Thedogwentdirectlytothefire；there，sittingintheverymiddleofthegoldencockatoosontheTurkeyrug，hebegantolickhimself。
Hedidthisbysittingverysquareonthreelegsandspreadingoutthefourthstiffanderect，asthoughithadbeennotalegatallbutsomethingofwoodoriron。Themeltedsnowpouredoffhim，makingafinelittlepoolaboutthegoldencockatoos。Hemusthavebeenastrange-lookinganimalatanytime，beingbuiltquitesquarelikeatoydog，withagreatdealofhair，veryshortlegs，andathickstubbornneck；hiseyeswerebrown，andnowcouldbeseenveryclearlybecausethehairthatusuallycoveredthemwasplasteredabouthisfacebythesnow。Inhisnormaldayhiseyesgleamedbehindhishairlikesunlightinathickwood。Heworealittlepointedbeardthatcouldonlybeconsideredanaffectation；inoneword，ifyouimaginearidiculouslysmallsheep-dogwithnolegs，aFrenchbeardandastumpofatail，youhavehim。AndifyouwanttoknowmorethanthatIcanonlyreferyoutothedescriptionofhisgreat-great-great-grandson“Jacob，“describedintheChroniclesoftheBeaminsterFamily。
Thechildrenmeanwhilegazed，andforalongtimenoonesaidaword。ThenHelensaid：“FatherWILLbeangry。“
Butshedidnotmeanit。Thethreewere，bytheentranceofthedog，instantlyunitedintoanoffensiveanddefensivealliance。TheyknewwellthatshortlyanattackfromtheOutsideWorldmustbedelivered，andwithoutawordspokenoralookexchangedtheywereagreedtodefendboththemselvesandthedogwithallthestrengthintheirpower。Theyhadalwayswantedadog；theyhadbeenpreventedbythestupidandselfishargumentsofuncomprehendingelders。
Nowthisdogwashere；theywouldkeephim。
“Oh，he’sperfectlysweet，“suddenlysaidHelen。
Thedogpausedforamomentfromhisablutions，raisedhiseyes，andregardedherwithalookofcoldcontempt，thenreturnedtohistask。
“Don’tbesosilly，“saidJeremy。“YouknowyoualwayshateitwhenAuntAmysaysthingslikethataboutyou。“
“DidNursesee？“askedMary。
“No，shedidn’t，“saidJeremy；“butshe’llbeupinaminute。“
“Whatareyougoingtodo？“askedMaryhermouthwideopen。
“Do？Keephim，ofcourse，“saidJeremystoutly；atthesametimehisheartalittlefailedhimashesawthepoolofthewaterslowlyspreadingandembracingonecockatooafteranotherinitsruinousflood。
“Weoughttowipehimwithatowel，“saidJeremy；“ifwecouldgethimdrybeforeNursecomesupshemightn’tsaysomuch。“
Butalas，itwastoolateforanytowel；thedooropened，andtheJampotentered，hummingahymn，verycheerfulandrosyfromthekitchenfireandanabundantseriesofchroniclesofhumanfailingsandmisfortunes。Thehymnceasedabruptly。Shestayedtherewhereshewas，“frozenintoanimage，“assheafterwardsdescribedit。Shealsosaid：“Youcould’aveknockedmedownwithafeather。“
Thedogdidnotlookather，butcrockedunderhimthelegthathadbeenstifflikearamrodandspreadoutanother。Thechildrendidnotspeak。
“Well！“Foramomentwordsfailedher；thenshebegan，herhandsspreadoutasthoughshewasaddressingaSuffragettemeetinginTrafalgarSquare。Sheknew，happywoman，nothingofSuffragettes。
“Ofallthethings，andit’syou，MasterJeremy，that’asdoneit，asanyonemighthaveguessedbythewayyou’vebeenbe’avingthislastfortnight，andwhat’scomeoveryouismorenorInoranyoneelsecantell，whichIwassayingonlyyesterdaytoyourmotherthatit’smorethanonebodyandpairofhandsisuptothemanagingofnowyou’vegotsowildandwicked；andwhereverfromdidyougetthedirtyanimaldroppingwateralloverthenurserycarpetandsmellingawful，I’llbebound，whichanyonecanseethat’sgoteyes，andyou’dknowwhatyourfatherwilldotoyouwhenheknowsofit，andsoheshall，assureasmynameisLizziePreston……Goonout，youugly，dirtyanimal-ough，you’orriblecreatureyou。I’ll——“
Butheradvancewasstopped。Jeremystoppedit。Standinginfrontofthedog，hisshortthicklegsspreaddefiantlyapart，hisfistsclenched，healmostshouted：
“Youshan’ttouchhim……No，youshan’t。Idon’tcare。Heshan’tgooutagainanddie。You’reacruel，wickedwoman。“
TheJampotgasped。Never，no，neverinallherlongnursingexperiencehadshebeensodefied，soinsulted。
Herteethclickedasalwayswhenhertemperwasroused，thereasonbeingthatthirtyyearsagotheartsandaccomplishmentsofdentistryhadnotreachedsofineaperfectionasto-daycanshow。
Shehad，moreover，boughtacheapset。Herteethclicked。Shebegan：
“ThemomentyourmothercomesIgivehernotice。TothinkthatalltheseyearsI’veslavedandslavedonlytobetoldsuchthingsbyaboyas——“
Thenaverydramaticthingoccurred。Thedooropened，justasitmightinthethirdactofaplaybyM。Sardou，andrevealedthesmilingfacesofMrs。Cole，MissAmyTrefusisandtheRev。WilliamJellybrand，SeniorCurateofSt。James’s，OrangeStreet。
Mr。Jellybrandhadarrived，asheveryoftendid，totea。Hehadexpressedadesire，asheveryoftendid，toseethe“dearchildren。“Mrs。Cole，likingtoshowherchildrentovisitors，eventosuchregularandordinaryonesasMr。Jellybrand，atoncewaseagertogratifyhisdesire。
“We’llcatchthemjustbeforetheirtea，“shesaidhappily。
ThereisanunfortunatetendencyonthepartofourPressandstagetocaricatureourcurates；thistendencyIwouldwillinglyavoid。Itshouldbeeasyenoughtodo，asIamwritingaboutPolchester，atownthatsimplyabounds——andalsoaboundedthirtyyearsago——incuratesofthemostsplendidandmanlytype。But，unfortunately，Mr。
Jellybrandwasnotoneofthese。I，myself，rememberhimverywell，andcanseehimnowflinginghisthin，black，and——asitseemedtomethen——giganticfigureupOrangeStreet，hiscoatflappingbehindhim，hisenormousbootsflappinginfrontofhim，andhishugehandsflappingoneachsideofhimlikeahugegesticulatingcrow。
Hehad，thePolchesterpeoplewholikedhimsaid，“arichvoice。“
Theotherswhodidnotlikehimcalledhim“anaffectedass。“Heranupanddownthescalelikethis：
Mrs。
dear
My
Cole。
andhisbluecheekslookedcolderthananyiceberg。ButthenImustconfessthatIamprejudiced。Ididnotlikehim；nochildrendid。
TheColechildrenhatedhim。Jeremybecausehehaddamphands，Helenbecauseheneverlookedather，Marybecauseheoncesaidtoher，“Littlegirlsmustplayaswellaswork，youknow。“Healwaystalkeddowntousasthoughwewerebeingsofanotherandinferiorplanet。
Hecalledit，“Gettingonwiththelittleones。“No，hewasnotpopularwithus。
Hestoodonthisparticularanddramaticoccasioninfrontofthegroupinthedoorwayandstared——aswellhemight。Unfortunatelythesituation，alreadybadenough，wasaggravatedbythisdarkprominenceofMr。Jellybrand。ItcannotbefoundinanychroniclesthatMr。Jellybrandandthedoghadmetbefore；itissimplyafactthatthedog，raisinghiseyesattheopeningofthedoorandcatchingsightoftheblack-coatedfigure，forgotinstantlyhistoilet，rosedrippingfromhisrug，andadvancedgrowling，hislipsback，hisearsout，histailerect，towardsthedoor。Theneverythinghappenedtogether。Mr。Jellybrand，whohadbeenafraidofdogseversince，asaninfant，hehadbeenmistakenforabonebyalargeretriever，steppedbackuponAuntAmy，whoutteredashrillcry。Mrs。Cole，althoughshedidnotforsakeheraccustomedplacidity，said：“Nurse……Nurse……“Jeremycried：“It’sallright，hewouldn’ttouchanything，he’sonlyfriendly。“MaryandHelentogethermovedforwardasthoughtoprotectJeremy，andtheJampotcouldbeheardinaconfusedwail：“Notme，Mum……
Wickedestboy……bettergivenotice……asneverlistens……
dog……dog……“
Theanimal，however，showedhimselfnow，asatthatfirstearlierviewofhim，indifferenttohissurroundings。Hecontinuedhisadvanceandthen，beingonlyafractionofaninchfromMr。
Jellybrand’stemptinggleamingblacktrousers，hestopped，crouchedlikeatiger，andwithteethstillbaredcontinuedhiskettle-likereverberations。AuntAmy，whohateddogs，lovedMr。Jellybrand，andwasnotintheleastsentimentalwhenherpersonalsafetywasindanger，criedinashrillvoice：“Buttakeitaway。Takeitaway。
Alice，tellhim。It’sgoingtobiteMr。Jellybrand。“
ThedograisedoneeyefromhisdreamycontemplationofthetrousersandglancedatAuntAmy；fromthatmomentmaybedatedafeudwhichdeathonlyconcluded。Thisdogwasnotaforgetfuldog。
Jeremyadvanced。“It’sallright，“hecriedscornfully。“Hewouldn’tbiteanything。“Hebentdown，tooktheanimalbythescruffoftheneck，andproceededtoleaditbacktothefire。Theanimalwentwithoutamoment’shesitation；itwouldbetoomuchtosaythatitexchangedawinkwithJeremy，butsomethingcertainlypassedbetweenthem。BackagainontheTurkeyrughebecamemasterofthesituation。Hedidtheonlythingpossible：hedisregardedentirelythegeneralcompanyandaddressedhimselftotheonlypersonofultimateimportance——namely，Mrs。Cole。Helaydownonallfours，lookedupdirectlyintoherface，baredhisteeththistimeinasmileandnotinagrowl，andwaggedhisfarcicaltail。
Mrs。Cole’spsychologywasofthesimplest：ifyouwerenicetohershewoulddoanythingforyou，butinspiteofallherplacidityshewassometimeshurtinhermostsensitiveplaces。Thesewoundssheneverdisplayed，andnooneeverknewofthem，andindeedtheypassedveryquickly——buttheretheyoccasionallywere。Nowonwhatslendercircumstancesdothefatesofdogsandmortalshang。OnlythatafternoonMr。Jellybrand，intheinnocentself-confidenceofhisheart，hadagreedwithMissMaple，anelderlyandbitterspinster，thatthenextsewingmeetingoftheDorcasSisterhoodshouldbeheldinherhouseandnotattheRectory。HehadtoldMrs。
Coleofthisonhiswayupstairstothenursery。NowMrs。ColelikedtheDorcasmeetingsattheRectory；shelikedthecheerfulchatter，thehospitality，thegentlescandalandherownpositionashostess。