Centuries went by, then there came a 

 stealthy unlocking of the rude door, and 

 the man in the blue overalls peered into 

 the gloom of the shed. Toto scarcely 

 dared to breathe. The man in overalls 

 came in, leaving the door partially 

 opened. Then Toto with a magnificent 

 leap cleared the entrance with his four 

 long legs, and started in a steady, swing- 

 ing gallop across the dew}' meadows 

 homeward. He heard voices calling 

 after him, and experienced a proud, tri- 

 umphant joy that his freedom was again 

 his own, and that he could maintain it. 



It was a long way home, and he was 

 hungry and thirsty, but he never paused 

 in his long, swinging pace. Hedges and 

 stone fences were as nothing in his path. 

 He leaped them without a quiver of his 

 long, lithe body. It certainly was a long 

 way home, and he had suffered xmtold 

 .misery during those wretched dark cen- 

 turies in the shed, but at last the dear, fa- 

 miliar stone gatewiay came in sight, and 

 in a moment he was trotting up the long, 

 graveled driveway. 



It was very early, but they were all 

 there to greet him — the family who had 

 been good to him, and whom he loved, 

 yes, better than even bones. He knew 

 this when he found himself confronted 

 bv a choice between them and his tw 



little, well-filled, white dishes. He 

 wagged a tired tail to assure them that 

 his heart had remained unchanged dur- 

 ing his long absence. The Squire came 

 quickly down the steps, and cut the 

 harsh, broken cord about his neck. 



"Poor old chap," he said, "you've be- 

 gun to pay the penalty of belonging to a 

 rich master. I rather think your liberty 

 would have been safer with the peddler." 



Marjory ran down the steps to meet 

 him. There were tears in her pretty, 

 childish eyes, as she hugged him closely 

 to her. 



"You naughty Toto," she said, half- 

 laughing, half-crying. "You promised 

 me not to run away, and then you went 

 and did." 



Toto barked his regrets and apologies 

 and tried to express with his eloquent, 

 white-tipped tail all that he had suffered 

 during his exile. The Squire regarded 

 him attentively, seeming to understand 

 the elaborate explanation of tongue and 

 tail and pathetic, brown eyes. He pat- 

 ted Toto's smooth, grey head. 



"Never mind, old chap," he remarked. 

 "I think I can find the owner of this 

 rope, and when we find him we shall 

 have our revenge." 



And Toto wagged his tail understand- 

 ingly. 



Sara Bulkley Rogers. 



A BRAVE LITTLE MOTHER-MOUSE. 



When we moved into our summer cot- 

 tage (which, of course, had been tightly 

 closed since the previous September), 

 and opened a folding bed, we discovered 

 a mouse's nest between the ticks and four 

 baby mice and their mother comfortably 

 at home in it. One of my brothers 

 grabbed a broom and the other a ham- 

 mer and started on the warpath at once. 

 To their great surprise the old mouse 



would not budge, although she could 

 easily have escaped. Instead, she hov- 

 ered over all until she realized that she 

 could not save four ; then she grabbed 

 one by the back of the neck, as a cat 

 does her kitten, and started to run with 

 it. 



It was a most pathetic little effort and 

 showed that even mice are as brave and 

 affectionate as any of us. 



Lee IVCcCrae. 



