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and snufflings. She leaped to the top of the wall and looked down.
The Hundred And One Dalmatians 37
The next second, one of the Baddun brothers saw her and threw a
stone at her. She dodged it, jumped from the wall, and ran for her life.
In two minutes she was safely back with the Sheepdog.
They re there! she said triumphantly. The place is seething with
Dalmatian puppies!
The Sheepdog was a formidable Twilight Barker. Tonight, with the
most important news in Dogdom to send out, he surpassed himself.
And so the message travelled, by way of farm dogs and house dogs,
great dogs and small dogs. Sometimes a bark would carry half a mile
or more; sometimes it would need to carry only a few yards. One
sharp-eared Cairn saved the chain from breaking by picking up a bark
from nearly a mile away and then almost bursting herself getting it on
to the dog next door. Across miles and miles of country, across miles
and miles of suburbs, across a network of London streets, the chain
held firm; from the depths of Suffolk to the top of Primrose Hill where
Pongo and Missis, still as statues, stood listening, listening.
Puppies found in lonely house. S.O.S. on old bone . . . Missis could
not take it all in. But Pongo missed nothing. There were instructions
for reaching the village, suggestions for the journey, offers of
hospitality on the way. And the dog chain was standing by to take a
message back to the pups the Sheepdog would bark it over the wall
in the dead of night.
At first Missis was too excited to think of anything to say, but Pongo
barked clearly, Tell them we re coming! Tell them we start tonight!
Tell them to be brave!
Then Missis found her voice. Give them all our love! Tell Patch to
take care of the Cadpig! Tell Lucky not to be too daring! Tell Roly
Poly to keep out of mischief! She would have sent a message to
every one of the fifteen pups if Pongo had not whispered, That s
enough, dear. We mustn t make it too complicated. Let the Great
Dane start work now.
So they signed off and there was a sudden silence. And then, though
not quite so loudly, they heard the Great Dane again. But this time he
was not barking towards them. What they heard was their message,
starting on its way to Suffolk.
The Hundred And One Dalmatians 38
Chapter 6
To The Rescue!
As they walked the Dearlys home, Pongo said to Missis, Did you hear
who owns the house where the puppies are imprisoned?
Missis said, No, Pongo. I m afraid I missed many things the Great
Dane barked.
I will tell you everything later, said Pongo.
He was faced with a problem. He now knew that his terrible
suspicions were justified and it was time Missis learned the truth.
But if he told her before dinner, she might lose her appetite,
and if he told her afterwards, she might lose her dinner. So still
he said nothing. And he made her eat every crumb of dinner and
then join him in asking for more which the Nannies gave
with delight.
It may be a long time before we get another meal, he explained.
While the Nannies fed the Dearlys, the dogs made their plans. Perdita
at once offered to come to Suffolk with them.
But you are still much too delicate for the journey, dear Perdita, said
Missis. Besides, what could you do?
I could wash the puppies, said Perdita.
Both Pongo and Missis then said they knew Perdita was a beautiful
puppy-washer but her job must be to comfort the Dearlys. And she felt
that herself.
If only we could make them understand why we are leaving them!
said Missis, sadly.
If we could do that, we shouldn t have to leave them, said Pongo.
They would drive us to Suffolk in the car. And send the police.
The Hundred And One Dalmatians 39
Oh, let us have one more try to speak their language, said Missis.
The Dearlys were sitting by the fire in the big white drawing room.
They welcomed the two dogs and offered them the sofa. But Pongo
and Missis had no wish for a comfortable nap. They stood together,
looking imploringly at the Dearlys.
Then Pongo barked gently, Wuff, wuff, wuffolk!
Mr. Dearly patted him but understood nothing.
Then Missis tried. Wuff, wuff, wuffolk!
Are you telling us the puppies are in Suffolk? said Mrs. Dearly.
The dogs wagged their tails wildly. But Mrs. Dearly was only joking. It
was hopeless, and the dogs knew it always would be.
Dogs can never speak the language of humans, and humans can
never speak the language of dogs. But many dogs can understand
almost every word humans say, while humans seldom learn to
recognize more than half a dozen barks, if that. And barks are only a
small part of the dog language. A wagging tail can mean so many
things. Humans know that it means a dog is pleased, but not what a
dog is saying about his pleasedness. (Really, it is very clever of
humans to understand a wagging tail at all, as they have no tails of
their own.) Then there are the snufflings and sniffings, the pricking of
ears all meaning different things. And many, many words are
expressed by a dog s eyes.
It was with their eyes that Pongo and Missis spoke most that evening,
for they knew the Dearlys could at least understand one eye-word.
That word was love, and the dogs said it again and again, leaning
their heads against the Dearlys knees. And the Dearlys said, Dear
Pongo, Dear Missis, again and again.
They re asking us to find their puppies, I know they are, said Mrs.
Dearly, never guessing that, as well as declaring their love, the dogs
were saying, We are going to find the puppies. Please forgive us for
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