for thence the weird sounds of the night had seemed to come. Advancing
rather nervously towards it, I gathered sufficient courage to turn the
handle, when, discovering that the door had been locked from the
outside, I began to hesitate about turning the key.

Unless somebody had been shut in by mistake, how had he or she obtained
admission? But as I stood there hesitating, I suddenly broke into a
laugh of perfect relief. The truth now seemed plain enough. I could hear
scampering feet, and an eager whine, which ended in an impatient bark.
Opening the door, I saw a small rough-coated terrier with a patch by his
tail; bounding forward he began to yelp and spring and fawn upon me,
licking my hands and showing every sign of joy and satisfaction.

I think my own pleasure was almost equal to the terrier's. It is
impossible to make any one understand the intense joy of finding a
companion after the night I had passed. Although he looked rather thin,
his condition did not suggest that he had been locked up longer than a
day or two; but picking him up in my arms while he whined and licked my
face, I carried him downstairs, and turning on the tap over the sink let
him drink as much water as he wished. Fortunately I had still half of
the pork-pie in my pocket, and it was good to see him eat it bit by bit
from my hand. It was true that my remaining small piece of chocolate
made an unsatisfactory breakfast, and that the terrier eyed me a little
reproachfully even when I ate that, but he would not leave me for an
instant, and in less than half an hour it seemed as if he had belonged
to me all my life.

'What's your name, old chap?' I asked, and he wagged his stump of a tail
as if he would have told me if he could. 'Anyhow,' I said, 'you must
have a name of some sort. What shall it be?'

It took some time to decide upon a suitable name, and then we did not
arrive at anything more original than 'Patch.' Having settled this
pressing question, I stripped to the waist and had a good wash at the
sink, drying myself as well as I could on the shavings which had served
as a bed. By this time the rain had almost ceased, and I began to think
that it might be advisable to get outside the house before I chanced to
be seen. So, having got through the window with Patch in my arms, I shut
it again and was going round to the front when I saw that the terrier
was poking his muzzle into every nook and corner, as if in search of his
lawful owner.