"Once," said the Singing Mouse, "I knew a man who found a little
dog, starved, beneath a building where it had been left. He took
it and fed it; and each time he held out his hand to give it
food, it bit his hand, knowing not that he was its friend. Many
times he fed it, and always it bit his hand. It was a long time
before it learned that the man was its friend. It was but a
savage. He fed it patiently, and so after a time the dog bit him
no more, having learned that he was its friend. When it had
ceased to be savage, it loved him. The man gave it neither blow
nor unkindness, and fed it, knowing that he was older and more
wise and that in time it might love him. So at last it did; and
this may often happen for those who wait, large and kind and
patient; and so often friends are made."
[Illustration]
[Illustration: The Beast Terrible]
[Illustration]