Page:Anna Chapin--Half a dozen boys.djvu/225

Rh sion to his feelings in wail after wail, each one longer and louder than the last. Bess sprang to catch the dog, but with a quick movement he  dodged away, and ran to the other side of Mr. Muir, where he again sat up, and, at the next high note, chimed in with another discordant  shriek, while his furiously wagging tail expressed his pleasure in this novel duet. It was useless to try to go on, and the singer rose from  the piano, while Bess said,—

“This is too much, Mr. Muir! What must you think of such a household? Between the boys and the dog, your evening has been a  remarkable one.”

And not even the young man’s laughing assurance of his enjoyment of it all, could  entirely restore her ease of manner while the  good-nights were being said.

After Mr. Muir was at the door, he came back to shake hands once more with Fred, and  say,—

“Good-night, my brave boy. I am glad I have seen you, and I hope we shall meet again  some day.”

“I say,” he remarked to his friend, as they