fence, where he was greeted in a boisterous manner by his wistful
little old dog, Duke, returning from some affair of his own in
the alley.

"Get down!" said Penrod coldly, and bestowed a spiritless "Bing!"
upon him.

At this moment a shout was heard from the alley, "Yay, Penrod!"
and the sandy head of comrade Sam Williams appeared above the
fence.

"Come on over," said Penrod.

As Sam obediently climbed the fence, the little old dog, Duke,
moved slowly away, but presently, glancing back over his shoulder
and seeing the two boys standing together, he broke into a trot
and disappeared round a corner of the house. He was a dog of long
and enlightening experience; and he made it clear that the
conjunction of Penrod and Sam portended events which, from his
point of view, might be unfortunate. Duke had a forgiving
disposition, but he also possessed a melancholy wisdom. In the
company of either Penrod or Sam, alone, affection often caused
him to linger, albeit with a little pessimism, but when he saw
them together, he invariably withdrew in as unobtrusive a manner
as haste would allow.

"What you doin'?" Sam asked.

"Nothin'. What you?"