Was the Dog Clever?

It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house. Considering that there was no better way, Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: "Give my dog half a pound of meat." Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently: "Take this to the butcher, and he's going to give you your lunch today."

Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's shop. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and presently did as he was asked to.

The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up immediately. At midday, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more. The next day, the dog came again exactly at midday. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at the paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.

But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, "This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?"

Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!