ill give you, if Mr.
Melville doesn't object."

"We have no dog, now that Prince Jan is gone," the artist answered
quickly, "and I promised my wife that I would bring back some kind of a
dog for the children. They would be lonesome now, without one. So the
pup will be just as welcome as Shorty will be."

Shorty forgot this man was a judge, and smiled at him, asking, "What's
the pup's name, please?"

"He is a registered pup with a long fancy name, but we just call him
'Pup,' so you can pick out a name to suit yourself."

"I'm going to call him 'Prince Jan'!" announced the boy, and all agreed
that it was a fine name for any pup.

They shook hands once more with Shorty and wished him good luck, and
when the boy walked from the room, he held his head high. A smile was on
his lips and hope in his eyes. Mr. Melville walked beside him.

That evening when Jan, Hippity-Hop, Cheepsie, and the captain were
sitting together, the old man looked at the dog and said, "Jan, your
ancestors rescued travellers from the snow, but to-day you helped
Shorty get a new start in life, and that is a bigger thing than if you
had saved him from death in the Alps."

The dog did not understand the words, but he knew that the smile was the
same happy smile that came when the old poundmaster had found a good
home for one of the friendless dogs. So Jan was happy, too.

Chapter XII

THE POUNDMASTER'S PROBLEM

FOR several days after Shorty had gone on his way to the Land of
Make-Believe with Mr. Melville, life ran very quietly and happily for
Prince Jan and his friends in the little bungalow on the cliffs. Then he
began to notice that Captain Smith was worried, and when Jan poked his
nose into the hand of his friend, though the hand stroked the dog's
head, the poundmaster did not smile and his eyes looked as if he saw
something Jan could not see. It worried Jan, though he could do nothing
but lie quietly with his anxious eyes fixed on the old man's face.

One evening after supper a loud knock at the door caused the dog to look
up quickly, while Hippity-Hop jumped with fuzzed tail and excited eyes.
The captain opened the door and two men came in. They shook hands with
him and sat down in the chairs he pushed forward. The two men looked
around the room, stared at the dog, then turned to Jan's master. The
look on the poundmaster's face made the dog feel certain that these men
had something to do with the old man's worry, so Jan went over