Let him spend an afternoon and evening with the boys, if you do not
object."

"It will give me much pleasure," and the little lady bowed and smiled,
and after stooping down to pat me, tripped down the steps, and got into
her carriage and drove away.

Mrs. Morris stood looking after her with a beaming face, and I began to
think that I should like Mrs. Montague, too, if I knew her long enough.
Two days later I was quite sure I should, for I had a proof that she
really liked me. When her little boy Charlie came to the house, he
brought something for me done up in white paper. Mrs. Morris opened it,
and there was a handsome, nickel-plated collar, with my name on
it--Beautiful Joe.' Wasn't I pleased! They took off the little shabby
leather strap that the boys had given me when I came, and fastened on my
new collar, and then Mrs. Morris held me up to a glass to look at
myself. I felt so happy. Up to this time I had felt a little ashamed of
my cropped ears and docked tail, but now that I had a fine new collar I
could hold up my head with any dog.

"Dear old Joe," said Mrs. Morris, pressing my head tightly between her
hands. "You did a good thing the other day in helping me to start that
little woman out of her selfish way of living."

I did not know about that, but I knew that I felt very grateful to Mrs.
Montague for my new collar, and ever afterward, when I met her in the
street, I stopped and looked at her. Sometimes she saw me and stopped
her carriage to speak to me; but I always wagged my tail, or rather my
body, for I had no tail to wag, whenever I saw her, whether she saw me
or not.