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Show 96 Chapter 14 I could hear the singing and dancing in the square as I huddled in my place next to the ovens, nursing my resentment. I had two bruises on my arm, one from where Gast had gripped me the day before and the other where he had hit me in front of all the children. The pain from the bruises was as nothing to the hurt and humiliation I felt. After a while the noise of the merrymaking quieted, and I heard Hilde and her father go into the Meinersing living quarters. In spite of my misery I was tired, and I fell asleep. A horrible shrieking and howling awakened me. It was coming from the street outside the bakery. I ran to the door and flung it open, wondering what could be causing such a frightening din. Looking out onto the dark street, at first I could see nothing, but then I made out the figure of the small yellow dog. The dog was running in circles around the street, yowling in unearthly howls. In mid-circle it would leap into the air, snapping at nothing, then fall down and begin its wild running again. Master Hermann had come to the door, his hairy legs showing beneath his long shirt. "What is that terrible noise?" he asked as he squinted into the night. When he saw the animal he began to shake. "A mad dog!" he yelled. "Go out and kill it, Beist, with a rock or a stick. If a mad dog bites a person, that person will die." He gave me a shove between the shoulder blades which propelled me into the |