The boy smiled into Jan's eyes, but he did not know what the dog was trying to say.
"Come, children, we must go," one of the women spoke. "Now, you have seen a dog that cost over a thousand dollars and is being taken to live in California, where oranges grow and there is never any snow."
Jan turned quickly. He remembered all the dogs at the Hospice had talked about the place where there was never any snow.
"How can a dog save lives where there is no snow?" he asked; but the women and children, as they turned away, thought he was whining because they were leaving him alone.
With miserable eyes Jan lay staring into the dark, wondering how he could be like his father and Barry in a country where there was no snow.
Chapter IV
THE LAND OF NO SNOW
The voyage ended, then followed another long trip in a train and Jan reached his new home. A little girl with long, yellow curls, big blue eyes, and pink cheeks, danced down the steps from the wide porch of a big house as they approached.
Mr. Pixley caught her in his arms, then put her on the ground and called to Jan, who was still in the automobile which had met them at the station. The dog leaped out and ran to the child, looking into her face, while his tail bobbed and waved.