"You couldn't overdo it for me," said Ernest Whipple. "Will you tell us about some of the other breeds another day?"
"And tell us more anecdotes?" chimed in Jack.
Ernest, Harry, and Theron were boys of the type that love to collect facts and figures, and they had recently been doing some reading on the subject of the breeds of dogs. They discussed the matter all the way home, becoming quite excited now and then over disputed points.
"Mr. Hartshorn said that Rags didn't belong to any regular breed," said Jimmie Rogers as the boys separated, "but I don't care. There ought to be a breed like him, anyway, 'cause there isn't any better dog anywhere. Rags is good enough for me."
"That's right," cried the other boys in chorus. "You stick to Rags. He's all right, whatever the books say. Good-by, Rags. So long, Jim."
By June both Romulus and Remus were in full health again and Mr. Whipple admitted that they began to look like real English setters. They were puppies still, full of fun and mischief, but their coats had lost some of their fuzzy, silky character and their bodies had lengthened and filled out. They had gained a greater control over their muscles and in their gambols about the yard they had acquired considerable speed. Sam Bumpus came down again to look at them and pronounced them likely-looking youngsters.
"They've got some growin' to do yet," said he, "but they're gainin' bone and speed every day, and the first thing you know you'll have two fine bird dogs, or I don't know what I'm talking about."
They also displayed increasing devotion to their masters and had begun to develop, to a certain extent, the qualities of watchdogs.
It was about this time that Jack Whipple made an extraordinary and alarming discovery. He noticed one day that Remus was having some sort of trouble with his mouth, as though he had perhaps got a piece of bone wedged in his teeth. He worked his jaws in a laughable manner and poked at them with his paw. Then he shook his head, ejected a small white object, and appeared relieved.
Thinking it must be a piece of bone, Jack picked it up and examined it. It was a tooth! He called Ernest, and after poking about in Rome, they discovered another tooth in the sawdust beside the food dish. They proceeded to examine both dogs, and in Romulus's mouth they found another loose tooth which came out in Ernest's fingers.