Mates at Billabong

"Wish Dad would come," she said aloud, puckering her brow over a knot in the silk. "He's late-and it is jolly dull without him." The knot came free, and the needles raced as though making up for lost time. Two dogs lay on the grass: a big sleepy collie that only moved occasionally to snap at a worrying fly; and an Irish terrier, plainly showing by his restlessness that he despised a lazy life, and longed for action. He caught his mistress's eye at last, and jumped up with a little whine. "If YOU had the heel of a sock to turn, Puck," said Norah, "you'd be more steady. Lie down, old man.