The next day, when Arthur J. Warner the Second stopped to deliver the newspaper at Mr. Miller's house, he saw that Rocky was inside a fence in the yard.
Rocky barked and growled and jumped up on the fence.
He looked very vicious!
"Shut up you stupid dog!" yelled Mr. Miller as he came out the door to get his newspaper.
"I just don't know what to do with that dog," said Mr. Miller to Arthur J. Warner the Second.
"I am going to have to send him to the dog pound. He's just no good to me.
He's afraid of water and won't go into the lake to retrieve. He is a water chicken dog!
"And," said Mr. Miller taking a breath, "he barks all the time!"
"What will happen to him at the dog pound?" asked Arthur J. Warner the Second.
"They will probably put him to sleep," said Mr. Miller.
"Put him to sleep? Like...make him die?" asked Arthur J. Warner the Second.
"Well yeah," said Mr. Miller. "They give the animals a shot--they don't feel a thing--just go to sleep--permanently."
Mr. Miller turned to go back into the house.
"Mr. Miller?" asked Arthur J. Warner the Second, "may I have him then?"
Mr. Miller turned around and looked at Arthur J. Warner the Second and then back at the barking Rocky.
"Well...I suppose so. He isn't really as ferocious as he sounds. He only barks when he is kept inside the fence. If I let him out, he is real quiet."
Mr. Miller walked to the gate and opened it.
Rocky came running out and went right up to Arthur J. Warner the Second and sniffed of the back of his hand.
Arthur J. Warner the Second very carefully reached out and patted Rocky on the head.
Rocky licked Arthur J. Warner the Second's hand and wagged his tail.
"I guess he likes you," said Mr. Miller. "You can have him."