“‘Where?’ I asked eagerly.
“‘Why, last night when master went out to
the road to get a paper, he fumbled in his pocket for a penny and brought out a handful of change. One piece dropped on the ground. I can show you where it lies.’
“‘Why didn’t you pick it up?’ I asked.
“‘Why bother with money, when it’s no good to you?’ she said. ‘It’s dirty stuff, anyway, and covered with germs.’
“‘I’m not afraid of it,’ I said joyfully, and I ran and got the fifty-cent piece and laid it at mistress’ feet. She took it and looked at me, then she patted me and hugged me, a thing she had not done before.
“‘Doggie, you are a comfort to me,’ she said. ‘I hope you will stay with me always.’
“I stood on my hind legs. I pawed the air and squealed. I tried to tell her that I would like to stay, but that I could not resist the thing inside me that was pulling like a string toward my old home.
“I ran away that night—ran sadly and with shame. I was about two miles from my old home, and it was no trouble at all for me to find it.
“When I got there, I scratched at the door