og by a chain. This was Bruno. He was snapping
and snarling and biting at his chain as he went along, though Mr. Wood
led him very kindly, and when he saw me he acted as if he could have
torn me to pieces. After Mr. Wood took him behind the barn, he came back
and got his gun. I ran away so that I would not hear the sound of it,
for I could not help feeling sorry for Bruno.

Miss Laura's room was on one side of the house, and in the second story.
There was a little balcony outside it, and when I got near I saw that
she was standing out on it wrapped in a shawl. Her hair was streaming
over her shoulders, and she was looking down into the garden where there
were a great many white and yellow flowers in bloom.

I barked, and she looked at me. "Dear old Joe, I will get dressed and
come down."

She hurried into her room, and I lay on the veranda till I heard her
step. Then I jumped up. She unlocked the front door, and we went for
a walk down the lane to the road until we heard the breakfast bell. As
soon as we heard it we ran back to the house, and Miss Laura had such an
appetite for her breakfast that her aunt said the country had done her
good already.

CHAPTER XVIII MRS. WOOD'S POULTRY

AFTER breakfast, Mrs. Wood put on a large apron, and going into the
kitchen, said: "Have you any scraps for the hens, Adele? Be sure and not
give me anything salty."

The French girl gave her a dish of food, then Mrs. Wood asked Miss Laura
to go and see her chickens, and away we went to the poultry house.

On the way we saw Mr. Wood. He was sitting on the step of the tool shed
cleaning his gun "Is the dog dead?" asked Miss Laura.

"Yes," he said.

She sighed and said: "Poor creature, I am sorry he had to be killed.
Uncle, what is the most merciful way to kill a dog? Sometimes, when they
get old, they should be put out of the way."

"You can shoot them," he said, "or you can poison them. I shot Bruno
through his head into his neck. There's a right place to aim at. It's a
little one side of the top of the skull. If you'll remind me I'll show
you a circular I have in the house. It tells the proper way to kill
animals. The American Humane Education Society in Boston puts it out,
and it's a merciful thing.

"You don't know anything about the slaughtering of animals, Laura, and
it's well you don't. There's an awful amount of cruelty practiced, and
practiced by some people that think themselves pretty good. I wouldn't
have my lam