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between the walls, and she cried at them, ‘A dog! A dog, is it? Now get yerselves away afore I bite yer. Go on with you.’
    The next minute they were looking at the closed door. When they were on the pavement once more they were silent, until Willie, chuckling slowly, said, ‘Did you hear what she said? She said, “afore I bite yer”. It’s funny, isn’t it, trying to get her to take a dog, and her tellin’ us she’ll bite us, see?’
    ‘Aye, it is funny.’ Joe was laughing with Willie now. But Matty wasn’t laughing. He felt awful, he felt as if the woman had slapped him in the face. He had a feeling of being humiliated somehow, and at this moment his thoughts returned to his mother and he felt bitter against her. All this was happening to him because she wouldn’t let him keep Nelson.
    At another house a man answered the door. He was a thin oldish man, and they knew he was a pitman by the blue marks on his face and arms, the insignia of hewing coal. Although his refusal was firm, his voice was kindly and went some ways towards soothing Matty’s feelings. ‘No, lad,’ he said. ‘We don’t want a dog. We’ve had enough trouble with animals and bairns over the years, and now the wife’s past bothering. You know what I mean; she wants to get out a bit, and you can’t leave an animal tied up for hours on end.’ He looked at Matty knowingly and added, ‘Your mother won’t let you keep him?’
    Matty nodded his head.
    ‘Well, I’m sorry for you, lad, and I don’t doubt your trek is goin’ to be a hard one, ’cos as soon as the licence is due they push them out. Not all, oh no, not all. There’s some folks love their dogs but there are others who are not fit to keep rats. Still, I wish you luck, lad.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Matty.
    The next door they visited was painted blue, and as they rang the bell there came the sound of raised voices, and Willie, bending towards Matty, whispered, ‘They’re having a row.’
    Matty had realised this and was just about to turn away when the door was wrenched open and they were faced by a young woman glowing with temper. ‘What do you want?’
    Matty stared up at her but said nothing. He knew that in this particular case the offering of a dog would only be adding fuel to the fire. But Joe didn’t think along these lines, for, looking up at the woman and giving her his brightest smile, he said, ‘Would you like a dog, missis?’
    ‘You cheeky monkey!’ A very large hand came out, and the next minute Joe found himself sitting on the concrete looking at the bottom of a closed door, while Willie hung over the railings laughing at the top of his lungs, and Matty, his head bowed, found it almost impossible not to bellow with him, and, try as he might, he couldn’t keep his face straight as he pulled Joe to his feet.
    Their visits to the last three houses had been observed by a boy of about ten years old. He had been pushing a bike along the other side of the street. One tyre of the bike was quite flat, making it evident why he was walking. And now he turned the bike in the direction of the boys, and when he came up to them, he said, ‘You trying to get rid of your dog?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Matty. ‘Do you know anybody who wants one?’
    ‘I do.’ The boy was looking at Nelson, and they all looked at the boy, and Joe and Willie now gabbled together, ‘Great! Great! He’s yours, isn’t he, Matty? You can have him.’
    ‘Wait a minute. Where do you live?’ asked Matty.
    ‘Up the close,’ said the boy, still gazing at Nelson. ‘Second turning from here.’
    ‘Are you the only one?’ said Matty.
    ‘No.’ The boy looked up at him now. ‘I’ve a sister but she’s mad for a dog an’ all. We’ve always wanted a dog, and me ma promised we could have one sometime.’
    ‘We’ll go and see your ma,’ said Matty.
    Excited now, and headed by the boy, they made their way to No. 4 The Close, only to find that the boy’s mother was not at home. But his sister