as shimmering athwart the veranda
floor. And into the middle of the warm bar of radiance Laddie
stepped,--and stood.

His fluffy puppy-coat of wavy mahogany-and-white caught a million
sunbeams, reflecting them back in tawny-orange glints and in a dazzle
as of snow. His forepaws were absurdly small, even for a puppy's. Above
them the ridging of the stocky leg-bones gave as clear promise of
mighty size and strength as did the amazingly deep little chest and
square shoulders.

Here one day would stand a giant among dogs, powerful as a timber-wolf,
lithe as a cat, as dangerous to foes as an angry tiger; a dog without
fear or treachery; a dog of uncanny brain and great lovingly loyal
heart and, withal, a dancing sense of fun. A dog with a soul.

All this, any canine physiologist might have read from the compact
frame, the proud head-carriage, the smolder in the deep-set sorrowful
dark eyes. To the casual observer, he was but a beautiful and appealing
and wonderfully cuddleable bunch of puppyhood.

Lad's dark eyes swept the porch, the soft swelling green of the lawn,
the flash of fire-blue lake among the trees below. Then, he deigned to
look at the group of humans at one side of him. Gravely, impersonally,
he surveyed them; not at all cowed or strange in his new surroundings;
courteously inquisitive as to the twist of luck that had set him down
here and as to the people who, presumably, were to be his future
companions.

Perhaps the stout little heart quivered just a bit, if memory went back
to his home kennel and to the rowdy throng of brothers and sisters and
most of all, to the soft furry mother against whose side he had nestled
every night since he was born. But if so, Lad was too valiant to show
homesickness by so much as a whimper. And, assuredly, this House of
Peace was infinitely better than the miserable crate wherein he had
spent twenty horrible and jouncing and smelly and noisy hours.

From one to another of the group strayed the level sorrowful gaze.
After the swift inspection, Laddie's eyes rested again on the Mistress.
For an instant, he stood, looking at her, in that mildly polite
curiosity which held no hint of personal interest.

Then, all at once, his plumy tail began to wave. Into his sad eyes
sprang a flicker of warm friendliness. Unbidden--oblivious of everyone
else he trotted across to where the Mistress sat. He put one tiny white
paw in her lap; and stood thus, looking up lovingly into her face,