After filling up his stomach with a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy, Arf became very tired. Feeling sorry for her unexpected guest, the little old lady put a folded blanket by her chair and called Arf to lie down and rest. Both drifted off to sleep. When she woke up, the lady realized she hadn’t called the number on Arf’s tag.
“I’ll call first thing in the morning,” she said to the sleeping dog.
The lonely woman did not want to leave her friend and go to bed, but after making sure Arf had enough fresh water, and could get out the screen door if he needed to, she turned out the lights and went to bed.
Arf: I wondered if I was dreaming, because I do sometimes, but something woke me up. I heard a strange noise outside. I didn’t know what kind of animals the lady had, but I thought I should go outside and make sure everything was okay. The sound was coming from the chicken coop. I know what a chicken coop is. It’s where chickens hide their eggs. Sometimes dogs steal chicken eggs, but I don’t.
I could see something was trying to get the chickens. There must have been a hundred of the enemy…all against one (me). It took some time, but I finally sort of won. The enemy ran for their lives.
Arf: When I was walking back to the house, the lady came outside. When she saw me, she put her hands to her face and said, “Arf, what have you done?” And then she looked over by the hen house. By that time the sun was coming up so she could see better. Three of the bad guys were running up the road.
“Oh my goodness! You saved my eggs and they would have killed some of my chickens, too! Oh Arf. Now we must clean you up. What if it would have been me out there instead of you?”
Arf: The lady was so happy I decided I must have done a good thing. I didn’t even mind it when she poured stuff all over me and sprayed me with the hose.
“You saved the day, Arf. I promised twelve dozen eggs to the local market. I only have a few days left to collect them all. The kids will be wanting them to decorate for Easter.”
“Arf, I must call the phone number on your tag. Come here and let me see what it is again. By the way, my name is Bessie. I have a milk cow named Bessie, too.”
Arf: I could hear the lady talking on the phone, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. When she hung up, she looked sad again.
“Good news, Arf,” she said.” Your owners are coming to get you. They have no idea how you could have gotten this far, but they were very grateful to learn you were okay. They won’t be able to get here for four or five days. I told them I would be happy to keep you here with me.”
Those 70ish Girls 