Pixy came out of the combat sound, and ready for another fight, and Fritz was unharmed; the only injury being to the seat of his trousers, from which a piece had been torn by one of the street curs as a souvenir of the first visit to Umstadt.

“Come here, child;” called the landlady to Fritz, “you cannot go among the stylish people of Frankfort with the hem of your shirt showing.  I will mend it as well as I can, and when you get there, your aunt can mend it better.  Now see what trouble your dog has brought upon you!”

“Pixy didn’t tear my pants.  It was one of the strange dogs.  I am glad I brought him.”

“No, your dog did not tear them, but if he had not been here there would not have been a fight.”

“But he did not commence it.  They fought him, and he had to defend himself.”

“That too is true, but they do not wish a strange dog among them, nor will other dogs he meets on his travels.  So he should have been left at home.  Now go up to your room and take one of the boys with you to bring down your trousers, and I will do the best I can to mend them.”

This was done, and Fritz sat disconsolately upon a chair waiting for the return of Paul.  He began to question within himself whether he had done a wise thing to bring Pixy.  The first dogs they had met had fought him, and it might be that he would get worsted in many a battle before he was again safely at home.

At length Paul brought up the trousers, but to Fritz’s dismay the patch was of different color.  His father being a cloth merchant, the cloth was of good quality and Fritz had always been rather proud of it, but now to have a dark blue patch on dark brown trousers was mortifying indeed.  But there was no help for it.  The good woman had done the best she could, and he must wear them until he reached Frankfort.

A happy thought came to Paul.  “Wear your rain-coat,” he said.  “It is long enough to hide the patch.”

Franz, who had come up to learn the cause of delay, thought it an excellent idea, so ran down and brought up the knapsack containing the coat.

Fritz put it on, much relieved that the objectionable ornament was hidden from public view, and the three went below to resume their journey.

More than an hour had been lost by this mishap, and the landlord advised that they take the train to Frankfort in continuance of their journey.

“But we set out to walk, and told everybody that we were going to walk, and we will walk,” responded Fritz resolutely.

“That would be all right if you had started early enough.  You might then by steady walking have made the journey before dark.  As it is, you cannot reach there until night which would be rather hard for you in a strange city, and you would have to wake your aunt out of sleep to let you in.”

“But we have an hour yet until dinner time.  We can walk a long distance in an hour.”