YOURS WITH ALL MY HEART 



ma's chamber, but all night long my alert 

 ears had caught at the slightest sound, the 

 rumble of wheels or approaching footsteps, 

 but all had subsided into silence, and little 

 tremors of apprehension shook me, as I lay 

 curled in the warm, cozy blankets, for fear 

 dear papa and mamma would not come back 

 to me. 



When the cry of the little midnight visi- 

 tant startled my listening ears, I bounded to 

 the floor and to the top of the hall stairway, 

 saying in my wrath: 



" What saucy little dog dare come here, to 

 my own home, barking in that bold, familiar 

 way?" All my very own home I called it 

 now, forgetting that only two short years 

 before I, too, had come to that very door, 

 begging to be taken in by kind hearts. 

 How much little dogs are like boys and girls, 

 and how easy it is to get proud and selfish, 

 and forget the sorrows of others. 



Just then, long looked-f or footsteps sound- 

 ed on the porch, papa's latch-key clicked in 

 the lock, and in bounced a little frowzy figure 

 before the door could fairly open. 



A tangle of silken, flaxen hair, four feath- 

 ery feet, two keen, topaz-colored eyes, with 

 86 



