vening. I was glad when bedtime
came, and I could close myself in my cabin. That was my first bad night
on board the _Swan_. What could I do? What say?

Perhaps Vitalis would not give me up, then they would never know the
truth. My shame and fear of them finding out the truth was so great that
I began to hope that Vitalis would insist upon me staying with him.

Three days later Mrs. Milligan received a reply to the letter she had
sent Vitalis. He said that he would be pleased to come and see her, and
that he would arrive the following Saturday, by the two o'clock train. I
asked permission to go to the station with the dogs and Pretty-Heart to
meet him.

In the morning the dogs were restless as though they knew that something
was going to happen. Pretty-Heart was indifferent. I was terribly
excited. My fate was to be decided. If I had possessed the courage I
would have implored Vitalis not to tell Mrs. Milligan that I was a
foundling, but I felt that I could not utter the word, even to him.

I stood on a corner of the railway station, holding my dogs on a leash,
with Pretty-Heart under my coat, and I waited. I saw little of what
passed around me. It was the dogs who warned me that the train had
arrived. They scented their master. Suddenly there was a tug at the
leash. As I was not on my guard, they broke loose. With a bark they
bounded forward. I saw them spring upon Vitalis. More sure, although
less supple than the other two, Capi had jumped straight into his
master's arms, while Zerbino and Dulcie jumped at his feet.

When Vitalis saw me, he put Capi down quickly, and threw his arms around
me. For the first time he kissed me.

"God bless you, my boy," he said again, and again.

My master had never been hard with me, but neither had he ever been
affectionate, and I was not used to these effusions. I was touched, and
the tears came to my eyes, for I was in the mood when the heart is
easily stirred. I looked at him. His stay in prison had aged him
greatly. His back was bent, his face paler, and his lips bloodless.

"You find me changed, don't you, Remi?" he said; "I was none too happy
in prison, but I'll be better now I'm out."

Then, changing the subject, he added:

"Tell me about this lady who wrote to me; how did you get to know her?"

I told him how I had met Mrs. Milligan and Arthur in their barge, the
_Swan_, on the canal, and of what we had seen, and what we had done. I
rambled along hardly knowing what