Then Jan was ready to follow this kind friend, and though his legs trembled with weakness, he hastened with the old man into a large room with dirt floor.  It was late in the afternoon and the light from two small windows left the place in partial darkness, so that Jan, coming into it, could not see anything at first.  But, he heard dogs whining and barking all about him.  When he grew accustomed to the dim light, the old man had tied him and gone away.

A number of dogs were fastened by short ropes, and all were staring at the big dog.  Shrill yapping made Jan turn quickly to see a tiny, dirty dog with long hair that had once been white but now was matted and grimed, straining on its rope and squinting impudently at him.

“Gracious!  You’re the biggest dog I ever saw!” exclaimed the midget, which was not much larger than a small kitten.  “What is your name, and where on earth did you come from?”

Prince Jan answered politely, then asked, “Is this the kennel where they train dogs to help people in the Land of No Snow?”

“You must be crazy!  This is the pound!” snapped the tiny creature, thinking Jan was making fun of it.

“The pound?” echoed Prince Jan.  “What is that?”

“Silly!  You haven’t much sense, even if you are so big!  If the dog-catchers get us they bring us to the pound, and if our folks don’t come for us pretty soon, we are all shot!”

Several dogs howled in despair, but the snippy little animal only stretched out for a nap.

“Don’t you feel badly, too?” questioned Jan.

“Good gracious, no!  I travel around with my folks and we live in hotels, and they make me wear a collar.  I manage to get away without my collar, sometimes, and some one always takes me to the pound, and my family come there for me as soon as I am lost.  They’ll be here for me before long.  I’ve been in lots of pounds.”

[Illustration:  “‘You must be crazy! this is the pound!’ snapped the tiny creature.”]

Without further remarks, the spoiled pet curled itself into a dirty ball and was fast asleep when the door opened and two young ladies rushed in and grabbed up the blinking rascal.  He yawned in the face of the girl who held him; then, petted and scolded, he was carried away.

With hopeless eyes, Jan watched them pass through the doorway.  He understood now, that Elizabeth had not sent for him, that nobody cared what happened to him.  He lay down and shut his eyes and tried to shut his ears to the misery of the other dogs, but he could not sleep.  Jan kept thinking how he had wanted to do what was right and how hard he had tried to remember what his mother had taught him.  In this strange land, with no snow and no work to do, he had failed; and now, he would die in disgrace after a useless life that meant dishonour to his father and Barry, and the other dogs who had lived and died doing their duty as St. Bernards.