`` Ern , you are a brick ! '' I exclaimed . `` You 've saved my life ! '' `` No , it was Laddie , '' said Ernest , refusing to take any credit at all . We hurried home and arrived at Uncle Richard 's about ten , just as they were going to bed . When Uncle Richard heard what had happened , he turned very pale , and murmured , `` Thank God ! '' Aunt Kate got me out of my wet clothes as quickly as possible , put me away to bed in hot blankets and dosed me with ginger tea . I slept like a top and felt none the worse for my experience the next morning . At the breakfast table Uncle Richard scarcely spoke . But , just as we finished , he said abruptly to Ernest , `` I 'm not going to sell Laddie . You and the dog saved Ned 's life between you , and no dog who helped do that is ever going to be sold by me . Henceforth he belongs to you . I give him to you for your very own . '' `` Oh , Mr. Lawson ! '' said Ernest , with shining eyes . I never saw a boy look so happy . As for Laddie , who was sitting beside him with his shaggy head on Ernest 's knee , I really believe the dog understood , too . The look in his eyes was almost human . Uncle Richard leaned over and patted him . `` Good dog ! ''
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Thank finished give helped hurried murmured patted put said sold