Bolts Read Online Free PDF

Doesn’t he know he’s got a built-in radio?”
    â€œDumb dog!” squawked Pirate. “Dumb dog! No brains!”
    â€œHe’s not a dumb dog,” Bingo told the parrot. “He’s a lot smarter than you. He’s supposed to have one of the best brains the factory can make.”
    â€œHa!” cackled Pirate. “They had to trim it. Trimmed off the smart part. Left all the dumb part.”
    â€œOh, no!” Bingo cried. “They wouldn’t do that to him.”
    â€œOh, but they did,” Pirate said smugly. “He’s not worth having. Who wants a dumb dog?”
    Commander Brown said, “I’m going to call the Inspector at the robot factory and find out about this. If Bolts had his brain trimmed, it could be a very serious matter.”
    While the commander was on the telephone, Big Butch came clumping in from the kitchen. “Bingo, don’t you know you’ve got that thing turned up too high? We robots got mighty tender circuits. How can that poor puppy dog answer when he gets himself sizzled every time he turns on his receiver?”
    â€œB-but I had to get his attention, Butch.”
    The commander came back from the telephone, shaking his head. “It’s true about his brain,” he said sadly. “They had to trim it to make it fit. The factory wasn’t at all satisfied with him, but they said it was the best they could do. From the way they talk, I’m afraid Bolts isn’t worth saving.”
    Bingo looked sick. “B-but, Pops, we can’t abandon him!”
    â€œI’d really hate to do it,” the commander admitted. “But if Bolts isn’t very smart, we can’t afford to take him along in the Space Jumper. It could be very dangerous.”
    Fortunately for his peace of mind, poor Bolts had no idea that his fate was hanging in the balance. He had enough worries as it was, even though he was not one to fret about the future. Already the burro had led him to higher ground. The mountains were close, and the cactus forest was beginning to thin.
    â€œI’m stopping here,” the burro said at last. “I do hate to part with you, but being edible rather limits one’s travels. If you’ll take my advice, you’ll go as far and as fast as you can while you have the opportunity. If you can get high enough in the mountains, the major won’t be able to follow you on horseback.”
    Bolts stood blinking uneasily at what lay in front of him. The ground was sloping steeply upward, rising so high that it seemed to scrape the stars. He hadn’t realized that mountains could be so big—and so dark and threatening.
    â€œSure gonna be lonesome without you,” he mumbled.
    â€œOh, with your personality,” the burro assured him, “you’re certain to make friends. Just hold your teeth back, and keep your growl down.”
    Bolts thanked him for his good words and sound advice, then gave himself a little shake to stiffen his courage, and set out for the unknown dangers ahead.
    It soon occurred to him that he’d forgotten to ask the burro what country this was, but he decided it didn’t matter. All that mattered was to get out of it as soon as possible—and the only way to do that was to keep moving. If a dog kept moving long enough, he was bound to reach Battleship Lane.

4
    He Is Partially Located
    Far away on Battleship Lane, the fate of Bolts was still being decided. “I don’t like to abandon him,” Commander Brown was saying, “but what else can we do? If he won’t answer us, we can’t find him. And if he’s not worth saving anyway—”
    â€œB-but we need him!” Bingo cried. “We’ve got to find him! How can we make that space trip without him?”
    â€œWe’ll have to change our plans,” growled the commander. “Even if we found him, I’d hate to be caught in space with a fool robot dog