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.
Hippity-Hop had been very lonely after Jan's disappearance, and the dog
did not dream that the three-legged kitten had mewed and mewed for him
until the old captain picked her up in his arms and said, "He will come
back to us some day, Hippity-Hop." And each day the old man, with the
kitten at his side, sat on the front porch watching down the road.
The morning after Jan's return, Mr. Melville came again to the bungalow
and he and the captain called Jan to get in the automobile with them.
Hippity-Hop's forlorn little face peered between the curtains of the
front window, but none of them heard her plaintive cry as they all
vanished from her sight. When the automobile stopped, Jan saw a grey
building of stones with windows crossed by iron bars. He followed his
friends into a large room where several men were seated. They spoke to
the captain and Mr. Melville, and all looked at Jan, patting his head
for some reason, as they talked of him.
Then Jan, the captain, and Mr. Melville followed another man through
long dim hallways that had doors on either side, very close together.
One of these doors was unlocked, and as Jan and his friends passed
through, the door was shut and locked again.
They were in a dingy room with grey walls, the only window being high up
and criss-crossed by bars. It was a very small window. On a cot in a
corner of the room sat a man. He turned his head toward them and when he
saw the dog, he jumped to his feet, calling, "Jan!"
"Woof!" answered the dog in surprise as he leaped toward the man.
Shorty dropped on his knees and took Jan's head between his hands,
talking to the big dog as though talking to a little child whom he loved
very dearly. Jan did not know, nor would he have cared had he known,
that Shorty was in jail. He only knew that this was his friend who had
tried to protect him from William's abuse. And all the while, Captain
Smith and the artist were watching them with kindly eyes.
At last, Shorty rose and sat on his narrow cot, with his two visitors on
either side, and Jan, planted right in front of Shorty, turned his head
from one to the other as though he were trying to understand what they
were talking about so earnestly. Shorty's hand stroked Jan's head, and
every once in awhile the man would say, "I'm so glad you found him."
"You love dogs, don't you?" asked the old poundmaster, as they rose to
go.
Shorty looked down at Jan for a second, then answered, "I never had any
friends in my life excepting dogs."
They left Shorty alone in the little grey room and went back to the men
in the big room, where the sun streamed across the floor like a tiny
river of gold, but back in the other room the window was so high and so
small that the sun could not shine through it at all. Shorty did not
think about that now.
The captain talked to the men, who listened attentively, and finally he
said, "Judge, I don't believe that any one who loves dogs and is kind to
them is bad all the way through. Shorty says he never had a friend in
his life except dogs."
"I do not think he is naturally bad," answered the judge, who sat in a
big chair back of a high desk. "From what I can learn, he has been under
William Leavitt's control since they were children. Shorty tried to get
away from his brother twice, but each time William found and punished
him so brutally that the boy was afraid to venture again. There are
scars on Shorty's feet made by a hot iron the last time he tried to
escape from his brother. Shorty is not quite nineteen yet. That is how
he comes under the Juvenile Court."
"Judge," exclaimed the captain, his face alight with eager pleading,
"you know there's lots of people that folks call bad, who would be
decent if they had a chance. Can't you give Shorty a chance to show that
he wants to make good? Send him some place where his brother can't find
him?"
"Your Honor," the artist spoke now, "if there is any way to arrange it,
I would like to take the lad up to Roseneath and we will try to help him
make good in our Land of Make-Believe, as we call our home."
Jan did not understand what they were saying, but he knew it had
something to do with Shorty and that the captain was talking very
earnestly, so the dog edged between his two friends and stood watching
the man at the high desk, for all in the room were looking at him. This
man was very quiet, and seemed to be thinking, then he looked up and
said, "Bring Shorty in here."
A few minutes passed in silence, then the door swung open and Shorty
shuffled through it. He blinked in the bright sunlight and ducked his
head as though he were afraid to look up at them all. Jan moved quickly
and pushed his nose into Shorty's hand. The face above him lighted with
a sudden, winning smile. The judge watched them both but did not speak.
Then Shorty remembered where he was and raised his head to face the man
on the high platform. That man was looking with very kindly eyes at the
lad and the dog.
"Shorty," the judge spoke very plainly, "if I give you two years'
suspended sentence and let you go with Mr. Melville to live on his
ranch, will you try to make good?"
Shorty only stared stupidly. The judge repeated his words more slowly
and added, "We will not let it be known where you are, so you need have
no fear of William. I want to know if you will give me your solemn
promise--your word of honor--to do your very best?"
Shorty's face twitched, his eyes blinked fast, his hands reached out as
if he were feeling for some other hand to grasp. The hands hesitated,
groped, then one hand moved upward across his face as though to brush
something away that kept him from seeing plainly. Those in the room
watched but made no sound.
"Do you mean it, Judge?" the lad's voice was low and husky, but there
was a tone of pleading in it. "You ain't just fooling, are you, Judge?"
"No," the judge spoke very firmly, "I'm not fooling, Shorty. You are
going to get your chance."
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.