"
"Little or big?" Penrod asked, without interest.
"Why, Duke's a little dog!" Margaret intervened. "Of COURSE, if
it was little, it must have been Duke."
"It WAS little," said Mr. Blakely too enthusiastically. "It was a
little bit of a dog. I noticed it because it was so little."
"Couldn't 'a' been Duke, then," said Penrod. "Duke's a kind of a
middle-sized dog." He yawned, and added: "I don't want him now. I
want to stay in the house this afternoon, anyway. And it's better
for Duke to be out in the fresh air."
Mr. Blakely coughed again and sat down, finding little to say. It
was evident, also, that Margaret shared his perplexity; and
another silence became so embarrassing that Penrod broke it.
"I was out in the sawdust-box," he said, "but it got kind of
chilly." Neither of his auditors felt called upon to offer any
comment, and presently he added, "I thought I better come in here
where it's warmer."
"It's too warm,"' said Margaret, at once. "Mr. Blakely, would you
mind opening a window?"
"By all means!" the young man responded earnestly, as he rose.
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