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“It's not open to discussion;” she said。 “He gets a bath; he gets a meal; he gets an ad in the

paper。”

My father put one arm around Matt's shoulder and the other around Mike's。 “Someday; boys;

we'll get a puppy。”

My mother was already heading back inside; but over her shoulder came; “Not until you learn

to keep your room neat; boys!”

By the end of the week; the dog was named Champ。 By the end of the next week; he'd made

it from the backyard into the kitchen area。 And not

too long after that; he was all moved in。 It seemed nobody wanted a full…grown dog with a

happy bark。 Nobody but four…fifths of the Baker family;

anyway。

Then my mother started noticing an odor。 A mysterious odor of indeterminate origin。 We all

admitted we smelled it; too; but where my mother

was convinced it was Eau de Champ; we disagreed。 She had us bathing him so often that it

couldn't possibly be him。 We each sniffed him out

pretty good and he smelled perfectly ros