A DOG OF FLANDERS. IIt

old age, and his joints were stiff,
and his bones ached often. But he
would never give up his share of the
labor. Nello would fain have spared
him, and drawn the cart himself, but
Patrasche would not allow it. All
he would ever permit or accept was
the help of a thrust from behind to the
truck, as it lumbered along through
the ice-ruts. Patrasche had lived in
harness, and he was proud of it. He
suffered a great deal sometimes from
frost, and the terrible roads, and the
rheumatic pains of his limbs, but he
only drew his breath hard and bent
his stout neck, and trod onward with
steady patience.

“Rest thee at home, Patrasche,—
it is time thou didst rest,— and IT