they seemed to descend upon him out
of the thickening air; they seemed to catch at his breath, and
gather behind him as he went. But, happily, before it was quite
dark, and while yet he could distinguish between objects, he came to
the gate of a farmyard; it waked in him the hope of finding some
place where he could sleep warmer than in the road, and he clambered
over it. Nearest of the buildings to the gate, stood an open shed,
and he could see the shafts of carts projecting from it: perhaps in
one of those carts, or under it, he might find a place that would
serve him to sleep in: he did not yet know what facilities for
repose the country affords. But just as he entered the shed, he
spied at the farther corner of it, outside, a wooden structure, like
a small house, and through the arched door of it saw the floor
covered with nice-looking straw. He suspected it to be a dog's
kennel; and presently the chain lying beside it, with a collar at
the end, satisfied him it was. The dog was absent, and it looked
altogether enticing! He crept in, got under as much of the straw as
he could heap over him, and fell fast asleep.

In a few minutes, as it seemed to him, he was roused by the great
voice of a dog in conversation with a boy: the boy seemed, by the
sound of the chain, to be fastening the collar on the dog's neck,
and presently left him. The dog, which had been on the rampage the
whole afternoon, immediately turned to creep in and rest till supper
time, presenting to Gibbie, who had drawn himself up at the back of
the kennel, the intelligent countenance of a large Newfoundland.
Now Gibbie had been honoured with the acquaintance of many dogs,
and the friendship of most of them, for a lover of humanity can
hardly fail to be a lover of caninity. Even among dogs, however,
there are ungracious individuals, and Gibbie had once or twice been
bitten by quadrupedal worshippers of the respectable. Hence, with
the sight of the owner of the dwelling, it dawned upon him that he
must be startled to find a stranger in his house, and might,
regarding him as an intruder rather than a guest, worry him before
he had time to explain himself. He darted forward therefore to get
out, but had scarcely reached the door, when the dog put in his
nose, ready to follow with all he was and had. Gibbie, thereupon,
began a loud barking, as much as to say--"Here I am: please do
nothing without reflection." The dog started back in extreme