It was in February that Father and Mother began going away from home for three and four days at a time. William usually went with them, but once the Master went. Each time they came back they brought a bunch of pretty ribbons, blue and red and yellow and white, and William put them in a glass case in the harness room where there were lots more. Of course we asked Mother where the ribbons came from and she said from the dog shows and told us about them. But we didn’t understand very well. It seemed that the ribbons were prizes given to Father and Mother because they were such fine dogs, and William and the Master and every one was very pleased and proud each time Father and Mother came home.  
 
Father was proud, too. He got more ribbons than Mother. I didn’t think that was fair, but Mother didn’t seem to mind. After each show Father would be very lazy and just lie around and look proud and Mother would fetch him bones. But after a day or two Father would forget to be proud and find his own bones. It wasn’t much fun for Freya and I when Father was being proud, because he slept a lot and if we made the least noise Mother would say “Hush, children! Your father is taking a nap and you mustn’t waken him. Go somewhere else and play.” So we were glad when the dog shows stopped for a while.
 
Freya and I were to learn about dog shows for ourselves, though. When we were almost a year old William began putting a on my collar and Freya’s and walking us about. At first I didn’t like it at all. It made me quite nervous to have that holding me back. The first time William put it on I stood still and he kept at it and saying “Come on, now, Fritzie! Come on now!” I was quite willing to go with him, but I didn’t like the feeling of that collar up around my ears. Still, it didn’t do any good to put my feet out and hold back because William dragged me, and when I found that out I I’d run away from him. So I started off in a hurry. But there was that strap, and when I’d gone a little ways my feet went out from under me and I turned a somersault. That frightened me and I ran off in another direction. But each time that leash stopped me. Then I began to run around William in circles and howl and presently, when I couldn’t run any more, because the leash was wrapped around William’s legs, I gave a final and William fell over on his back in a flower-bed where there were some sweet peas just coming up. He was very angry. I saw that at once and so I tried my best to get away from there. But the more I tried to run the angrier William got. You see, he couldn’t get the strap from around his legs and so he couldn’t get on his feet. And just then I heard the Baby clapping her hands and Nurse saying “Why, William! Whatever are you doing there?”
 
And then William was so surprised and felt so silly that he let go the leash and I pulled it loose and ran as hard as I could run to the stable and crawled behind the flower-pots. But of course he found me and pulled me out. He always did. Sometimes now I wonder why I didn’t find a better place to hide in.
 
Well, William had his way in the end and I got so I didn’t mind being on the leash and would walk along ahead of him quite nicely. Freya had to learn too. She didn’t mind it as much as I had, but then she never had much spirit. After we got used to the leash William would put a flat box in the middle of the carriage room floor and make us get up on it and stand there for minutes at a time. I didn’t see much fun in that, and at first when he got me on the box I jumped right down again. But he was very—very—Now what was it that Mother said he was? O............