They saw Shorty fling himself down on his knees beside Prince Jan and pull the dog close to him, while racking sobs shook the boy’s shoulders.  Jan twisted around to lick Shorty’s face and comfort him, for the dog did not know his friend was crying from happiness.  At last Shorty rose to his feet, brushing away the tears with his ragged coat sleeve.

“Judge, I promise you I’ll make good or I’ll die in the trying,” he said, and all those who heard him knew he would do his best.

The judge stepped down from the big chair and put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, saying in a kindly voice, “You’re bound to make good, Shorty, and we are all your friends!”

The other men shook Shorty’s hand, and the judge said, with a smile, “I have a nice collie pup up at my home that I will give you, if Mr. Melville doesn’t object.”

“We have no dog, now that Prince Jan is gone,” the artist answered quickly, “and I promised my wife that I would bring back some kind of a dog for the children.  They would be lonesome now, without one.  So the pup will be just as welcome as Shorty will be.”

Shorty forgot this man was a judge, and smiled at him, asking, “What’s the pup’s name, please?”

“He is a registered pup with a long fancy name, but we just call him ‘Pup,’ so you can pick out a name to suit yourself.”

“I’m going to call him ’Prince Jan’!” announced the boy, and all agreed that it was a fine name for any pup.

They shook hands once more with Shorty and wished him good luck, and when the boy walked from the room, he held his head high.  A smile was on his lips and hope in his eyes.  Mr. Melville walked beside him.

That evening when Jan, Hippity-Hop, Cheepsie, and the captain were sitting together, the old man looked at the dog and said, “Jan, your ancestors rescued travellers from the snow, but to-day you helped Shorty get a new start in life, and that is a bigger thing than if you had saved him from death in the Alps.”

The dog did not understand the words, but he knew that the smile was the same happy smile that came when the old poundmaster had found a good home for one of the friendless dogs.  So Jan was happy, too.

Chapter XII

THE POUNDMASTER’S PROBLEM

For several days after Shorty had gone on his way to the Land of Make-Believe with Mr. Melville, life ran very quietly and happily for Prince Jan and his friends in the little bungalow on the cliffs.  Then he began to notice that Captain Smith was worried, and when Jan poked his nose into the hand of his friend, though the hand stroked the dog’s head, the poundmaster did not smile and his eyes looked as if he saw something Jan could not see.  It worried Jan, though he could do nothing but lie quietly with his anxious eyes fixed on the old man’s face.