'I tell you what it is, miss: that there dawg's 'art ain't in his business--he reg'lar looks down on the 'ole concern, thinks it _low_! Why, I see 'im from the werry fust a-turnin' up his nose at it, and it downright set me against him. Give me a Toby as takes a interest in the drama! The last but one as we had, afore him, now, _he_ used to look on from start to finish, and when Punch went and 'anged Jack Ketch, why, that dawg used to bark and jump about as pleased as Punch 'isself, and he'd go in among the crowd too and fetch back the babby as Punch pitched out o' winder, as tender with it as a Newfunland! And he warn't like the general run of Tobies neither, for he got quite thick with the Punch figger--thought a deal on 'im, he did--and if you'll believe me, when I 'ad to get the figger a noo 'ead and costoom, it broke the dawg's 'art--he pined away quite rapid. But this 'ere one wouldn't turn a 'air if the 'ole company went to blazes together!' Here Bob, who had been setting up the show in one of the rooms, came into the kitchen, looking rather uneasy at finding himself in such fine company, and Dandy was spared further upbraidings, as he was called upon to follow the pair upstairs. They went up into a large handsome room, where at one end there were placed rows of rout seats and chairs, and at the other the homely old show, seeming oddly out of place in its new surroundings. Poor draggled Dandy felt more ashamed of it and himself than ever, and he was glad to get away under its ragged hangings and lie still by Bob's dirty boots till he was wanted. And then there was the sound of children's voices and laughter as they all came trooping in, with a crisp rustle of delicate dresses and a scent of hothouse flowers and kid gloves, that reached Dandy where he lay: it reminded him of evenings long ago when Hilda had had parties, and he had been washed and combed and decked out in ribbons for the occasion, and children had played with him and given him nice things to eat--they had generally disagreed with him, but now he could only remember the pleasure and petting of it all. He would not be petted any more! Presently these children would see him smoking a pipe and being familiar with that low Punch. They would laugh at him too--they always did--and Dandy, like most dogs, hated being laughed at, and never took it as a compliment. The host's experiment was evidently a complete success: the children, even the most _blasés_, who danced the newest valse step and thought pantomines vulgar, were delighted to meet an old friend so unexpectedly. A good many had often yearned to see the whole show right through from beginning to end, and chance or a stern nurse had never permitted it. Now their time had come, and Mr. Punch, in spite of his lamentable shortcomings in every relation of life, was received with the usual uproarious applause.