ld fall on him--"

"And tear him limb from limb," interrupted Euphemia.

"Yes, and besides, my dear, I should hate to have any of the neighbors
come and find us all up here. It would look so utterly absurd. Let me
try and think of some other plan."

"Well, please be as quick as you can. It's dreadful to be--who's that?"

I looked up and saw a female figure just entering the yard.

"Oh, what shall we do" exclaimed Euphemia. "The dog will get her. Call
to her!"

"No, no," said I, "don't make a noise. It will only bring the dog. He
seems to have gone to the barn, or somewhere. Keep perfectly quiet, and
she may go up on the porch, and as the front door is not locked, she may
rush into the house, if she sees him coming."

"I do hope she will do that," said Euphemia, anxiously.

"And yet," said I, "it's not pleasant to have strangers going into the
house when there's no one there."

"But it's better than seeing a stranger torn to pieces before your
eyes," said Euphemia.

"Yes," I replied, "it is. Don't you think we might get down now? The dog
isn't here."

"No, no!" cried Euphemia. "There he is now, coming this way. And look at
that woman! She is coming right to this shed."

Sure enough, our visitor had passed by the front door, and was walking
toward us. Evidently she had heard our voices.

"Don't come here!" cried Euphemia. "You'll be killed! Run! run! The dog
is coming! Why, mercy on us! It's Pomona!"

CHAPTER VIII. POMONA ONCE MORE.

Sure enough, it was Pomona. There stood our old servant-girl, of the
canal-boat, with a crooked straw bonnet on her head, a faded yellow
parasol in her hand, a parcel done up in newspaper under her arm, and an
expression of astonishment on her face.

"Well, truly!" she ejaculated.

"Into the house, quick!" I said. "We have a savage dog!"

"And here he is!" cried Euphemia. "Oh! she will be torn to atoms."

Straight at Pomona came the great black beast, barking furiously. But
the girl did not move; she did not even turn her head to look at the
dog, who stopped before he reached her and began to rush wildly around
her, barking terribly.

We held our breath. I tried to say "get out!" or "lie down!" but my
tongue could not form the words.

"Can't you get up here?" gasped Euphemia.

"I don't want to," said the girl.

The dog now stopped barking, and stood looking at Pomona, occasionally
glancing up at us. Pomona took not the slightest notice of him.

"Do you kno