YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



come, when they sang that sweet little re- 

 frain to me, I fairly bubbled over with de- 

 light, for I thought the song was all about 

 me. But then I sprang up and stuck my 

 little cold nose into his ear, as he paused to 

 pet me, and tousled his brown hair, which 

 curled slightly. I sniffed and sneezed at the 

 lingering smell of cigar smoke in it, which I 

 could never quite learn to like, so I sprang 

 away, and went around the room again, like 

 a flying-squirrel. 



Just then I discovered a wooden spool, 

 under the corner of the green wire flower- 

 stand, which had been filled with potted 

 plants, to cheer the winter dining-room. 

 Bridget, the maid, had been rolling the over- 

 loaded stand around that she might sweep, 

 that very morning, and broken out one porce- 

 lain castor by her careless proceeding; so 

 as a substitute for her mischief, which she 

 did not tell to her mistress, she had barely 

 wedged the spool under, to block up the 

 corner, saying, as she afterward confessed: 

 "Be gorra, 'tis jist as good as new!" 

 My little back teeth were just peeping 

 through the gums, and felt just like biting 

 some hard, wooden thing, so I turned my 

 18 



