'They are our masters,' answered the yard-dog. 'Really people
who have only been in the world one day know very little.'
That's the conclusion I have come to. Now I have age and wisdom;
I know everyone in the house, and I can remember a time when I
was not lying here in a cold kennel. Bow-wow!'

'The cold is splendid,' said the Snow-man. 'Tell me some more.
But don't rattle your chain so, it makes me crack!'

'Bow-wow!' barked the yard-dog. 'They used to say I was a pretty
little fellow; then I lay in a velvet-covered chair in my
master's house. My mistress used to nurse me, and kiss and
fondle me, and call me her dear, sweet little Alice! But
by-and-by I grew too big, and I was given to the housekeeper, and
I went into the kitchen. You can see into it from where you are
standing; you can look at the room in which I was master, for so
I was when I was with the housekeeper. Of course it was a
smaller place than upstairs, but it was more comfortable, for I
wasn't chased about and teased by the children as I had been
before. My food was just as good, or even better. I had my own
pillow, and there was a stove there, which at this time of year
is the most beautiful thing in the world. I used to creep right
under that stove. Ah me! I often dream of that stove still!
Bow-wow!'

'Is a stove so beautiful?' asked the Snow-man. 'Is it anything
like me?'

'It is just the opposite of you! It is coal-black, and has a
long neck with a brass pipe. It eats firewood, so that fire