hite raised itself up out of the brownest pony's
crib, and there was the gander close up beside the open mouth of his
friend. The monkeys make a jabbering noise, and held on to the bars of
their cage with their little black hands, while they looked out at me.
The dogs sniffed the air, and wagged their tails, and tried to put their
muzzles through the bars of their cage. I liked the dogs best, and I
wanted to see the one they called Bob, so I went up quite close to them.
There were two little white dogs, something like Billy, two mongrel
spaniels, an Irish terrier, and a brown dog asleep in the corner, that I
knew must be Bob. He did look a little like me, but he was not quite so
ugly for he had his ears and his tail.

While I was peering through the bars at him, a man came in the stable.
He noticed me the first thing, but instead of driving me out, he spoke
kindly to me, in a language that I did not understand. So I knew that
he was the Italian. How glad the animals were to see him! The gander
fluttered out of his nest, the ponies pulled at their halters, the
dogs whined and tried to reach his hands to lick them, and the monkeys
chattered with delight. He laughed and talked back to them in queer,
soft-sounding words. Then he took out of a bag on his arm, bones for
the dogs, nuts and cakes for the monkeys, nice, juicy carrots for the
ponies, some green stuff for the goats, and corn for the gander.

It was a pretty sight to see the old man feeding his pets, and it made
me feel quite hungry, so I trotted home. I had a run down town again
that evening with Mr. Morris, who went to get something from a shop for
his wife. He never let his boys go to town after tea, so if there were
errands to be done, he or Mrs. Morris went. The town was bright and
lively that evening, and a great many people were walking about and
looking into the shop windows.

When we came home, I went into the kennel with Jim, and there I slept
till the middle of the night. Then I started up and ran outside. There
was a distant bell ringing, which we often heard in Fairport, and which
always meant fire.

CHAPTER XXXIV A FIRE IN FAIRPORT

I HAD several times run to a fire with the boys, and knew that there was
always great noise and excitement. There was a light in the house, so I
knew that somebody was getting up. I don't think indeed I know, for they
were good boys that they ever wanted anybody to lose property, but they
did enjoy seeing a blaze,