and the Italian woman opened it and gave a squeal when she saw me. The children had not gone to sleep, and I gave a leap past her and into the bed with them.
“Oh, how glad they were to see me! I jumped and squealed and licked them, and they petted me and hugged me, and the mother stood over us laughing to see her children well pleased.
“Wasn’t I delighted that I had come home! I settled down among them for a good night’s sleep, and I thought, ‘Now we are going to be happy ever after’—but dogs never know what is going to happen to them.
“Just when I was having a lovely dream about my friend the cat, in which she was changed into a nice, sensible dog, I felt a fierce grip on my neck, and, giving a scream, I jumped up.
“The Italian man stood over me, his face as black as a thundercloud. He had got work by this time—work outside, for Italians hate to be employed inside a building. He was a train hand now and he got good wages, but he was not willing to keep me.
“One hand dragged me out of bed, and the other shook a fist at me. ‘You, you animal,’ he said, ‘I’m going to take you away. If you come back, I shoot,’ and he took hold of the old gun standing in a corner of the room and shook it at me. ‘You saw me shoot a cat one day,’ he went on. ‘Well, I kill you if you come back. Hear that?’ Then he kicked me out of doors.
“I did not run away. I sat on a heap of ashes at a little distance, staring at the house. There I remained all night. I was confused and unhappy and stupid. I did not know what to do. I knew I could never live with the children again, but something just chained me to the spot.
“I sat there all the next morning. The children were afraid to play with me, for their father was sleeping inside the house, but they threw me some crusts. I was very thirsty, but I did not dare to go near the house, and something kept me from losing sight of it, so I did not run to the river to get a drink.
“At dusk the man came out of the house and, catching sight of me, he yelled for me to go to him. I went inch by inch, and crawling on my stomach. He took a string out of his pocket,
tied it round my neck, and set off walking toward the railway.