paw upon her shoulder, and his strug- 

 ghng- efforts to bestow his dog kisses 

 would en,d in a romp. 



But these happy months were soon 

 over, and the children returned to their 

 own home, leaving little Muff behind 

 them, with many regrets. 



By this time, however, he had found 

 a warm friend in their aunt, and in his 

 loneliness after the children ha,d gone, 

 he gave all the affection of his warm 

 little heart to her. When he saw her 

 attired for the street, he would bound 

 to his feet, wag his tail, and by his 

 eager looks ask permission to go with 

 her, a favor very frequently granted; 

 but it was not always convenient to 

 have a httle dog along, and never at 

 church or prayer meeting. 



It was not long before he learned the 

 meaning of "No, Muff, you cannot go." 

 Although these words chased all the joy 

 from his expressive eyes and tail, they 

 seldom failed to be effective. After 

 many months had passed by, it was 

 noticed that at church time on Sunday, 

 auid at the hour for the weekly prayer 

 meeting, Mufif never asked to go along. 

 When attention was called to this, the 

 question arose, ''How does Muff know 

 that it is church or prayer meeting 

 tim.e?" It was at last concluded that 

 the bright little creature had noticed 

 that when the bells rang he was always 

 refused permission, so now had lost all 

 desire to go on those occasions. 



As the years went by, his affection 

 for his mistress was often very touching. 

 If she was absent for any length of 

 time, he would hunt for her all over the 

 house, an,d when he failed to find her, 

 he would go to his cushion and lie 

 down with a sigh that seemed entirely 

 , human; and at one time I was sure I 

 detected tears in his eyes, which he 

 wiped away with his little paw. But oh, 

 the joy of the homecoming. It seemed 

 sometimes as if his little heart would 

 burst, and for a long time afterwards, 

 every movement of his mistress was 

 jealously watched. 



Usually he was very obedient, and a 

 tone of reproof was all that was neces- 

 sary to correct any transgression, but 

 on one occasion his .desire for luxurious 

 comfort got the mastery. His own 



bed was a soft cushion on the floor of 

 the library, but one day it was dis- 

 covered from hairs left behind, that he, 

 when alone, had taken possession of a 

 large plush chair in the parlor. He was 

 taken to this and severely reproved, 

 and seemed very much ashamed, but a 

 few days later the same thing happened ; 

 then for the first time in his life he was 

 whipped with a little switch. For a long 

 time no traces of disobedience were 

 found; but one afternoon I was the in- 

 terested observer of a severe struggle 

 between his desire and his conscience, 

 and I am sorry to say he would have 

 yielded to the temptation if he had not 

 been prevented. 



While he was asleep, I had taken 

 a seat behind the drapery of a large 

 bay window in the parlor, and was ab- 

 sorbed in my book, when suddenly I 

 heard the pat, pat of little feet, and 

 on quietly looking through an opening, 

 I saw Muff standing before that chair 

 gazing longingly into its soft depths; 

 then he turned sadly away, and I re- 

 joiced, but he had taken only a few 

 steps when he returned. This he re- 

 peated several times, till my heart fairly 

 ached for the little hero, but, I am sorry 

 to say, at last he was just ready to 

 spring up, when I suddenly exclaimed, 

 "O Muff!" Then he turned, and with 

 head down and tail drooping slowly 

 walked to his cushion in the adjoining 

 room. I followed, and when I gently 

 put my hand upon his little head, he 

 looked up, saying as plainly as a dog 

 could, "I'll never, never, do it again," 

 and I think he never did. When I said, 

 "Poor little doggie," he put his delicate 

 little head in my lap, and looked so 

 much as if he wanted to talk that I w^as 

 full of sympathy for his speechless pain. 



It was not long after this that the 

 end of his life came through a sad acci- 

 dent, notwithstanding the fact that he 

 had always been afraid of the cars, he 

 attempted to cross before a moving 

 train, and was caught by the cruel 

 wheels. 



So human did he seem that I cannot 

 but hope that even for little doggies 

 there is another life, free from pain and 

 accident. 



Augusta Kling. 



