was too well bred to be indiscreet. I saw
his lip tremble in the effort he made to keep back his protests.

When we were far enough away from the village, I signed to them to stop,
and the three dogs made a circle round me, Capi in the middle, his eyes
on mine.

"As we had no permission to play, they sent us away," I explained.

"Well, then?" asked Capi, with a wag of his head.

"So then we shall have to sleep in the open air and go without supper."

At the word "supper" there was a general bark. I showed them my three
sous.

"You know that is all we have. If we spend those three sous to-night, we
shall have nothing left for breakfast to-morrow. So, as we have had
something to-day, it is better to save this." And I put my three sous
back in my pocket.

Capi and Dulcie bent their heads resignedly, but Zerbino, who was not so
good, and who besides was a gourmand, continued to growl. I looked at
him severely.

"Capi, explain to Zerbino, he doesn't seem to understand," I said to
faithful _Capitano_.

Capi at once tapped Zerbino with his paw. It seemed as though an
argument was taking place between the two dogs. One may find the word
argument too much, when applied to dogs, but animals certainly have a
peculiar language of their kind. As to dogs, they not only know how to
speak, they know how to read. Look at them with their noses in the air
or, with lowered head, sniffing at the ground, smelling the bushes and
stones. Suddenly they'll stop before a clump of grass, or a wall, and
remain on the alert for a moment. We see nothing on the wall, but the
dog reads all sorts of curious things written in mysterious letters
which we do not understand.

What Capi said to Zerbino I did not hear, for if dogs can understand the
language of men, men do not understand their language. I only saw that
Zerbino refused to listen to reason, and that he insisted that the three
sous should be spent immediately. Capi got angry, and it was only when
he showed his teeth that Zerbino, who was a bit of a coward, lapsed into
silence. The word "silence" is also used advisedly. I mean by silence
that he laid down.

The weather was beautiful, so that to sleep in the open air was not a
serious matter. The only thing was to keep out of the way of the wolves,
if there were any in this part of the country.

We walked straight ahead on the white road until we found a place. We
had reached a wood. Here and there were great blocks of granite. The