Ruth’s head hung low and nobody spoke until she lifted her face with a tear-wet smile, “Jan!  Prince Jan!” she called in her high, sweet voice.

They saw the muscles of the sleeping dog twitch.  The big paws moved slightly, as though in his dreams he was running to answer that name.  His tail threshed lightly on the floor, but still he slept.

“Jan, Prince Jan!” both children now called.

He leaped to his feet.  Quivering with excitement he faced them.

“Jan!” repeated Mr. Melville.

The dog darted to the man’s side and stood with eager, expectant eyes and furiously switching tail.  When he heard the name from Mrs. Melville, Jan ran to her and laid his head on her knee, looking into her face questioning her dumbly.

“He knows his name!  He is Prince Jan!” the children cried as they swooped down on him with squeezes and hugs, while the dog whined and twisted and uttered sharp barks of excitement until they were all laughing at him.

“Do you want to go home to the captain, Jan?” Mrs. Melville leaned over him as she spoke.

“Woof!  Woof!” he answered promptly, and they all knew that he meant “Yes.”

So Mr. Melville got pen and ink and wrote to the poundmaster, telling that Prince Jan was safe and well, and that he, himself, would bring the dog home.

That was how Prince Jan came back to the captain and Hippity-Hop, at last.  He was very happy at going home, yet he looked back wistfully at Ruth and Charlotte standing on the porch waving their hands, as the automobile drove away from the Land of Make-Believe, where Jan had been so kindly treated.  But when he saw the ocean again and the road up the bluff and knew that he was near the bungalow, he was ready to leap from the machine and dash madly to the place where the captain, Hippity-Hop, and Cheepsie lived.  He knew then that he loved them more than anybody in the whole world.

Chapter XI

PRINCE JAN VISITS SHORTY

Jan reached the front gate and let out a ringing “Woof” of joy that brought the captain and Hippity-Hop out at once.  The old man’s arms went about Jan’s neck, and the dog gave little whines of delight, his tongue touched the wrinkled hands, and his tail went around so fast that it did not look like a tail, but just a blur of fuzzy hair.

When Mr. Melville was seated, and the Captain on a chair near by, Jan’s head rested on the old man’s knee and the toil-worn fingers stroked the dog’s soft fur.  Hippity-Hop rubbed against Jan’s legs, purring like a noisy little buzz-saw, and Cheepsie flew down from his cage to perch first on the shoulder of the captain and then on Prince Jan’s head, while a flood of bird-music filled the little room.

[Illustration:  “I wish the children could see Jan now!”]

“I wish the children could see Jan now!” said Mr. Melville, and then he told the captain about finding Jan and the story in the paper that had brought the dog back to his master.