rough the staircase railings to the hall below. He always listened
till he heard it drop, then he ran down and brought it back and pushed
it through again. He did this till he was tired, and then he brought the
ball and laid it at Miss Laura's feet.

We both had been taught a number of tricks. We could sneeze and cough,
and be dead dogs, and say our prayers, and stand on our heads, and mount
a ladder and say the alphabet,--this was the hardest of all, and it took
Miss Laura a long time to teach us. We never began till a book was laid
before us. Then we stared at it, and Miss Laura said, "Begin, Joe and
Billy--say A."

For A, we gave a little squeal. B was louder. C was louder still. We
barked for some letters, and growled for others. We always turned a
summersault for S. When we got to Z, we gave the book a push and had a
frolic around the room.

When any one came in, and Miss Laura had us show off any of our tricks,
the remark always was, "What clever dogs. They are not like other dogs."

That was a mistake. Billy and I were not any brighter than many a
miserable cur that skulked about the streets of Fairport. It was
kindness and patience that did it all. When I was with Jenkins he
thought I was a very stupid dog. He would have laughed at the idea of
any one teaching me anything. But I was only sullen and obstinate,
because I was kicked about so much. If he had been kind to me, I would
have done anything for him.

I loved to wait on Miss Laura and Mrs. Morris, and they taught both
Billy and me to make ourselves useful about the house. Mrs. Morris
didn't like going up and down the three long staircases, and sometimes
we just raced up and down, waiting on her.

How often I have heard her go into the hall and say, "Please send me
down a clean duster, Laura. Joe, you get it." I would run gayly up the
steps, and then would come Billy's turn. "Billy, I have forgotten my
keys. Go get them."

After a time we began to know the names of different articles, and where
they were kept, and could get them ourselves. On sweeping days we worked
very hard, and enjoyed the fun. If Mrs. Morris was too far away to call
to Mary for what she wanted, she wrote the name on a piece of paper, and
told us to take it to her.

Billy always took the letters from the postman, and carried the morning
paper up to Mr. Morris's study, and I always put away the clean clothes.
After they were mended, Mrs. Morris folded each article and gave it to