A DOG OF FLANDERS. 131

unbar his door as the little humble
funeral went by. “The boy is a
beggar,” he said to himself : “he shall
not be about Alois.”

The woman dared not say anything
aloud, but when the grave was closed
and the mourners had gone, she put
a wreath of immortelles into Alois’
hands, and bade her go and lay it
-reverently on the dark, unmarked
mound where the snow was displaced.

Nello and Patrasche went home
with broken hearts; but even of that
poor, melancholy, cheerless home
they were denied the consolation.
There was a month’s rent over-due
for their little home, and when Nello
had paid the last sad service to the
dead he had not a coin left. He