he had been watching every expression of his
master's face, the shaggy collie bounded around him as he moved across
the lawn, while the woman watched them with a proud and happy smile.
They had scarcely entered the long lane leading to the pasture, when a
woodchuck shambled out of the corner of the fence and ran lumbering into
his burrow. Rushing excitedly after him the child clapped his hands and
shouted: "Dig him out! Dig him out, Shep!" Tearing up the ground with
his paws and thrusting his head down into the subterranean chamber, the
obedient collie yelped and whined. Then backing out and plunging in once
more, he yelped and whined again. The hole was too deep or the time too
short and the boy became discouraged. Moving reluctantly away he
chidingly summoned his companion to follow him. The dog, humiliated by
his failure, obeyed, and sheepishly licked his mouth with his long, red
tongue.

By this time the sun's disk had sunk behind the hills, its trailing
glory lingering above their summits while slowly in the sky faded
continents, mountains and spires. The day had died regretfully upon a
couch o'erhung with gorgeous canopies, and the ensanguined bier still
seemed to tremble with his last sigh. Birds in the tops of trees and
crickets beneath the sod were giving expression to the emotions of the
sad heart of the great earth in melancholy evening songs. The odors of
peach and apple blossoms, wafted by gentle breezes from distant
orchards, made the valley fragrant as an oriental garden. The soothing
influence of the approaching night subdued the effervescent spirits of
the lad, and he began to walk softly, as do nuns in the aisles of dim
cathedrals or deer in the pathways of the moonlit forest. These few
moments between twilight and dark are pregnant with a mysterious
holiness and it is doubtful if the worst of men could find the courage
to commit a crime while they endure.

Unutterable and incomprehensible emotions were awakened in the soul of
the boy by the stillness and beauty of the evening world. His senses
were not yet dulled nor his feelings jaded. Through every avenue of his
intelligence the mystery of the universe stole into his sensitive
spirit. If a breeze blew across the meadow he turned his cheek to its
kiss; if the odor of spearmint from the brookside was wafted around him
he breathed it into his nostrils with delight. He saw the shadow of a
crow flying across the field and stopped to look up and listen f