s
fond of fancy stock, and imported a great deal of it from England. If
this puppy came from him, it was sure to be good one.

Miss Laura took the tiny creature, and went upstairs very thoughtfully.
I followed her, and watched her get a little basket and line it with
cotton wool. She put the puppy in it and looked at him. Though it was
midsummer and the house seemed very warm to me, the little creature was
shivering, and making a low murmuring noise. She pulled the wool all
over him and put the window down, and set his basket in the sun.

Then she went to the kitchen and got some warm milk. She dipped her
finger in it, and offered it to the puppy, but he went nosing about it
in a stupid way, and wouldn't touch it. "Too young," Miss Laura said.
She got a little piece of muslin, put some bread in it, tied a string
round it, and dipped it in the milk. When she put this to the puppy's
mouth, he sucked it greedily. He acted as if he was starving, but Miss
Laura only let him have a little.

Every few hours for the rest of the day, she gave him some more milk,
and I heard the boys say that for many nights she got up once or twice
and heated milk over a lamp for him. One night the milk got cold before
he took it, and he swelled up and became so ill that Miss Laura had to
rouse her mother and get some hot water to plunge him in. That made him
well again, and no one seemed to think it was a great deal of trouble to
take for a creature that was nothing but a dog.

He fully repaid them for all his care, for he turned out to be one of
the prettiest and most lovable dogs that I ever saw. They called him
Billy, and the two events of his early life were the opening of his eyes
and the swallowing of his muslin rag. The rag did not seem to hurt him,
but Miss Laura said that, as he had got so strong and greedy, he must
learn to eat like other dogs.

He was very amusing when he was a puppy. He was full of tricks, and he
crept about in a mischievous way when one did not know he was near.
He was a very small puppy and used to climb inside Miss Laura's Jersey
sleeve up to her shoulder when he was six weeks old. One day, when the
whole family was in the parlor, Mr. Morris suddenly flung aside his
newspaper, and began jumping up and down. Mrs. Morris was very much
alarmed, and cried out, "My dear William what is the matter?"

"There's a rat up my leg," he said, shaking it violently. Just then
little Billy fell out on the floor and lay on