The Goodmans had intended to leave their home in the suburbs and move to the city before their boy died, and now Mrs. Goodman was anxious to go away from the place as quickly as possible. A home was soon obtained, and the family moved thither. They deeply regretted that Douglas could not be found to go with them, because they were much attached to him for his own sake, and because he was so dear to their child.
Douglas meantime had hunted far and wide for his lost ones. He had the same bitter experience of neglect and hunger, but a dog’s love is his strongest quality, and despite suffering he was seeking his own. Miss Benson he could not find; that was past hope, but Teddy, perhaps, he might see again. Probably Douglas did not know that death has no awakening in this world, and that Teddy could never come to his home, but the dog finally stole back to the porch and yard where they had played together and waited, hoping that the boy would come. The house was vacant. Some neighbors saw him on the steps, but he went away again. Finally a policeman saw him and heard him howl.
“Whose dog is that?” he said to a neighbor.
“It’s a dog that came to the Goodmans and disappeared when their little boy died. I suppose he has come back to find the child,” was the reply.
“Ah!” said the man, “and he hasn’t any collar on his neck. He is unlicensed. I will send the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals after him.”
“I’ll see that he doesn’t starve,” said the woman. “Will the Society find a home for him?”
“Oh, no, they can’t find homes for so many as they take off the streets! They’ll kill him.”
“He isn’t to blame for not being licensed. I don’t see the use of the license law, because it means the death of so many thousands of animals.”
“Neither do I,” said the kind-hearted policeman. “Poor folks can’t always pay the fee. I love my dog, and he’s a great comfort to my children. But I don’t make the law. I only help to enforce it.”