ion that swept over him at
sight of the horrified repugnance in the eyes of this mere brute beast.
It roused him to a gust of hot vexation.

"Shamed of me, are you?" he grunted fiercely. "A dirty four-legged
critter's 'shamed of a he-man, hey? Well, we'll lick that out of you,
dam' soon!"

Lurching to his feet, he snatched up a broom handle. He waved it
menacingly over the dog. Chum gave back not an inch. Under the threat
of a beating he stood his ground, his brave eyes steadfast, and,
lurking in their mystic depths, that same glint of sorrowful wonder and
disgust.

Up whirled the broomstick. But when it fell it did not smite athwart
the shoulders of the sorrowing dog. Instead, it clattered harmlessly to
the board floor. And to the floor also slumped Link Ferris, his nerve
all gone, his heart soggy with sudden remorse.

To his knees thudded the man, close beside the collie. From Link's
throat were bursting great strangled sobs which tortured his whole body
and made his speech a tangled jumble that was not pretty to hear.

"Chum!" he wailed brokenly, clutching the dog's huge ruff in both shaky
hands. "Chum, old friend! Gawd forgive me! You saved me from drowndin'
an' from goin' broke, this night! You been the only friend that ever
cared a hang if I was alive or dead! An'--an' I was goin' to lick you!
I was goin' to lambaste you. Because I was a beastlier beast than YOU
be. I was goin' to do it because you was so much better than me that
you was made sick by my bein' a hawg. An' I was mad at you fer it.
I'm--oh, I'm shameder than you are! Chum! Honest to Gawd, I am! Won't
you make friends again? PLEASE, Chum!"

Now, of course, this was a most ridiculous and maudlin way to talk.
Moreover, no man belongs on his knees beside a dog, even though the man
be a sot and the dog a thoroughbred. In his calmer moments Link Ferris
would have known this. A high-bred collie, too, has no use for sloppy
emotion, but shuns its exhibition well-nigh as disgustedly as he shuns
a drunkard.

Yet, for some illogical reason, Chum did not seek to withdraw his
aristocratic self from the shivering clutch of the repentant souse.
Instead, the expression of misery and repugnance fled as if by magic
from his brooding eyes. Into them in its place leaped a light of keen
solicitude. He pressed closer to the swayingly kneeling man, and with
upthrust muzzle sought to kiss the blubbering face.

The whisky reek was as strong as ever. But something