if in hearing, Master Frisky would run out to meet him.
They would rub noses; and after standing together for a minute, Ned would trot off to the next house, and so on, until he had made the rounds of the village. No matter how pressing the invitation, he would never loiter on any of these morning rounds, after which he always went directly to the meeting-house shed, which served as a town hall for the dogs, where he would report to the older ones. Ned was a sort of sentinel; and if there was anything out of the ordinary, he always reported to his superiors.
The coming of a litter of puppies was always hailed with great joy; and the proud mother was visited in the afternoon by the judge, when any such event was reported in the morning by the sentinel.
If there had been fighting among the younger dogs during the day, it was reported, and the culprits engaged were reprimanded by those in authority.
Sentinel was the first office that Master Frisky ever filled; and the first morning he played truant, and was severely punished for his negligence by Major Snow, who was then judge of dog town.
Major was a large Newfoundland, and very wise.
Each dog takes the name of his master for his last name; and then, if there are two with the same first name, they do not get mixed up.
