7. "I shall step out briskly, and be at home long before dark. It is not three o'clock yet," I added, pulling out my watch.
"Well, I wish you a safe journey, sir," said the landlord. "And also, many happy returns of to-morrow."
8. "Thank you, landlord," replied I, in the same hearty tone. I shook hands with him, for his face was a beaming and kindly one, and I had known him since I was a boy.
9. As I went towards the outer door, the landlord just behind me, his man darted forward from a dark corner, and began to bustle out in front of me.
10. "Get out, you brute!" he said, in an angry voice, as he made a savage kick at something which was crouching in the shadow of the doorstep.
POOR DOGGIE.
11. An instant after, with a dismal yelp of despair, a forlorn dog slunk away from the door, and ran to hide under an empty waggon which stood in the middle of the road.
12. "Get out! Be off!" again shouted the man, and he made a pretence of stooping with great fury to pick up a stone. The wretched dog, wild with terror, left his hiding-place.
13. With his drooping tail between his legs, he crept to the gate of the yard, where he again lay down and blinked his great sad eyes at us, licking his hungry mouth as if to beg for food.