ham estate. Very few things had power 

 to worry him now ; what could possibly 

 worry a person sure of bones and bed, 

 especially when tiiose bones were more 

 often than not delicate chicken bones, and 

 the bed a big hay affair thoroughly pro- 

 tected by an airy kennel? He rolled orj 

 the short, sweet grass, and stretched out 

 all his long, slender, grey legs skyward 

 in a rapture of content. He was still roll- 

 ing and stretching when he heard Mar- 

 jory enter the carriage-house and take 

 out her bicycle. Instantly he reversed 

 himself, and took his lithe, grey body 

 joyously across the lawn. He leaped up, 

 barking, to lick her face, begging in his 

 eloquent, dumb, dog-fashion, to be taken 

 out, too. 



The little girl bent down to give him 

 a hug, and all her hanging, yellow hair 

 fell down softly about the dog's neck. 



"If you'll promise tO' be good, Toto, 

 and not get lost, I'll take you with me," 

 she said. 



Toto understood thoroughly, and 

 wagged innumerable promises with his 

 tail. Marjory mounted her wheel with 

 the wonderful dexterity of childhood. 

 Toto leaping and barking beside her, and 

 the pretty pair raced down the driveway 

 together. 



They turned out of the stone gateway 

 into the wide world with a mad sense of 

 liberty in their souls. Toto, being a dog, 

 felt his freedom more keenly, and gave 

 himself up to it more unrestrainedly, but 

 both he and his charming little mistress 

 were in perfect accord. They both liked 

 wild races along the level roads ; they 

 both loved the June sunshine, and the 

 delightful emancipation from mothers. 



Down the wide, elm-shaded village 

 street the mad pair raced, full of the joy 

 of mere living ; along the quiet river-path 

 far out into the country. Suddenly Toto 

 paused. Someone had whistled nearby, 

 and as he stood alert, glancing about, 

 one white paw lifted, a man in blue over- 

 alls burst out of the wayside bushes. He 

 certainly seemed an unpleasant charac- 

 ter, although his actions were friendly. 

 He held a bit of bread invitingly out to 

 Toto, who saw no reason why he should 

 not accept the proffered hospitality. This 

 was his one fatally weak point. Never 

 could he bring himself to refuse any- 

 thing to eat. The one bone too miuch 



had never been able to cure him of this 

 habit, although it had widened his ex- 

 perience. 



For the moment that alluring piece of 

 bread became Toto's greatest ambition. 

 He forgot his dislike of suspicious char- 

 acters, and, advancing gracefully on his 

 slender, grey legs, accepted the olive 

 branch. Directly his strong, white teeth 

 closed upon the bread, the world turned 

 suddenly dark. He felt himself picked 

 up and carried away rapidly, while a 

 stifling, black cloth was wound tightly 

 about his head. 



Then the realization of the loss of his 

 birthright for a mess of pottage over- 

 came his composure, and he struggled 

 frantically in his captor's unyielding 

 arms, howling dismally. 



When he regained his liberty he found 

 himself in a narrow, dark shed, which 

 smelt musty. He heard the noise of 

 chickens nearby, and smelt the peculiar 

 odor of cattle. 



Suddenly he realized that his beauti- 

 ful, broad, silver-studded collar was 

 gone, and about his tender neck was a 

 coarse, prickly rope, which was fastened 

 to a nail in the corner. Toto felt at once 

 that this was an unendurable state of 

 affairs. For a moment a wave of home- 

 sickness swept over him as he thought 

 of his soft, fragrant hay-bed at home, of 

 those dear, never-failing, juicy bones, of 

 all the love and kindness showered upon 

 him by the family * * * then a grim 

 determination crept into his soul. He 

 resolved to regain his liberty, or die in 

 the attempt. 



The first step was to fix those strong, 

 white teeth of his in the solid, twisted 

 rope. It certainly was a tedious, dragging 

 business, but at last he managed to saw 

 his tether apart, and he was a free dog 

 again. He went cautiously about the 

 narrow, dark shed, smelling carefully. 

 He had an instinct that it would never do 

 to bark as he did at home when he 

 wished William to open the door. He 

 knew that he was in the power of a 

 crafty enemy, and that it behooved him 

 to exercise even greater craft himself, 

 so he went softly on velvet paws. Ah, 

 here was the door. Instinctively he 

 crept back into the deeper shadows of 

 the darkness, and waited with an infinite 

 patience. 



