The Highly Trained Dogs of Professor Petit (Nancy Pearl's Book Crush Rediscoveries)

by Carol Ryrie Brink

  The professor had spent some time in grooming the pony, and preparing for him a plumed bridle and a kind of platform that fitted on the pony’s back like a saddle. A small red cart with ladders and hose like a fire wagon had also come out of the caravan.

  Willie guessed, with delight, that there was more to the professor’s show than he had seen the day before. He could hardly wait for the performance to begin.

  By half past two in the afternoon, the children came marching, two by two, down from the schoolhouse with Miss Charmian, the teacher, behind them. They had persuaded her that it would be very educational for them to see Professor Petit’s Highly Trained Dogs, and so she had excused school for the rest of the afternoon. A great many parents came, too. The farmer, the baker, the weaver, and the miller had been so pleased with the work done by the dogs in the morning that they also came, in spite of Hoskins’s tiger. Only Uncle Scrivens shut himself up in the post office and refused to come.

  “Hoskins’s show is in the next town,” he said. “It will be here tomorrow.”

  “Well, tomorrow is another day,” said Willie cheerfully.

  Willie helped Professor Petit by selling tickets, and he was delighted to see how gaily the shillings rolled into the empty money bag. It looked as if Professor Petit’s troubles were over at last.

  The show started very well with the entrance of the roan pony, trotting proudly and holding his head high. Behind him ran the five dogs, without their costumes. As the pony trotted around in a large circle, the dogs took turns leaping onto the platform on his back and off the other side. The professor stood by the ring and held out a large hoop. As the pony trotted by, the dog, who happened to be on the platform, would jump through the hoop and return to the back of the trotting pony. Only Tip was too short-legged and untrained to jump on the pony’s back. But he ran in and out between the pony’s legs and then played dead in the center of the ring.

  After a few moments of this, Professor Petit and all of the dogs, except Prince, disappeared from the scene. Willie understood that they had gone behind the little house to get on their costumes, while Prince continued to entertain the audience by making prodigious leaps over the pony’s back.

  While all of this was going on, Willie happened to look around, and saw that a stranger had joined the edge of the crowd. He was a very large man with long black hair and heavy brows. In his ears there were shining hoops of gold. Beside him, held by a leash, was a large grey dog. Willie had never seen man or dog before, but instantly he knew who they must be. Professor Petit had said that Hulk Hoskins had a dog named Brutus, and on the dog’s wide collar, for everyone to see, was the name Brutus, spelled out very clearly in copper nailheads. For a moment Willie was worried. But then he heard the children saying, “Oh!” and “Ah!”, and he forgot about the strangers in watching Prince make even higher and finer leaps over the back of the pony.

  Now Professor Petit’s whistle blew, and the pony trotted away with Prince on his back. Prince jumped down and ran behind the little house, and Willie knew that the professor would be helping him into his coat and trousers. In the meantime the front door of the house opened, and out walked Liddy on her hind legs, dressed in all of her finery with the plume waving on her bonnet. Behind her came Grushenka, pushing a baby carriage. In the carriage lay Tip with a baby’s cap tied over his ears and a bottle in his mouth. This was the part of the show that Tip liked best, because the professor always saw to it that there was real milk in the bottle.

  Now around the side of the house came Sancho, walking on his hind legs and dressed in his scarlet jacket and yellow trousers. He bowed politely to Liddy, waving his beautiful tail. Liddy bowed to Sancho. Together they began to waltz.

  By this time Prince had been hurried into his orange and green outfit, and he also came walking on his hind legs around the house. The professor was playing his jaw harp, and Prince and Grushenka were soon waltzing beside the others. It was a pretty sight. Even Tip, having finished the milk in his bottle, leaped out of the baby carriage and began to waltz to the great delight of the children. When he had waltzed a few measures, Tip went down on all fours and approached the audience. In a moment he had extracted a large gold watch and chain from the pocket of an old gentleman who was watching the dancers.

  Poor Professor Petit was obliged to stop playing the jaw harp and return the watch to the gentleman, who had not even missed it. Whether or not this was a regular part of the show, Willie could not tell, but it is certain that the audience was greatly amused.

  Amid the applause Willie heard only one discordant note. Behind him there was a low sound of growling, and a man’s voice said, “Not yet, Brutus! Wait a little longer.”

  I should warn Professor Petit, Willie thought. I believe that Hoskins and Brutus are up to no good.

  But there seemed no way to get a message to the professor, for, once his show had begun, it moved steadily forward with the precision of a clock. Now Liddy was performing her act on the ladder and tightrope, and Grushenka was balancing a ball on her nose and tossing it into the air. Willie could see that the pony was hitched to the red fire cart, and was standing by in readiness for the next act. Professor Petit seemed to be everywhere at once: now setting up ladders, now tossing Grushenka a ball, now slipping the red harness over the pony’s head. And now he was behind the little house lighting a paper flare.

  In an instant the whole scene changed. Fire and smoke began to come out of the chimney of the house, and Tip in his baby’s cap appeared at an upper window as if he wished to be saved. Grushenka left her ball and ran to pull the cord of a fire bell with her mouth.

  Professor Petit cried out in a strong voice: “Fetch water! Fetch ladder! Fire! Fire!”

  Prince and Sancho, with buckets dangling from their mouths, ran to the river for water. The pony pranced onto the scene, drawing the red cart. Liddy and Grushenka hopped onto the cart as it stopped before the little house. Together they took hold of the ladder on the cart and set it up against the house. Then Liddy, with the nozzle of a hose in her mouth, began slowly to climb the ladder. In the meantime Prince and Sancho returned from the river, spilling the contents of their buckets into a small tank on the red cart. As they dashed back to the river for more water, Grushenka began to bob up and down with her paws on the handle of a pump. The pump sent water up into the hose. Liddy held the nozzle pointed toward the house, and in a moment water was squirting out of the hose onto the fire. There was a hiss and a crackle, a crackle and a hiss, as fire and water met.

  The children shrieked with pleasure and excitement as they saw the highly trained dogs putting out the fire. Nothing more wonderful than this had ever been seen in Puddling Center. Willie cried out also, and clapped his hands together until they stung. But in the midst of his delight, some impulse made him turn to look at the large man and his dog. And he was just in time to see Hulk Hoskins stooping to unfasten Brutus’s leash. He saw the flash of white teeth in the snarling face of the dog, and he heard the man’s muttered, “Go!”

  4

  DOG FIGHT

  The big dog named Brutus went like a flash. Before Willie could cry out to warn Professor Petit, Brutus had leapt in among the actors, biting and snapping. The fire was out, and Liddy and Tip were descending the ladder from the window of the house. Grushenka was still busy at the pump, and Prince and Sancho were returning from the river. They were all in their costumes and unprepared for attack.

  When the strange dog leapt among them, the pony became frightened and began to run. The ladder fell down with Liddy and Tip tumbling off it in midair. Grushenka jumped from the cart and made for Brutus, but she was no match for his great strength. The other highly trained dogs rushed to her assistance from all sides. They were down on all fours now, and as full of fight as if they had never been educated for better things. But, although they were five against one, Brutus had all of the advantage. He had not been taken by surprise, nor was he hampered by trousers and petticoats. His wide, strong collar, on which his name
was spelled, only made it more difficult for the highly trained dogs to catch him by the throat.

  The children and Miss Charmian began to scream and cry out. The barking and snarling of the dogs was terrific. Professor Petit ran out shouting commands, but he was scarcely heard over the uproar. This was one time when he might have used a whip to good advantage. But he did not even own one, for he had never before needed it.

  “Stop this! Stop this!” he cried. But, when his dogs tried to obey him, they were ever more savagely set upon by the strange dog. Willie stood up and shouted, too. At first he shouted “Stop!”, and then he quite forgot himself and began to shout, “Sic ’em! Go it! Eat the big brute alive!”

  It was a terrible fight. In the midst of it all, Willie suddenly remembered Brutus’s master. He turned around to beg Hulk Hoskins, in the name of common decency, to call off his dog. But the large stranger was no longer there. He had unleashed Brutus and gone away. Let the highly trained dogs look after themselves!

  Now Willie remembered the fire hose. The pony had run a little way, and then had stopped and begun to eat daisies and buttercups. It took Willie only a moment to back the cart, man the pump, and point the nozzle at Brutus’s nose. There was not very much water left in the tank, but a thin stream directed in Brutus’s face was enough to turn the tide of battle.

  Brutus spluttered and gasped with surprise. He stopped fighting to shake himself, and instantly the five highly trained dogs pounced on him. As soon as he saw that the fight was going against him, Brutus began to run. At a word from Professor Petit, the highly trained dogs let him go—all except Tip, who hung on to his tail all the way across the square.

  Finally, however, Brutus broke away and, running swiftly, disappeared out of town. The highly trained dogs chased him a short distance, and then they came limping back to their master. They were a sorry sight. Trousers and jackets were torn, ears were bloody, legs were lame. The beautiful little house had been knocked over, so that everyone could see it was not a real house, after all, but only a show house. It was apparent that the performance was over for that day.

  To make matters worse, the people of Puddling Center, even the children, began to come up now and ask for their money back.

  “We expected a good performance,” they said. “We did not get our money’s worth.”

  Willie tried to reason with them, and tell them that perhaps the show could be repeated later when the dogs had had a rest. He told them that they were really lucky to have seen more than they had bargained for.

  But Professor Petit said, “Give them back their money, Willie. We are honest showmen, and we have been prevented from completing an honest show. We cannot, with good conscience, keep a penny.”

  So, reluctantly, Willie handed back the people’s shillings until the money bag was empty.

  When he returned to the green caravan, he found that Professor Petit was busy dressing the wounds and making the dogs comfortable.

  “What is to be done now, Professor?” Willie asked.

  “Alas!” said Professor Petit. “Now, indeed, we are ruined. I shall have to stop here and get some sort of employment to keep us alive, while I mend the costumes, repair the little house, and gather fresh courage to go on.”

  “Did you recognize the dog that caused the trouble?” Willie asked. “I’m sure I know who it was.”

  “Yes,” said the professor. “It was Brutus from Hulk Hoskins’s show.”

  “His master was here, too,” said Willie. “I saw him unleash Brutus, and then he went away.”

  “It is a cruel thing to have an enemy,” said the professor. “I did not think that I should ever have one, and, indeed, I have done nothing to deserve such treatment from Hulk Hoskins. It is only our skill and excellence that has made him jealous. He wants us entirely out of his way.”

  “I notice that you put the blame on the master and not on the dog,” said Willie.

  “Yes,” said Professor Petit. “The dog is not to be blamed, for a dog will always reflect the character of his master. If you find an ugly, snarling dog, mark my words, you will soon discover that he belongs to a cross and cruel master.”

  Willie noticed that, in spite of their bandages and patches, Professor Petit’s dogs were still wagging their tails and regarding their master with hope and kindness. It is easy to see, he thought to himself, that these dogs have a good master.

  “How would you advise me to try and earn my living, Willie?” asked the professor. “I could teach singing and dancing to the people of Puddling Center. Do you think they would like that?”

  Willie thought of Uncle Scrivens and the other serious people of Puddling Center.

  “I’m afraid not,” Willie said. “The people here do not have time for singing and dancing. They believe that it is more important to be rich than to enjoy themselves.”

  “Ah!” said Professor Petit.

  “But I’ll tell you what,” said Willie. “If you were willing to let your dogs work for you, I am sure that they could get regular employment with the miller, the weaver, the farmer, and the baker. I’d be glad to have them earn the money that I have been receiving in that way; and then perhaps I could find a little time to go to school.”

  The dogs began to bark, as if they had perfectly understood Willie’s proposal. They jumped up and put their paws against the professor’s legs. Liddy sat up and begged. Only Tip went into a corner and rolled himself up in a ball and fell asleep.

  “Well, bless my soul!” said Professor Petit. “What is the meaning of all this?”

  “They had a good time this morning,” Willie said. “I believe that it would be a kind of vacation for them to work in Puddling Center for a little while instead of giving shows.”

  So it came about that Prince went to work for the baker, Sancho for the farmer, Grushenka for the weaver, and Liddy for the miller.

  “And what shall Tip do?” Willie asked.

  “Tip shall go to school with you,” said the professor. “That is, if Miss Charmian will have him. He is very ignorant, and perhaps he will learn something in school that I have been unable to teach him. Meantime I shall occupy myself with mending and repairing and thinking up some new acts for the show. I am far from beaten, as Hulk Hoskins himself will one day find out.”

  The next day, when Willie had delivered Uncle Scrivens’s letters and was ready to go to school, the professor handed him a note for Miss Charmian, and Tip trotted along beside him.

  Dear Miss Charmian, said the note. I hope that you will not mind having a dog in school. The rest of my dogs are highly educated, but Tip has set his mind against learning. I trust that you can help him.

  Respectfully yours,

  Pierre Petit.

  5

  TIP GOES TO SCHOOL

  Tip sat beside Willie, while the teacher read the note, and he wagged his tail in such a friendly way that she did not have the heart to say no.

  The little children were all tittering and laughing behind their geographies to see a dog in school. This was most unusual, because the children of Puddling Center were ordinarily as solemn as their parents. Miss Charmian rapped on her desk and said, “Quiet, please.”

  When everything was quiet, she said, “How many of you are glad to see Willie back in school?”

  All of the children raised their hands.

  “He has brought another pupil with him,” continued Miss Charmian, “who is in need of instruction. The new pupil is named Tip.”

  At the sound of his name Tip lay down on the floor and rolled over, so quickly that in an instant he was up again and looking as solemn as a judge. The children had to cover their mouths with their hands to keep from laughing.

  “Now,” said Miss Charmian, “we can only allow Tip to stay, if he will behave himself, and if you children will behave yourselves, and if Willie sees to it that there is no disturbance.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Willie said. He went and sat down in the one large seat at the back of the schoolroom and motioned to Tip
to sit beside him.

  “Now,” said Miss Charmian, “let us continue with our geography lesson. Lucy Tufts, will you kindly bound Nigeria?”

  Willie opened the geography to Nigeria, and followed with his finger the boundaries of the country as Lucy recited them. He felt very happy to be here and to be learning something new and interesting. In a few moments he was sure that he could close the book and bound Nigeria also, if Miss Charmian were to ask him.

  For a while Tip sat up quite straight beside Willie, listening carefully to all that was said. But presently he began to yawn and his tail to droop. Very slowly he sank down, curled himself into a ball, and went to sleep.

  Willie thought that school was not going to do Tip very much good, but, if only he behaved himself, it would surely do him no harm.

  Recess, however, was quite a different matter. Tip woke up with a start, as the children marched out of the schoolroom, and he went racing between their legs to be the first one out of doors. As usual the children made a neat ring to play Drop the Handkerchief. But the very first time the handkerchief was dropped, Tip made off with it, and dashed away across the school yard. In a moment all of the children were after him, laughing and shouting in a most unusual way. Tip leaped over the swing boards and ran under the teeter-totter with all of the children tearing after him. Eventually it turned into a wonderful game of tag. “Tip-Tag,” the children called it. They had never been so red-cheeked and out of breath and full of laughter in their lives as they were when they came in from recess.

  After recess they had singing, and usually the children sang in very gentle little birdlike voices. But today they shouted at the tops of their lungs, and Tip sang, too, “Ow-wow-wow-wow-wow!” Miss Charmian did not know whether to be pleased or not, but she was impressed. There was no naughtiness at all, only a great deal of enthusiasm and good cheer.