnny as fast as his legs could carry him! He wasn’t going to be punished again!

“Good dog, Shadow, good dog!” said Johnny, and he patted the puppy proudly. “It didn’t take you long to learn that lesson, did it! I don’t believe you’ll need teaching that one again.”

He certainly didn’t. At the first sound of Johnny’s shrill whistle, Shadow always bounded off to him at once. Then he was taught his next lesson—to walk exactly at Johnny’s heels when he went into the town, or for walks.

“You see, Shadow, a good-mannered dog must walk just behind his master, so as not to get in his way,” said Johnny. “And he must always be at heel in case he is wanted. So when I say, ‘Heel!’ to you, you must walk just there—that’s it—your nose almost touching my shoe. When I say ‘Run, Shadow,’ you may leave my heels and go bounding about for a run.”

Shadow listened hard. He didn’t much like walking just behind Johnny in the town. There were so many things to see and smell there. He wanted to stop and sniff at everything. He wanted to run up to the dogs he met and tell them about Johnny.

But Johnny carried a little twig, and every time Shadow’s nose came too far in front instead of keeping to heel, the little twig stung the puppy’s nose. So he soon learnt that Johnny meant what he said. “Heel” meant walking behind and nothing else—he mustn’t loiter, and he mustn’t push in front. He was a clever little dog, so it didn’t take him more than two days to learn that lesson.

Johnny never really hurt Shadow, but his father had told him that, like children, a dog has to be trained, and if he disobeys he must be punished. So the boy was strict with his puppy, because he loved him and wanted him to grow up into a well-trained and good dog.

“Now you must teach him to be ‘On guard,’ Johnny,” said his father. “That is important for a sheep-dog.”

So Shadow was taught what “On guard” meant. It was not so easy to learn that! Johnny took him into a field and put his cap down on the grass, and his coat. He made Shadow sit on them.

“On guard!” he said. “On guard, Shadow! You mustn’t leave my hat and coat till I come back or whistle to you. You are guarding them.”

“Woof,” said Shadow happily. He liked sitting on anything belonging to Johnny. Johnny began to walk away. At once Shadow bounded after him, leaving the hat and coat. Johnny swung round and looked down at him sternly.

“Didn’t I tell you to guard them!” he cried. “Bad dog! Go back. On guard, I tell you, on guard.”

He took Shadow back to his hat and coat and made him sit on them again. Shadow’s tail drooped. He didn’t want to stay with a hat and coat. He wanted to go with Johnny.

Johnny set off again. Shadow waited till he had turned a corner and then bounded after him. But no, that was not the right thing to do at all! Johnny spoke angrily to him, and Shadow was miserable. Perhaps the hat and coat were very important, he thought.

“Have I got to take you all the way back again!” cried Johnny. “Bad dog. I put you on guard, on guard, on guard!”

“BAD DOG. I PUT YOU ON GUARD!” CRIED JOHNNY.

Shadow understood. He had to go back and stay with that silly coat and cap till further orders. Well—he didn’t understand why—but all the same he knew he must obey. So back he went of his own accord, and lay down on the coat, his chin on his two front paws. Anyway, it was nice to smell Johnny’s smell coming from the coat.

Johnny went into the next field and waited a few minutes. He peeped through the hedge and saw that Shadow was really on guard this time. “What a good little fellow he is!” thought the boy proudly. “Now I’ll go back and give him a biscuit for a reward. It was hard for him to learn that lesson.”

He went back. Shadow saw him coming and stood up joyfully, his tail wagging wildly. But he didn’t leave the coat. No—he knew that he was meant to stay with it, on guard until Johnny came right up to him.

And then it was worth being taught the lesson when Johnny fed him with a delicious biscuit and patted him and told him he was the most marvellous dog in the world! Shadow rolled over on his back, put all his fat legs into the air and yelped for joy.

Johnny put on his coat and cap. “Another lesson learnt!” he said. “Good dog!”

Shadow learnt to let Johnny take away his bone from him, without growling or snapping. He learnt to track Johnny wherever he was, even when he was a mile or two away. That was really clever. Johnny would shut him up in a kennel, and go off by himself. Then, half an hour later a farm-hand would let him out and say, “Now find Johnny! Go find Johnny, Shadow! Where’s Johnny!”

And Shadow would put his nose to the ground and run wildly about until he found a fresh footstep of Johnny’s. Then off he would go, like an arrow from a bow, smelling Johnny’s track without a mistake. Over field and hedge, ditch and stream, he would run—and at last would find Johnny, hidden up a tree, or in the heather!

“Good dog! You’ve only taken ten minutes this time!” cried Johnny. “Do you like your lessons, Shadow? You learn them quickly enough! Soon you must go off with the other sheep-dogs and learn how to round up the sheep. I guess you’ll be the cleverest sheep-dog Daddy’s ever had on the farm. You will try hard, won’t you, Shadow?”

“Woof,” said Shadow, licking his master’s hand over and over again. He was excited to hear he was to go with the big dogs. Ah—he would show them how clever he would be with the sheep!