!"

And so, ninety-one people were brought safely to shore in the
boatswain's chair with the rope that Prince Jan had carried, and the
baby that had ridden in the mail sack was kissed and hugged by all those
who could get near her.

Then Prince Jan followed the captain, the pretty lady, and the man who
walked beside her with the baby perched high on his shoulder, and who
had his other arm around the waist of the baby's mother. A tiny paw
reached out of the hamper Captain Smith was carrying, and the dog felt
the tap of Hippity-Hop's paw on his ear. He turned at the touch and put
his nose to the basket, and then he saw Cheepsie, fluttering in the cage
that was gripped by the old captain's other hand.

The little party reached the top of a bluff and turned around to look
across the rough waves. The deserted ship reeled sideways. Water rose
and hid it an instant. When next they looked, there was nothing but the
sky with threatening clouds and the wind-lashed sea.

No one spoke as they went up the pathway of a little house where the
pretty lady lived. The door was opened, they entered, and then the
pretty lady knelt suddenly beside Jan and kissed his head.

"God bless you, Prince Jan!" she whispered.

And though the dog did not understand it, he was very happy because he
knew they were all glad.

Chapter XIV

A FIRESIDE STORY

That evening, after supper, while Jan dozed in front of the fireplace
with its cheerful, glowing logs, and Hippity-Hop curled in a tight ball
between his paws, he did not know that the captain was telling how Jan
had been brought to the pound, sick from neglect and vicious from abuse,
to be killed.

The eyes of the young mother filled with tears, and she glanced from the
sleeping dog to a door leading into another room, where her baby was
lying, safe and warm. But when she stooped, suddenly and stroked the
dog's head gently, his eyes opened, his tail thumped the floor, and then
Jan went to sleep again, for he was very tired.

And while he took his second nap, the father of the baby explained to
the captain that he was the doctor in the little town, and had it not
been for Prince Jan, the pretty little mother and her child would never
have come back to the home on the bluff, after their visit to friends
in California.

"Prince Jan was born in the Hospice," the old man told them. "He was
only a puppy when Mr. Pixley brought him to California. To me, it never
seemed just right, tak