One day in the warm summer the farmer and his wife determined to drive
to the town to sell their butter and eggs and bring back some
groceries in exchange for them, and while they were gone Bobby was to
be left alone.

"We shall not be back till late in the evening," said his mother, "for
the weather is too warm to drive very fast. But I have left you a dish
of bread and milk for your supper, and you must be a good boy and
amuse yourself with your fiddle until we return."

Bobby promised to be good and look after the house, and then his
father and mother climbed into the wagon and drove away to the town.

The boy was not entirely alone, for there was the big black tabby-cat
lying upon the floor in the kitchen, and the little yellow dog barking
at the wagon as it drove away, and the big moolie-cow lowing in the
pasture down by the brook. Animals are often very good company, and
Bobby did not feel nearly as lonely as he would had there been no
living thing about the house.

Besides he had some work to do in the garden, pulling up the weeds
that grew thick in the carrot-bed, and when the last faint sounds of
the wheels had died away he went into the garden and began his task.

The little dog went too, for dogs love to be with people and to watch
what is going on; and he sat down near Bobby and cocked up his ears
and wagged his tail and seemed to take a great interest in the
weeding. Once in a while he would rush away to chase a butterfly or
bark at a beetle that crawled through the garden, but he always came
back to the boy and kept near his side.