“I made haste to the best part of the town, when I left you and the court, and, late in the day, found my-self in a fine place.  Near the best house was a group of three small boys; they were at play with some small, round, smooth stones; and when one stone hit the next, a boy could cry out:  ‘That is mine!’

“Well, for my sins, I came to a halt just in front of these boys.

“‘Oh! oh! look at that nice dog!’ cried one whose name I found was Bob.  ‘I guess he is lost.  I mean to have him for my dog.’

“‘No, you shall not,’ said Ned, the next in size.  ‘He shall be my dog.’

“‘No, he shall be mine,’ said Sam.  ‘I want him!  I will have him!’ and on that they all tore up the steps of the house, and burst in-to a room where their mam-ma was, with: 

“‘Ma, I want the dog!’

“‘Ma, give me the dog!’

“‘No, no, no, ma! — me! me! me!’

“‘O dear! what a noise!’ said their mam-ma.  ’Do be still.  If you want the dog, take him; but don’t whine, or go on as if you all had the tooth-ache.’

“All this time I was such a gump, I sat quite still; but when I saw the boys come out and rush at me with rude words, I said to my-self, ‘Come on, Frisk; I do not think it will do to get a new place here.’  So I made up my mind to take to my heels; when, O my dog-star! down came a great bat on my head, and the three boys fell on me all at once; grab’d me by the ears, tail, and one leg, at the same time, and would have torn me to bits, I am sure, if their mam-ma had not come and made Bob and Ned let go.

“I was put in the front room then, in a whole skin, and here, in spite of all he could do, I broke from Sam and hid my-self at the back of a couch that stood by the fire-place.

“‘Now what’s to be done?’ said Sam.

“‘Let’s hunt him out with sticks,’ said Ned.

“‘Good! come on!’ cried Bob and Sam; and with-out more words, Bob armed him-self with the broom, and Ned and Sam got canes, as if they were in chase of some wild beast, and all flew, with a loud whoop! to bang poor me out of my strong-hold.

“I don’t know what would have been my fate, if I had not hit on what to do just in time.  The sides and front of the couch, by good luck, came down past the seat, and bands of broad tape were put from side to side, to keep the white slip in its place.  I gave a jump, made out to land on the tapes, and sat on them in great fear lest they might give way.

“It was well I did so; for the boys made their sticks fly from side to side at such a rate, that the first blow would have been the death of me.  This game went on for some time, till they were quite at a loss to know why I did not come out or make a cry.

“‘Why where can he be?’ cried Sam.  ‘Look and see, quick!’

“Ned went down on his knees — ’Why he’s gone!’ he said with a gasp.

“‘O the b-a-a-d thing!’ cried Sam.  ’Ma! ma! our dog’s lost!  Boo! hoo! hoo!’ and to my great joy, all three left the room to treat their dear ‘ma’ to a howl.  Oh! how I did long to snap at their legs.

“By this time so much fluff and dust had got up my nose in my close nook, that I was fit to choke; and as the boys were gone, I dared to come out.  There was a large arm-chair close by, with a deep, soft seat that was just to my taste.  I hopt in, laid down, and was soon in a fine nap.

“Think, then, what was my state of mind to wake up with a yell and a land-slide on top of me!  Up flew a fat old dame from the arm-chair, where she had just sat down, as if she was shot!  Bang! came a great gilt book, that she let fall in her start, right on the end of my poor tail, as I leapt to the floor!  ‘E-e-e!’ went she; ‘yi! yi! yi!’ went I; and ‘Hur-ra! here’s the dog!’ cried Ned, as he came bang in at the door, caught me by one ear, and ran up to the top floor with me in wild joy; which put the last touch to my woes!

“Once in their play-room, the bad boys made me drag a toy-cart full of dirt, ran straws in-to my ears, beat me with sharp sticks, and shot peas at me out of a pop-gun.  They kept up these nice plays till tea-time; when they were so kind as to let me go, and treat me to a few old scraps of cold meat for my share of the meal.

“When tea was done, their mam-ma bid them go right to work and learn their tasks; and, with pouts and whines from all three, they sat down.  As soon as their mam-ma left the room, Ned took out of his desk a mouse-trap, with a poor wee mouse in it, all in a shake of fear, and cried:  ‘Here, Sam, just see what I’ve got!  An’t that gay?’

“‘What? what? let me look!’ cried Bob, who had sat till now with his legs spread out, and a book be-fore him up-side down.

“’No, you shan’t.  Go ‘way!’ said Ned, in a whine.

“‘I will!  I will!’ Bob did bawl; and as he spoke he did jump up and give Ned’s hair a great pull!  Then Sam gave Bob a punch, and the three boys did fight and kick each other at a fine rate; in the midst of which pow-wow I left the room, and ran off down the back stair.

“Here the maids were more kind to me than the boys; for cook made me a nice soft bed in a box, and gave me some bones to pick; while Jane, the maid, took me in her lap, and let me sleep there, snug and warm, till she went to bed.

“But you could no more guess what the next day had in store for me, than you could say how deep the sea is; so I will tell you.

“Just as Jane came in with the tea-tray, and cook had got a tin pan to pour me out some milk, down came those vile boys full tilt, to grab hold of me once more.  The kind cook asked them to let me be, till I had had my milk; but she might as well have asked the wind not to blow; and with Bob to hold me, and Ned and Sam to mount guard on each side, they made haste once more to the play-room.

“When they had me safe, and the door shut, Bob cried in great glee:  ’Now, boys, I tell you what we’ll do:  let’s play our dog was a slave, that we had caught just as he was on the point to run off.  We will tie him by the fore paws and flog him well.’

“Oh! oh! how I felt when I heard these words!  My hair stood on end with fear.  I threw my-self on the floor, and cried for help.  Ah me! no help came.  One would think they might have felt for a poor dog that could not help it-self.  But no; they were with-out heart.

“Bob found a cord, and tied my feet to a large nail in the wall.  Ned and Sam did each fetch the strap that they had round their task-books, and then these bad boys beat me till I felt as if I must die.

“At last they heard their mam-ma call from her room, ’Boys, boys, come right to your tasks — it is past nine o’clock;’ for she did teach them her-self I found out.  At the sound of her voice, they left off, and ran to the door to beg for a short time more.

“Now was my time at last.  I freed my paws by a great jerk, shot past Sam’s legs, flew down the stair, and out of the house; for by great good luck, Jane had just gone to the door to let in the post-man.  I am glad to say I sent Sam too down the stair like a shot, with a boot-jack and a pair of tongs, which Ned and Bob threw, and which were meant for me, at his heels.  This made up, in part, for the pain he had put me to.  But, oh! how sore and lame I was!  I sank on the earth when I was clear out of sight, and felt as if my death was near.  If it had not been for what next took place, my end would have come that day; but as I lay there all in a shake, I heard a child’s voice say:  ’O dear Fred! here is such a poor dog!  Just see! he looks half dead!  Let us stop and pat him!’

“‘Dear me!  Poor toad!’ cried Fred.  ’Where could he have come from?  Pat him well; don’t fear.’

“Her soft hand on my head made me raise my eyes, and I saw a boy and girl of nine and ten years old.  They did not seem to be rich, but they were just as neat and nice as two pins, and their kind looks and words made me feel sure they were good.

“‘Poor dog!  I fear he wants food,’ went on Nell.  ’I mean to give him a bit to eat, Fred.’

“‘Let me feed him too!’ cried the boy.  ’Here, take my knife and cut some bread for him.’

“Nell took a loaf from the bag on her arm, and with Fred’s knife cut off a good thick slice.  She gave half to him, and they broke it in bits and fed me by turns.

“‘You dear pet,’ said Nell, with a sigh, ’how I wish I could take you with me!  But we are too poor; it can not be.’

“‘Oh! don’t you think mam-ma would let us have him?’ cried Fred.

“‘No, dear,’ said Nell; ’we must not think of it.  Come, bid the dog good-by, and let us make haste home.’

“I could but lick her hand to thank her for the food, and as I could rise now, I felt that it was best to run on.

“’Good-by, you dear doggy!” cried both; and they did stand and watch me till I was out of their sight.  Oh! how I did wish I could go home with them!

“Just as I did turn round the end of the street, I heard an odd sound — ”

Here Frisk rose in haste and said:  “But I dare not stay, dear Dash; I ought now to be at home.  Some day when I can get out, I will come and tell you the rest of my sad tale, for the worst part is yet to come.”

“But where must you go, Frisk?” said Dash.

“Why, to the show, where I play,” said Frisk.

“You play!  Can you act?” cried Dash.

“Yes! come out-side.  Now, just see here!” and while Dash did stare at him, with his mouth and eyes so wide open that you would not think he could close them at all, Frisk stood on his hind legs, and went thro’ a jig, with a look on his face as if he had lost his last hope; then fell down on the grass, stiff and stark, as if he had been shot; got up, made a low bow, and then went lame on three legs.

“Dear me!” cried Dash, “how smart you are!  Where did you learn all that?”

“It would take a long time to tell,” said Frisk.  “If I can, I will come and see you next week, and you shall then hear all.  Now, good-by.”

“Here, take this nice sweet bone with you,” cried Dash.  “Good-by, old chap.  I hope I shall see you soon;” and the good dog went back to his house, full of Frisk’s tale.  He tried so hard to think of a way to do him some good, that he got quite a bald spot on the top of his head, and at last laid down with his nose in his paws, to sleep on it, and dream of bones with-out end; for, you know, he gave up his own to feed one worse off than him-self.  Good Dash!  I hope each dear girl and boy who reads this will try to be like him, for that is the way to be loved by all.