like canaries, or goldfish, Irene? Why does it have to be dogs?”
“He’ll go where Irene goes,” Danny said. “Come on. You hold his collar, and we’ll take him home.”
They marched back to the weather station, and knocked at the door. It opened. Danny, with a smile, began to speak. Then his smile froze.
Mr. Elswing was scowling horribly. With his mouth turned down, his large round face seemed to sag into his neck, and under his beetled brows his small blue eyes were dull and cold.
“What are you doing with that dog?” he snarled, before Danny could say a word. “Let go of him. And get out of here. No visitors!” He grabbed Vanderbilt by the collar. The dog tucked his tail between his legs and hung his head, and a low, sad whine issued from him. Mr. Elswing dragged him into the weather station and slammed the door.
“G-g-gosh!” Joe stammered. “What happened to him?”
The three, stunned and silent, turned away and walked back to Washington Avenue. Then Joe said, “I know what it was—split personality —when a man is two people at once.”
“Huh?” Danny grunted.
“Sure. I saw it on another TV horror show,” said Joe. “There was this good guy, and when the moon was full he turned into a monster—”
“Don’t be silly,” Danny said. “The moon isn’t even out now.”
“Is that all you watch on TV, Joe?” Irene asked, pursing up her lips. “Horror movies?”
“Nope.” Joe shook his head. “I only watch those before going to bed.”
“Hmf,” Irene sniffed. “Your parents shouldn’t allow you to watch such things.”
“They don’t,” Joe grinned.
“Still,” said Danny, “something is certainly wrong with Mr. Elswing. Maybe it is split personality.”
“We’d better not go back there, ever,” Irene said firmly. “How do we know what he’ll be like next time? He might try to stab us with a weather vane, or something.”
They walked on for a moment or two in silence. Then Danny said thoughtfully, “There’s no need to go back.”
Irene took him by the arm, and turned him to face her.
“You’ve got something up your sleeve, Dan,” she said.
“Up his sleeve? He’s not even wearing a shirt,” said Joe.
“Come on, out with it,” said Irene.
“Okay. Very simple,” Danny said at last. “We don’t need to go back to his weather station. We can build our own!”
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