They had all taken comfortable positions and Mrs. Evringham was finding the places in the books.
Mr. Evringham spoke quite loudly: "Well, this is a fine morning, surely, fine."
"It is that," agreed Harry, stretching his long legs luxuriously. "If I felt any better I couldn't stand it."
As he was speaking, a strange man in a checked suit came around the corner of the house.
Jewel's eyes grew larger and she straightened up.
"Oh, grandpa, look!" she said softly, and then jumped off the seat to see better. All the little company gazed with interest, for, accompanying the man, was the most superb specimen of a collie dog that they had ever seen. "It's a golden dog, grandpa," added Jewel.
The collie had evidently just been washed and brushed. His coat was, indeed, of a gleaming yellow. His paws were white, the tip of his tail was white, and his breast was snowy as the thick, soft foam of the breakers. A narrow strip of white descended between his eyes,—golden, intelligent eyes, with generations of trustworthiness in them. A silver collar nestled in the long hair about his neck, and altogether he looked like a prince among dogs.
Jewel clasped her hands beneath her chin and gazed at him with all her eyes. He was too splendid to be flown at in her usual manner with animals.
"What a beauty!" ejaculated Harry.
"It is a golden dog," said Jewel's mother, looking almost as enthusiastic as the child.