street running from far, far away to meet me, and jump and stretch his paws to my knees as if he would give me an affectionate embrace! The first time I experienced boyish joy[1] together with surprise which caused me to go home with my overcoat covered with mud up to my belt. And I never noticed it!
My good Dick!
Very soon I began, little by little, to distinguish the different expressions of his eyes, in which I never before saw more than one, an invariable expression, the mute aspect of two black cherries, marked with a luminous point in the centre, like a glistening drop of dew.
Gradually I have recognized the expression of. curiosity, the impatience, the pain of being deceived if any least promise of mine failed,—the reproach, the imploring prayer, and also
- ↑ Charles Eliot Norton told with "a boyish joy" the story of his little dog, Taffy, who came running from the Railroad station, perhaps a half mile distant to greet him after a very long absence, on hearing his whistle. "Like the Non Plus Ultra musician who discerns one sound of a single chord in an orchestra of hundreds of musicians, you can rest assured that the dog is perceiving something entirely unknown to you," quoth Lista, "something which you will discover when the dog is convinced and serenely goes by. Perhaps he remains in the obscurity of your knowledge, and curiosity may tickle your feelings, and it occurs to you constantly that you want to know what he observed." Editor, M. E. B.
