but on his stumpy
tail. If that tail should swing sidewise once I should feel I was
winning; but it did not swing. I got a book and put in time on that
table till my legs were cramped and the fire burned low. About 10 P.M.
it was chilly, and at half-past ten the fire was out. My Hallowe'en
present got up, yawned and stretched, then walked under my bed, where
he found a fur rug. By stepping lightly from the table to the dresser,
and then on to the mantel-shelf, I also reached bed, and, very quietly
undressing, got in without provoking any criticism from my master. I
had not yet fallen asleep when I heard a slight scrambling and felt
"thump-thump" on the bed, then over my feet and legs; Snap evidently
had found it too cool down below, and proposed to have the best my
house afforded.

He curled up on my feet in such a way that I was very uncomfortable and
tried to readjust matters, but the slightest wriggle of my toe was
enough to make him snap at it so fiercely that nothing but thick
woollen bedclothes saved me from being maimed for life.

I was an hour moving my feet--a hair's-breadth at a time--till they
were so that I could sleep in comfort; and I was awakened several times
during the night by angry snarls from the Dog--I suppose because I
dared to move a toe without his approval, though once I believe he did
it simply because I was snoring.

In the morning I was ready to get up before Snap was. You see, I call
him Snap-Ginger-snap in full. Some Dogs are hard to name, and some do
not seem to need it--they name themselves.

I was ready to rise at seven. Snap was not ready till eight, so we rose
at eight. He had little to say to the man who made the fire. He allowed
me to dress without doing it on the table. As I left the room to get
breakfast, I remarked:

"Snap, my friend, some men would whip you into a different way, but I
think I know a better plan. The doctors nowadays favor the
'no-breakfast cure.' I shall try that."

It seemed cruel, but I left him without food all day. It cost me
something to repaint the door where he scratched it, but at night he
was quite ready to accept a little food at my hands.

In a week we were very good friends. He would sleep on my bed now and
allow me to move my feet without snapping at them, intent to do me
serious bodily harm. The no-breakfast cure had worked wonders; in three
months we were--well, simply man and Dog, and he amply justified the
telegram he came with.

He se