The neighbors' houses were all lighted up, and a good many people were hanging out of their windows and opening their doors, and calling to each other to know what all this noise meant.
When the policeman appeared with Jim and me at his heels, quite a crowd gathered around him to hear his part of the story. Jim and I dropped on the ground panting as hard as we could, and with little streams of water running from our tongues. We were both pretty well used up. Jim' s back was bleeding in several places from the stones that Jenkins had thrown at him, and I was a mass of bruises.
Presently we were discovered, and then what a fuss was made over us. "Brave dogs! Noble dogs!" everybody said, and patted and praised us. We were very proud and happy, and stood up and wagged our tails, at least Jim did, and I wagged what I could. Then they found what a state we were in. Mrs.Morris cried, and catching me up in her arms, ran in the house with me, and Jack followed with old Jim.
We all went into the parlor. There was a good fire there, and Miss Laura and Miss Bessie were sitting over it. They sprang up when they saw us, and right there in the parlor washed our wounds, and made us lie down by the fire.
"You saved our silver, brave Joe," said Miss Bessie, "just wait till my papa and mamma come home, and see what they will say. Well, Jack, what is the latest?" as the Morris boys came trooping into the room.
"The policeman has been questioning your nurse, and examining the dining-room, and has gone down to the station to make his report, and do you know what he has found out?" said Jack, excitedly.
"No,what?" asked Miss Bessie.
"Why that villain was going to burn your house."
Miss Bessie gave a little shriek. "Why, what do you mean?"
"Well," said Jack, "they think by what they discovered, that he planned to pack his bag with silver, and carry it off; but just before he did so he would pour oil around the room, and set fire to it, so people would not find out that he had been robbing you."
"Why we might have all been burned to death," said Miss Bessie. "He couldn' t burn the dining-room without setting fire to the rest of the house."
"Certainly not," said Jack, "that shows what a villain he is."
"Do they know this for certain, Jack?" asked Miss Laura.
"Well, they suppose so; they found some bottles of oil along with the bag he had for the silver."
"How horrible! You darling old Joe, perhaps you saved our lives," and pretty Miss Bessie kissed my ugly, swollen head. I could do nothing but lick her little hand, but always after that I thought a great deal of her.
The next day the Drurys came home, and everything was found out about Jenkins. He was made to confess all this. Then for his wickedness he was sent to prison for ten years, and I hope he will get to be a better man there, and be one after he comes out.
在莫里斯家的第一个冬天，我经历了一场惊心动魄的冒险。那是圣诞节的前一个星期，天气有雾又寒冷。那天，我懒懒地躺在火炉旁，累极了。
这时，门开了，一个叫贝西·德鲁里的年轻女孩走了进来。
她从马路对面她父亲的屋子里跑出来，头上戴着帽子，脖子上围着围巾。“哦，莫里斯夫人，”她说，“你可以今晚让劳拉过来陪陪我吗？妈妈刚才接到从班格传来的电报，说她的姨妈，也就是科尔夫人重病，她要去看她，爸爸今晚陪她一起乘火车去，妈妈怕我没有劳拉陪伴会孤单。”
“好吧，” 莫里斯夫人说道， “我想劳拉很乐意陪你的。”
“那当然了，”劳拉小姐笑着对她的朋友说道，“半小时后我到你那里。”
“太谢谢你了。” 说完，贝西匆忙走了。
她走后，莫里斯先生从报纸里探出头来，说道：“除了这两个女孩子，屋子里还有其他人吗？”
“哦，当然，” 莫里斯夫人说道，“德鲁里夫人有个老奶妈，已经跟随她20年了，还有两个女仆，车夫唐纳德就睡在马厩里，他们会保护好她的。”
“很好。”莫里斯先生说完，又把头埋进报纸里了。
当劳拉小姐挎着小包下楼时，我起身跟上了她。“乔，你得回去。”她说道，然后关上门走了。
我不得不回去，但是我觉得糟糕透了，大声叫着，呜咽着。我在地板上走来走去，又跑到窗户边，大声咆哮着。
“天哪！”莫里斯先生对妻子说，“让这只狗去吧。”
“好吧。”莫里斯夫人疑惑地说，“杰克，带他过去。”
我和杰克很快来到了德鲁里家，他按了门铃，把我交给了开门的女仆。我蹑手蹑脚地走到前面的屋子里，在那里我找到了亲爱的劳拉小姐。
大厅的钟指向了11点。“我们是不是该睡觉了？”劳拉小姐问道。
“是该睡了。”贝西小姐说道。
“乔睡哪里呢？”
“不知道，”劳拉小姐说道，“在家时，他睡马厩里，或者跟吉姆睡自己的窝里。”
“要不让苏珊在厨房火炉边准备个舒服的床，他睡那里。”贝西小姐说。
苏珊把床准备好了，但我不愿睡那里，我大叫着，于是他们不得不在劳拉小姐的床边铺了块柔软的毯子，让我睡在上面。
劳拉小姐几乎要对我发火了，但是我不能控制自己。我来这里是要保护她的，我必须和她在一起。
两个女孩聊了很久后睡了。劳拉小姐在睡前原谅了我，她把手放下来，让我舔了舔。
我累了，躺在柔软而又舒适的床上，很快入睡了。不过，丝丝的嘈杂声把我吵醒了，一次是劳拉小姐在床上翻身，一次是贝西小姐的梦中笑声。结着霜的树叶被风吹打着，发出奇怪的沙沙声。很快，我睡意全无。
大厅里有只大钟，它一摇摆，我就醒来。有一次，不知它摇摆了多少次，我从深睡中被惊醒。我梦到我又回到了以前的家，詹金斯拿鞭子追赶我，我吓得腿发抖，好像正想方设法逃脱。
我跳了起来，把自己摇醒，绕着房间转了一圈。几乎听不到两个女孩那轻盈的呼吸声。我走到门外，看了看大厅，那里有盏在燃烧的微弱的灯。奶妈的房门开着，我轻轻地走进去看了看。她睡得很沉，嘴里嘟嘟囔囔不知在说什么。
我又回到我的毯子上睡觉，但睡不着了。一种不祥之感笼罩着我。我被迫站了起来，重新走到楼梯上站着。我觉得该到大厅里转转，然后再睡。
与莫里斯家的地毯不同，德鲁里家的如天鹅绒般柔软，我走在上面，不会发出咯吱咯吱的响声。我像猫一样溜到楼下，在大厅转悠了一会儿，又把所有的门闻了个遍，仔细听了听周围的动静。这里非常黑，没有灯，但要是有陌生人在周围，我肯定能察觉。
当我晃悠到大厅尽头那扇最远的门边时，我发现餐厅的门缝里透出一丝微弱的灯光，忽然灯光又立即消失了。我吃惊极了，餐厅是大家吃饭的地方，这家所有的人都吃过晚餐了，应该没有人的啊！
我走上前去，在门底下闻了闻，有一股强烈的气味，像是从乞丐身上散发出来的，闻起来好像是詹金斯的，没错，是詹金斯！
这个卑鄙的人要对我亲爱的劳拉小姐做什么？我快发疯了。我用爪子抓着门，我咆哮着，叫喊着。我跳起来，用身体撞着门，尽管我已是一只很重的狗了，但是我仍然感到自己像羽毛一样轻盈。
当时我觉得如果我不把门撞开，我就会发疯。每隔几秒钟，我都停下来把头靠在门槛上，听听里面的动静。屋子里一片混乱，椅子被撞倒了，好像有人正试图从窗户跳出去。
这使我比以前叫得更疯狂。当时我来不及想我只是一只中等身材的狗，如果他抓住我，很可能会杀了我。我愤怒极了，只想抓住他。
在我制造出如此大的噪音时，一声尖叫从楼上传来，接着有人的走动声，我在大厅里来回跑动，一会儿跑上楼梯，一会儿又下来。我不想让劳拉小姐跑下来，但我怎能让她理解我当时的心情呢？她站在那里，穿着白色的睡衣，靠在栏杆上，用手抚摸着自己的长发，脸上露出既惊讶又恐惧的表情。
“这只狗已经疯了，”贝西小姐尖叫道，“奶妈，往他身上泼点儿水。”
但奶妈当时要清醒得多。她跑下楼，头上的睡帽已经飞了，身后托着一条她从床上抓到的毯子。“屋里有贼，”她扯着嗓子叫着，“是这只狗发现的。”
她没有走到餐厅的门旁，而是打开前面的门，叫道：“警察！警察！救命，救命，有贼，有人行凶！”
她的尖叫声如此之大，以致于让人无法相信这是一个老妇人发出的！我急急忙忙地跟在她后面，穿过大厅的门，来到大门口，这时我听到有人在跑。我大叫了几声，唤来吉姆，跳到门口，赶在那个人前面。
那天晚上我真的是疯了。我确信那是詹金斯的气味。我觉得自己好想要把他撕成碎片，我从来没有这样强烈的复仇感。我紧紧地追赶着他，就像他当年追赶着我和妈妈那样，我当时真是兴奋极了。
老吉姆很快赶上了我，我用鼻子拱了他一下，让他明白我很高兴他来了。我们飞奔着，在拐角处我们抓到了这个倒霉蛋，他竟然想逃脱我的爪子！
我愤怒地咆哮着，跳上前去咬住他的腿。他转过身来，尽管那个夜晚不是很亮，但我依然能看到旧日主人那张丑陋的脸。
看到吉姆和我竟然咬他，他好像恼怒极了。他抓起一把石子，掷向我们，嘴里还骂骂咧咧的。正在那时，我们前面传来一声奇怪的口哨声，接着身后又传来一声类似的声音。詹金斯的喉咙里发出一声奇怪、含糊不清的声音，然后他跑到了旁边的街上，远离了那两声口哨声的方向。
我怕他逃走，尽管我抓不住他，但还是一次又一次地跳起来，跟上他，有一次竟然把他绊倒了。当时他是多么恼怒啊！他把我踢到墙上，然后抓起一根棍子，使劲地打了我几下，接着又把石头扔向我。
尽管鲜血模糊了我的双眼，我几乎看不到他，但还是没有放弃。而只要詹金斯碰到我，老吉姆就狂怒不止，扑到他的身后，死死咬住他的小腿，和他拼起来。
