BILLY AND HANS 



anywhere he could get at him; and 

 Hans, after a little indignant bark, 

 used to bolt away and find another 

 place to sleep in. As they both had 

 the freedom of my large bedroom 

 — the door of which was carefully 

 guarded, as Hans was always on the 

 lookout for a chance to bolt out into 

 the unknown — they had plenty of 

 room for climbing, and comparative 

 freedom ; and after a little time Hans 

 adopted Billy's habit of passing the 

 night in the fold of my bed-rug, and 

 even of nestling with Billy near my 

 head. Billy was from the beginning 

 a bad sleeper, probably owing to the 

 tea, and in his waking moments his 

 standing amusement was nibbling at 

 Hans, who would finally break out of 

 his sleep and go to the foot of the 

 bed to lie — but never for long, for he 

 always worked his way back to Billy, 



