The old poundmaster and Jan walked on the beach nearly every day, and if
the dog saw a bit of driftwood near the shore, he would swim out and
get it. His master then put the wood in a basket so it could be taken
home to burn in the fireplace on cool nights. Often when Jan was alone
on the beach and spied floating wood, he dashed through the surf for it,
and, if it were not too heavy, dragged it to the bungalow. Whenever he
did this, he was petted and praised by the old man. Then Jan felt very
proud because he was helping his master.

One day as he wandered alone on the shore he saw a lot of wood floating
on the waves. Though it was quite a distance he did not hesitate to
plunge after it. The salt water splashed over his head; sometimes he was
completely under big waves, and once a high curling breaker caught and
turned him over and over, while his legs stuck up from the peak of the
wave, but Jan thought it all great sport. He shook his big head so that
his long ears flapped, and his strong paws sent him into deeper water
where the waves rolled in long lines but did not curl up and break so
roughly as nearer the shore.

The boards were fastened together, and Jan saw this was a much harder
task than he had ever attempted before. He grabbed the edge of a plank
in his powerful jaws and twisting sharply, struck back, for land.
Several times the force of the water and the weight of the little raft
made him let go, but each time he caught the driftwood and fought his
way toward the beach. Land was still quite distant when he heard a faint
noise, and then he saw that a tiny grey kitten was clinging to the
boards.

"Hold on," called Jan, but the kitten did not seem to hear him. It lay
perfectly still.