and above the voices, tinkling toward him on the
crisp air, the music of a piano. Such nights were
his nights, for he knew that his mistress was happy,
and he would force open the stable door, step out
under the cold stars, and take up his stand in his
corner, there to rest his head upon the topmost
board and turn steady eyes upon the scene of
merriment until the last guest had departed.

Always on these nights, with wintry chills
coursing down his legs or rollicking along his
spine, he found himself wanting to be a part of
this gaiety, wanting to enter the house, where he
instinctively knew it was warm and comfortable,
where he might nuzzle the whole gathering for
sugar and apples. But this he could not do. He
could only turn longing eyes upon the cottage
and stand there until, all too soon, sounds of doors
opening and closing, together with voices in cheery
farewell, told him that the party was at an end.
Then he would see mysterious forms flitting across
to the trail, and lights in the house whisking out
one by one, until the cottage gradually became
engulfed in darkness. Then, but not till then,
would he turn away from his corner, walk back
slowly into the stable, and, because of the open
door, which he could open but never close, suffer
intensely from the cold throughout the long night.

One such occasion, when the round moon hung
poised in the blue-black dome of heaven, and he
was standing as usual in his corner, with eyes upon
the brilliantly lighted house, he became suddenly
aware of two people descending the rear porch

[[133]]

p132 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p133w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p134

v?