“‘Which will be much sweeter,’ said the old lady, ‘though I am not one to run down a preacher. I suppose eventually you will take your sweet dog to Canada, and make her sing God Save the King.’
“‘Not if she wishes to sing The Star-Spangled Banner,’ said Mrs. Martin. ‘We Canadians have always been good friends with you Americans, and since we have fought side by side for the freedom of the world I feel as if we were brothers and sisters.’
“The old lady nodded her head a great many times and said, ‘Quite right, quite right—and now, you two birds, I am tired and want to go to sleep,” and suddenly stopping her tale, Billie dropped down on the hearth rug and put her nose on her paws.
“Won’t you tell us about the sudden death of Mrs. Martin’s sister and your trip here with her and the two children, Sammy-Sam and Lucy-Loo?” I asked.
“Some other day,” she said sleepily.
“I’d love Chummy to hear that, and also about Fort Slocum and the lovely American soldier boys.”
She did not reply, and Chummy spoke up, “Thank you, Billie. I’ve enjoyed hearing about your adventures. Lost dogs and lost birds have a very sad time of it, and now I must be going. It will soon be dark. Thank you for a pleasant time, Dicky-Dick,” and flying out the window, he went to his hole in the wall.
CHAPTER XIV
BILLIE AND I HAVE ONE OF OUR TALKS
MRS. MARTIN has a great deal of work to do for soldiers. The dear woman never gets tired of going to hospitals, and the day after Billie had told Chummy and me the story of her life our Missie left home quite early.