how
interested she and everyone else were to hear how the little dog had
been traced to a coachman's house in a mews close by. Sarah, on her
side, seemed very glad to be with her dear little mistress again, and
after returning her caresses curled herself up and went to sleep on the
sofa, no doubt tired with her adventures. How Diana wished she could
tell her all she had done and seen on that Sunday when everyone had been
so unhappy about her!

"Where did you go, you darling?" she asked her over and over again, but
Sarah never answered. She only wagged her fringy tail, and licked her
mistress's hand, and goggled at her with her full dark eyes. And yet
Diana felt quite sure that she had many strange and interesting things
to tell, if she only could.

One afternoon she was lying on the school-room sofa with Sarah by her
side. It was a very hot day, the blinds were down and the windows wide
open, so that the distant rumble of the carts and carriages came up from
the street below. There was an organ playing too, and as Diana listened
dreamily to these noises, and stroked Sarah's head with one hand, she
began to wonder again about those wonderful adventures.

"Tell me where you went on Sunday," she whispered once more.

To her great surprise, she plainly heard, among all the other noises,
the sound of a tiny voice close to her. She listened eagerly, and this
is what it said:

"You must know, my dear mistress, that I have long had a great wish to
see more of the world. The park is pleasant enough, but after all if you
are led on a string and not allowed to speak to other dogs, it soon
becomes dull and tiresome. I wanted to go out alone, into the busy
street, to stay as long as I liked, to take whatever direction I
fancied, and to join in the amusements of other dogs. In short, I wanted
more freedom; and although I never gave way to temper or became
snappish, I grew more and more discontented with my safe and pleasant
life. I was so closely watched, however, that I could never get an
opportunity for the least little stroll alone, and I began to despair,
when, at last, on Sunday, the chance really came. I was alone in the
hall, Hester opened the door, I slipped out unseen, and there I
was--free!

"It was delightful to find myself alone on the door-step, and to hear
the door shut behind me; not that I did not fully intend to go back, for
I love my mistress and am not ungrateful for the kindness shown me, but
it was so pl