ok at that ungrateful wretch. Look at him. You all
know who he is, and where he came from. My sister nussed him, and fed
him, and gin him his clothes all these years, and now arter she's
dead, he's tryin to defraud me by claimin' my property, 's if he an't
had enough outer my family a'ready."

"I've never had anything from you, and would not accept it if it was
offered and I was starving," cried Leon, white with anger. But as just
as the words were, they rather injured his cause, for most of those
present held ideas not very dissimilar from Miss Grath's, and they
accepted her version and believed him ungrateful. The prejudice
against him was not lessened by the intuitive knowledge that, poor
though he was, he was better than they. So those who heard him did not
hesitate to speak against him, and such phrases as "Nuss a serpent and
'twill sting you," and "A beggar on horseback," reached his ears, and
despite their inaptness, they wounded him.

Mr. Potter, seeing the rising storm, essayed to stem the torrent, and
exclaimed:

"Don't show temper, friends; anger and pride are both unwise; vinegar
never catches flies."

"Ther' hain't no flies on Potter," cried a voice, and a general laugh
followed. Then, in spite of his protest, Leon saw Lossy offered again
for sale.

Mr. Potter lifted the dog in his arms and said:

"Now here's a dog, by name of Lossy.
Just feel his fur, so fine and glossy.
I'm told that twixt his loud bow-wows
He often fetches home the cows.
Besides that, he can tend the sheep,
And bring the butter in the churn.
So buy him dear, or buy him cheap,
He'll eat no more than he can earn.

"How much for the dog?"

The competition excited by the occurrences, and the verses, was now so
great, that the bidding was spirited until fifteen dollars was
reached, to which sum it had mounted by jumps of fifty cents. Then a
man said quietly but distinctly:

"Twenty dollars," and a glad cry escaped from Leon, as he recognized
Dr. Medjora's voice, and knew that his purpose was to restore his dog
to him. But at the same instant Miss Grath also comprehended the
situation, and determined that Leon should not have Lossy. She cried
out to Mr. Potter:

"The dog's wuth twice as much. You kin stop sellin' him. I'll keep him
myself."

At this Leon's hopes fell, only to be revived again by the
auctioneer's words. Mr. Potter knew Miss Grath thoroughly, and he
readily appreciated the fact that