time, it was the sound of wooden boxes rattling. And then another, and to Buster more familiar, voice. “He’s Balto…a hero. And my friend!” It was Tramp. He had jumped the fence wall, rebounded off the boxes in the alley, and was now standing behind Buster.

Buster cranked an evil smile, and looked back over his haunches and out of the corner of his eye. Turning again, he sauntered around to face Tramp. Tramp was poised for a fight, hackles up, gaze set hard, teeth bared.

“Is dat so? I guess you had to make sure you had enough back up before you showed your sorry face, ‘ey Tramp-o?”

Tramp walked right up to Buster. “You’re outnumbered here, Buster. And you’re making a fool of yourself. Get out now, before you do something we’ll all regret.”

Buster exchanged angry glances with Tramp, and looked over the situation. After a moment, he huffed, and turned back to his gang. “Come on, boys, let’s am-scray.” He walked past Balto and the others, who allowed him and the other dogs to pass.

Buster stopped and looked back at Tramp. “Dis isn’t over, Tramp. Not by a long shot. You betrayed me, and I’m not done wit you! If I see your face around the junkyard again, you’re dead! You hear me? Dead!” With that, he and the other dogs ran off in a flurry of barks.

Several of those left in the alley breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

CHAPTER 5
The dogs all start to wander back into the street, while Tramp nuzzled Lady, and Balto did the same with Jenna. “Are you both okay?” Balto asked.

Lady looked up at Balto. “Yes, I think so. Just shaken up, really.”

Tramp smiled. “Well, there’s a little excitement for the day! See, even out here, in the suburbs, we can have a little adventure every now and again!” Tramp laughed in spite of himself, and then nodded in self-approval. “What’s say Lady and I show you around town, huh?”

Jenna and Balto looked at each other, and then Jenna turned to Tramp. “Sure, why not?”

They all started to walk out of the alley. Just as Tramp exited, a little ahead of Lady and the others, a net suddenly came down on him, catching everyone completely off-guard.

“Ah HA!” It was the dog catcher. “Gotcha! The one that got away! You’re going right back to the pound, mister!”

Balto looked over at his team members, who were now huddled on the road watching the drama unfold. They each exchanged confused and worried glances at each other, and then Star grinned. He then started raucously barking at the dogcatcher, and the others quickly followed his example.

“Now wait just a minute here”, the dog catcher protested. “I’ll take care of you all in a flash!” He struggled to haul the net back to his truck, while Tramp struggled against it.

Star ran at the dog catcher, and made a spectacular leap up and over his head, alighting momentarily upon it, and pushing the dog catcher’s cap down over his eyes. Tramp saw the opportunity and, as the dog catcher released the net to fix his cap, he upturned it and escaped.

“Why you little hooligans! You just wait until I get my net on each of you – assaulting a city officer like that!” The dog catcher struggled to fix his cap, while the dogs began to run off. As they scattered, Tramp jumped up and knocked the dog catcher down into the street, and they all disappeared.

The dogs all reassembled around the corner, and Balto called the team together. “Fellas, why don’t you head back to the park. Jenna and I are going to take a walk with Lady and Tramp. We’ll be back later. Okay?”

They all nodded. “Sure thing, Balto”, Kaltag replied. And they returned to the park. Balto, Jenna, Lady and Tramp began to walk off down the street, chatting as they went.

They each had a grand time as Tramp showed them around the various parts of town. The day wore on, and they saw many sights, and talked about their many adventures, and became good friends in the process.

At one point, as evening approached, and the sun was starting to dip low in the sky, they passed in front of a “smoking and dancing parlor”, where a great number of men were yelling cat calls and whistling amidst cigarette, cigar and pipe smoke while a young flapper danced up on stage, twirling a long string of beads which hung around her neck, and singing a rather suggestive song. The dogs stopped at the doorway to watch, and were ignored by a large bouncer sitting, half-asleep, his chair leaning back against the open door. The song was quite lively:

I’m not one of the greedy kind
All of my wants are simple
I know what’s on my mind!

I’m not resting until I find
What would make your eyes glisten with joy
Now listen, big boy!

I wanna be loved by you
Just you and nobody else but you
I wanna be loved by you alone!
Boop boop bee doo!

(etc.)

Jenna smiled, and exchanged and amused glance with Lady. “Catchy.”

They all laughed, and continued on back towards Snob Hill.

CHAPTER 6
By the time they returned to Snob Hill, the sun had set, and it had grown dark. Tramp was humming the song they heard earlier, when he stopped in his tracks.

“Hey, you know what? I’m hungry! Is anyone else?”

They each replied in kind.

Tramp nodded. “Mm-hmm. Well, I think I’ve got the perfect place for dinner!” He winked at Lady, who giggled softly. “Follow me!”

They soon found themselves walking down a street lined with restaurants The smells were fantastic, especially for Balto and Jenna, who had never experienced anything like it. As they walked along, they started to hear the sound of a deep voice singing some romantic song, in a language which was unfamiliar to Balto and Jenna. Tramp stopped and nodded up at the sign over the door and its awning, which read Tony’s Restaurant.

Jenna put her forelegs up on the ledge of the big window in front of the restaurant, and then turned to Tramp. “Will they even let us inside?”

Tramp just shook his head and laughed. “Naw. It’s not like that at all. I’ve got my own private entrance! You see, Tony and I, we go waaaay back! Come on, let me show you!”

Tramp walked past the door and entered a narrow alley next to the restaurant. Turning the corner, they all found themselves in back of the restaurant, where cases of vegetables and some trash cans and chairs were stacked.

The back door to the restaurant, split so the top could be swung open while the lower half remained closed was, at this point, half open. From the open upper half of the door came a warm light, and the fantastic smells of fresh Italian food…as well as the occasional clink, clang and clatter of dishes and pots, and muffled conversation in the Italian language.

Tramp turned to the other three as they rounded the corner. “Hey, wait here a moment.” He then walked up to the door, and started scratching at it.

From inside came a reply, in broken English. “Okay, just a one-a minutes-a. I’m-a comin’!”

Soon a tall, thin, swarthy man with a bushy moustache, dressed in a stained white apron and chef’s hat appeared at the door. He looked down immediately and gave Tramp a wide, toothy smile. “We-he-heell-a buona sera Butch-a!”

Tramp barked and wagged his tail in response, and spun a few circles.

The swarthy man opened the lower half of the door, and crouched down to pat Tramp on the head. “Hey Tony! Guess-a who’s-a here! It’s-a Butch!”

Then another swarthy man, much larger and heavier than the first, appeared at the doorway. He was dressed better than the thinner man. He had a dark blue vest on, with a pink shirt and a dark blue bow tie at the collar, and a white apron draped around his waist. He also had a pencil stuck behind one ear. He was mostly bald, but also had a large, but well-groomed, moustache.

“Heeeey Butch-a! Whats-a bring-a you out-a this-a way tonight, uh?”

Tramp enthusiastically wagged his tail and barked a few times again, and then walked quickly over to Balto, Jenna and Lady.

The larger man, Tony, walked over to the other dogs and, bending his knees deeply to have a closer look, he gave them a wide smile. Then he turned around to the thin man. “Hey Joe. Look at-a this. Butch-a, he brought-a his little-a girl-a friend! And that-a looks-a like that-a dog-a Balto, from-a the parade-a today! He’s-a got a cute-a little-a girl-a friend-a too!”

Joe, the thin man, bent over Tony’s shoulder to have a look. “Well-a son of a gun! We gots-a real-a hero tonight!”

Tony and Joe momentarily slipped back into the restaurant kitchen. Balto stepped over to Lady and Tramp. He was a bit confused by the humans’ accent. “Girl-a friend?”

Lady and Tramp both laughed Then Lady looked up at Balto and said, in good-natured jest, “You see, Tony, he’s-a no speak-a the English-a pretty good!” She turned and winked at Tramp. That set them both laughing.

Tramp caught his breath. “Just wait ‘til you both taste what Tony’s gonna bring us!”

Soon, Tony returned carrying an overturned wooden tub, covered in a red and white-checkered table cloth. “First-a, we need-a to set up-a you table.” He turned back to the kitchen, and returned with an empty wine bottle, stuffed with a lit candle, and a small clay crock stuffed with bread sticks.

The dogs formed around it…Jenna next to Balto, and Lady next to Tramp. Tony stepped over to Tramp and, smiling again, winked at him and said “Hey Butch-a. We gonna give-a you and-a you friends-a the best in-a the house!” Tramp wagged his tail and gave a quick ruff in response.

Tony then turned back towards the kitchen and, clapping his hands sternly, called out “Hey Joe! Butch-a, he wants-a four spaghetti speciale, heavy on-a the meats-a ball!”

From the kitchen, Joe replied “But-a Tony! I still-a don’t-a think-a that-a dogs-a can-a talk! You know?”

Tony sternly shot back “Ey! We gonna go through this again?! He’s always-a talk-a to me!”

Joe, rolling his eyes, shot back “Okay Tony! He’s always-a talk-a to you!” And then, under his breath, while stirring the spaghetti in a large pot, he grumbled in Italian.

The dogs licked their lips in anticipation. Balto and Jenna didn’t even realize what they were going to be eating. But, if Tramp’s excitement was any indication, it was sure going to be good!

Balto