ne forever."
And he went to his seat.

The next thing was to call for new members. Miss Laura got up and said
she would like to join their Band of Mercy. I followed her up to the
platform, while they pinned a little badge on her, and every one laughed
at me. Then they sang, "God Bless our Native Land," and the president
told us that we might all go home.

It seemed to me a lovely thing for those children to meet together to
talk about kindness to animals. They all had bright and good faces, and
many of them stopped to pat me as I came out. One little girl gave me a
biscuit from her school bag.

Mrs. Wood waited at the door till Mr. Maxwell came limping out on his
crutches. She introduced him to Miss Laura, and asked him if he wouldn't
go and take tea with them. He said he would be very happy to do so,
and then Mrs. Wood laughed; and asked him if he hadn't better empty his
pockets first. She didn't want a little toad jumping over her tea table,
as one did the last time he was there.

CHAPTER XXI MR. MAXWELL AND MR. HARRY

MR. MAXWELL wore a coat with loose pockets, and while she was speaking,
he rested on his crutches, and began to slap them with his hands. "No;
there's nothing here to-day," he said; "I think I emptied my pockets
before I went to the meeting."

Just as he said that there was a loud squeal: "Oh, my guinea pig," he
exclaimed; "I forgot him," and he pulled out a little spotted creature
a few inches long. "Poor Derry, did I hurt you?" and he soothed it very
tenderly.

I stood and looked at Mr. Maxwell, for I had never seen any one like
him. He had thick curly hair and a white face, and he looked just like a
girl. While I was staring at him, something peeped up out of one of his
pockets and ran out its tongue at me so fast that I could scarcely see
it, and then drew back again. I was thunderstruck. I had never seen
such a creature before. It was long and thin like a boy's cane, and of
a bright green color like grass, and it had queer shiny eyes. But its
tongue was the strangest part of it. It came and went like lightning. I
was uneasy about it, and began to bark.

"What's the matter, Joe?" said Mrs. Wood; "the pig won't hurt you."

But it wasn't the pig I was afraid of, and I kept on barking. And all
the time that strange live thing kept sticking up its head and putting
out its tongue at me, and neither of them noticed it.

"It's getting on toward six," said Mrs. Wood; "we must be going home.