BRUNO 85 



would say, and sitting down, I drew his head 

 to my knee, and told him all about it, - - that 

 Julius would only stay a "little, little while," 

 then he would come back and " stay - - stay 

 stay always with us." His ears rose and fell, 

 his forehead wrinkled and unwrinkled as I 

 talked to him. Then he seemed comforted, and 

 ate a good supper. 



I sat reading far into the night, until the 

 letters began to blur. Bruno sat beside me, 

 sometimes with his head on my knee while I 

 stroked his silken ears, which always sug- 

 gested the wavy locks of a red-haired girl, - 

 and sometimes he lay at full length on the 

 floor, with his head against my feet. 



As midnight tolled, I closed my book, cov- 

 ered up the fire, and tried to go to sleep, with 

 Bruno lying on the rug beside my bed. When- 

 ever I stirred, he got up, and putting his fore- 

 feet on the side of the bed, reached his head 

 over for me to stroke it. It was the first time I 

 had ever spent a night in a house with no other 

 humans, and Bruno seemed to enter thoroughly 

 into my feelings. 



I lay listening to the breakers booming on 

 the outer bar, wondering how far on his journey 

 Julius could be. 



