got the check from Uncle Dick this morning, I made up my mind,
first thing, to buy a dog with it, even if it took every cent.
But then I got to thinking I'd need something to fasten him with,
so he wouldn't run away before he learned to like me and want to
stay with me. So when I got the check cashed at the store, I got
this collar and chain."

"Are you a friend of the boss?" asked the kennel-man.

"The boss?" echoed the boy. "You mean the man who owns this
place? No, sir. But when I've walked past, on the road, I've seen
his 'Collies for Sale' sign, lots of times. Once I saw some of
them being exercised. They were the wonderfulest dogs I ever saw.
So the minute I got the money for the check, I came here. I told
the man in the front yard I wanted to buy a dog. He's the one who
turned me over to you. I wish--OH!" he broke off in rapture,
coming to a halt in front of Lass's run. "Look! Isn't he a
dandy?"

Lass had trotted hospitably forward to greet the guest. Now she
was standing on her hind legs, her front paws alternately
supporting her fragile weight on the wire of the fence and waving
welcomingly toward the boy. Unknowingly, she was bidding for a
master. And her wistful friendliness struck a note of response in
the little fellow's heart. For he, too, was lonesome, much of the
time, as is the fate of a sickly only child in an overbusy home.
And he had the true craving of the lonely for dog comradeship.

He thrust his none-too-clean hand through the wire mesh and
patted the puppy's silky head. Lass wiggled ecstatically under