Read "Muffles -- the Bar-Keep" by Francis Hopkinson Smith online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
One crisp, cool October day, when the maples blazed scarlet and the Bronx was a band of polished silver and the hoar-frost glistened in the meadows, I turned into the road that led to the Shady Side. The outer gate was shut, and all the blinds on the front of the house were closed. I put my hand on the old brass knocker and rapped softly. Bowser opened the door. His eyes looked as if he had not slept for a week.
"What's the matter -- anybody sick?"