pped out. The man could scarcely have
seen the necklace of discoloured pearls before, with an oath, he rose
to his feet, and, firmly holding Laddie under his arm, strode into the
house, entering at the side door.

The Piper had reached home before he missed his dog. He waited a
little, then called, but there was no answer. It was not like Laddie
to stray, for he was usually close at his master's heels.

"Poor little man," said the Piper to himself, "I'm thinking we went too
far."

He retraced his steps over the dusty road, searching the ground. He
discovered that Laddie's tracks ended in the road near Doctor Dexter's
house, and turned toward the gate. Tales of mysterious horrors,
vaguely hinted at, came back to him now with ominous force. He
searched the yard carefully, looking in every nook and corner, then a
cry of anguish reached his ears.

Great beads of sweat stood out upon Piper Tom's forehead, as he burst
in at the laboratory door. On a narrow table, tightly strapped down,
lay Laddie, fully conscious, his faithful heart laid bare. The odour
of anesthetics was so faint as to be scarcely noticeable. At the dog's
side stood Doctor Dexter, in a blood-stained linen coat, with a pad of
paper and a short pencil in his white, firm hands. He was taking notes.

With infinite appeal in his agonised eyes, Laddie recognised his
master, who at last had come too late. Piper Tom seized the knife from
the table, and, with a quick, clean stroke, ended the torture. Doctor
Dexter looked up, his mask-like face wearing an expression of insolent
inquiry.

"Man," cried the Piper, his voice shaking, "have you never been loved
by a dog?"

The silence was tense, but Doctor Dexter had taken out his watch, and
was timing the spasmodic pulsations of the heart he had been so
carefully studying.

"Aye," said the Piper, passionately, "watch it till the last--you
cannot hurt him now. 'T is the truest heart in all the world save a
woman's, and you do well to study it, having no heart of your own. A
poor beast you are, if a dog has never loved you. Take your pencil and
write down on the bit of paper you have there that you've seen the
heart of a dog. Write down that you've seen the heart of one who left
his own kind to be with you, to fight for you, even against them.
Write down that 't is a good honest heart with red blood in it, that
never once failed and never could fail.

"When a man's mother casts him off, when his