YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



quite proud of him, and at noon, when papa 

 came home to lunch, I playfully pulled him 

 forth by his feathery feet, to show papa how 

 handsome he had grown. He would let me 

 roll and drag him all around the carpet, just 

 gently touching me with his strong, white 

 teeth, when I pulled his long, silky hair too 

 roughly, as much as to say: 



"Oh, gently, gently, little Fairy queen. 

 Only let me stay here and share the crumbs 

 from your table and the merest fraction of 

 love, and I'm your little slave; do with me 

 what you will.' 



Mamma said his mouth was really beau- 

 tiful, with its ivory teeth and pink gums, 

 and she said he had the loveliest, forgiving 

 disposition. 



For four whole days it was so bitter 

 cold she had no heart to turn him out, and 

 although papa had put a notice in the paper 

 nobody came to claim him ; so I had a splen- 

 did time every day, playing rough and tum- 

 ble, and dragging him playfully about. 



"That's just the dog for a baby to have,' 5 

 said mamma. 'I know he can always be 

 trusted.' 



So at the end of the fourth day she spoke 



91 



