pulling at the blanket. "Oh, let me see Beauty, Fanchette," begged Howell.
"Make him sit up and do some tricks."

The maid pushed them away with a strong hand, and then carefully drew
aside a corner of the covering. Lloyd gave an exclamation of pleasure, for
the head that popped out was that of a bright little French poodle. She
had thought many times that morning of the two Bobs, and good old Fritz,
dead and gone, of Boots, the hunting-dog, and the goat and the gobbler
and the parrot,--all the animals she had loved and played with at Locust,
wishing she had them with her. Now as she saw the bright eyes of the
poodle peeping over the blanket, she forgot that she was a stranger, and
running across the deck, she stooped down beside it.

"Oh, the darling little dog!" she exclaimed, touching the silky hair
softly. "May I hold him for a minute?"

The maid smiled, but shook her head. "Ah, that the madame will not allow,"
she said.

"It cost a thousand dollars," explained Howell, eagerly, "and mamma thinks
more of it than she does of us. Doesn't she, Henny?"

The small boy nodded with a finger in his mouth.

"Show her Beauty's bracelet, Fanchette," said Howell. Turning back another
fold of the blanket, the maid lifted a little white paw, on which sparkled
a tiny diamond bracelet. Lloyd drew a long breath of astonishment. "Some
of its teeth are filled with gold," continued Howell. "We had to stay a
whole week in New York while Beauty was in the dog hospital, having them
filled. They could only do a little at a time. One of his tricks is to