Benjamin was so astonished at this, that he stopped crying. "What!" cried he, surprised, "you can speak, like a human being?"
The dog shook his shaggy head. "Yes, when the rich people act like wild beasts against the poor people, we animals must help them. When a human being is very unhappy and forsaken, he understands our language and knows that we wish him well. I have not forgotten, little Benjamin, that you saved my life. I want to thank you. Lie down on the straw, sleep, I will watch over you."
A little comforted, the little boy obeyed, and the dog sat down near him, guarding him all night, licking Benjamin's hand with his warm tongue occasionally.
Then came hard times for little Benjamin. The stout lady who was his neighbor took him to her hut, but she was not good to him. She forced him to carry water from the river in a heavy bucket, and made him do all kinds of hard work. And the worst was yet to come. One day the rich man passed by the huts of the Negroes and saw Benjamin. "A strong boy," he said. "He can work in the fields already." And from then on the little boy had to work in the fields in the heat of the sun till he thought he would die of weariness.
At evening, tired, he would crawl into the hut, bury his head in the hide of the grey dog, cry, and draw comfort from his only friend.
One evening, his back all bloody and his face swollen, Benjamin came home. The overseer had been in a bad temper, had beaten the little boy with a whip and hit him in the face with his fist.
"I want to die," cried Benjamin, while the dog softly and gently licked his wounds. "I can't stand it any longer. My parents are gone, I am entirely deserted, everyone is unkind to me. Dog, dear dog, what shall I do?"
"Run away," replied the dog.
"Where to? They will catch me and beat me again."
The dog thought hard for a while.
44
