Tom was¹ very proud³ of his dog Blackie. Whenever⁴ he got⁵ the chance⁶, he would⁷ ask his dog to please his friends with some tricks⁸.

 

One day Tom went to visit his friend Jack⁹ who was sick at home with a bad cold."How are you feeling¹⁰?" asked Tom."Worse¹¹ than yesterday," answered Jack, "I have a terrible¹² cough¹³, and there is not a drop of medicine¹⁴ in the house. "Don't worry, Jack. I'll send Blackie to the drugstore for some medicine. He'll be back in a minute before you know it." Tom put a five dollar note in Blackie's mouth and the dog ran¹⁵ down the street. "And keep the change," Tom shouted after him.

 

"Oh, Tom, don't be silly¹⁶. You know that dog won't be back with any medicine," said¹⁷ Jack. "oh, yes he will." answered Tom. Half an hour later¹⁸, however¹⁹, Blackie had²⁰ not returned²¹. Tom was feeling worried²² and felt angry at his friend's little smile.

 

"Something has happened to him, I'm sure," said Tom. "He obeyed²³ me as² a rule." Just then Jack saw²⁴ Blackie at a distance²⁵. He hurried to open the door and let him in. Jack was shocked²⁶ to see a bottle of medicine in the dog's mouth.

 

"Good boy," said Tom, "But what took²⁷ you so long?" Blackie ran to the window, barking²⁸ and wagging²⁹ his tail. Tom looked out of the door and saw a bone outside.

 

汤姆很为他的狗“黑子”感到骄傲。一有机会他就会让它玩一些把戏来取悦他的朋友。

 

一天，汤姆去看他的朋友杰克。杰克因重感冒生病在家。“现在感觉怎么样？”汤姆问。“比昨天更厉害了。”杰克说，“我咳嗽得很厉害，家里一点药也没有。”“别着急，杰克，我让黑子去药房买点药，他一会儿就会回来的。”汤姆把一张五美元的钞票放在黑子嘴里，黑子向街上跑去。“记得找零钱。”汤姆追在黑子后面喊到。

 

“别傻了，汤姆，狗是不会把药买回来的。”杰克说。“噢，不，他会的。”汤姆说。半小时之后黑子还没有回来。汤姆有些着急并对他朋友脸上露出的一丝笑意感到生气。

 

“黑子一定是出什么事了，”汤姆说，“他一直很听我话的。”就在这时，他远远地看到了黑子并赶紧跑过去开门让黑子进来。杰克看到黑子嘴里的药瓶子真吃了一惊。

 

“好小子，”汤姆说,“但是怎么花了这么长时间呢？”黑子朝窗子跑去，边叫边揺尾巴。汤姆从门往外一看，看见了一根骨头。

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