ook that appealed to
Beth's soft heart so that she decided to keep the dog.

For the first few days the newcomer sneaked under the house when any
one was around. When she saw, however, that she was left unmolested,
she gained courage. Duke was all devotion, and the white dog thrived
under such attention. She freshened up so well that Beth wondered how
she ever thought the dog ugly. Kindness and good food work wonders
with dogs as well as with people. The days of her stay lengthened into
months.

One morning, Beth came running in from the barn, her eyes brilliant
from excitement.

"Mamma, mamma," she called, "what do you think? White dog"--they had
never given her a name--"has seven of the cutest little puppies you
ever saw. Duke took me out and showed them to me."

"Duke took you out?"

"Yes, mamma. When I went out to play with him this morning he caught
hold of my dress and tried to pull me towards the barn. I thought he
was just playing; but when he did it the second time, I followed him,
and he led me to white dog and the puppies. Oh, they're the cutest
things you ever saw."

[Illustration: "The cutest things you ever saw."]

Beth watched the growth of the puppies with great interest. She was
delighted when their eyes opened, and when they began to run around she
was almost too happy for words.

That night she said to her papa: "I've been thinking about Mr. Brown.
He must miss Duke awfully. He wasn't such a horrid man after all, or
he wouldn't have let me keep Duke."

Mr. Davenport smiled. "Beth, a man was talking to me about him to-day.
The man said Brown was trying to reform; that he hadn't taken any
liquor for some time past. I was very glad to hear it."

Beth pondered a minute or two, then asked:

"Do you think if he had a dog now he'd be nice to it?"

"Yes, I believe he would. Brown wasn't half bad except when he drank.
But you're not thinking of giving Duke back to him, are you?"

Beth shook her head very vigorously. "I couldn't do that, papa. I
love Duke too much."

She said no more but got out paper and pencil. She was backward in all
schooling at this time, and could only print. However, she sat down at
the table beside her father and went to work. It proved a very
difficult task to her, but she persevered until she finished. Most of
the correctly spelled words she learned from her father.

This is what she wrote:

"To dukes master duke has puppies wood you like a