Part 8 (2/2)

”What's up, Tom?” asked several.

”I saw somebody just now--back of yonder bushes. He stepped out and then stepped back again.”

”Was it one of the men we are after?” asked Sam.

”I don't know--he got out of sight before I had a good look at him.”

”We'll have to investigate,” said d.i.c.k, and to this the others agreed.

With all possible haste the launch was run to the sh.o.r.e and Sam, Tom, and d.i.c.k got out, followed by Harold Bird. The dog came also, limping along painfully.

”Find him, Dandy, find him!” said the young Southerner, in a low tone, and the dog seemed to understand. He put his nose to the ground, ran around for several minutes, and then started off through the bushes.

”Do you think he has struck the trail?” asked Tom.

”I am sure of it,” was Harold Bird's positive reply.

The young Southerner called to the dog, and Dandy went forward more slowly, so that they could keep him in sight. They pa.s.sed through one patch of bushes and then came to a clear s.p.a.ce, beyond which was a field of wild sugarcane.

Hardly had the dog struck the cleared spot when from a distance came the report of a pistol. Dandy leaped up in the air, came down in a heap, and lay still.

”Somebody has shot the dog!” cried Sam. ”What a shame!”

Harold Bird said nothing, but ran to where the canine lay. Dandy was breathing his last, and in a minute it was all over.

”Poor fellow!” murmured the young Southerner, and there were tears in his eyes. ”First the bob cats and now a pistol bullet! Oh, if I can only catch the rascal who fired that shot I'll make him suffer for this!”

”The fellow killed the dog, so the animal could not trail him,” said d.i.c.k. ”It was certainly a dirty trick.”

”It shows that the man is a criminal,” put in Tom. ”He would not be afraid of us if he was honest.”

”And therefore it must have been Gasper Pold or Solly Jackson,” said Sam.

”What will you do with the dog?” asked d.i.c.k, after an awkward pause.

”Take him back to the boat and bury him,” answered the young Southerner.

”I don't want the wild beasts to feed on him.”

”Hadn't we better follow up that man first?”

”We can do so, if you wish.”

They pa.s.sed on and looked around that vicinity with care. It must be confessed that they were afraid of being shot at, but nothing of the sort occurred. At one point they saw some footsteps, but these came to an end in a creek flowing into the lake.

As the ground in that vicinity was very treacherous there was nothing to do but to return to the launch and this they did, Harold Bird and d.i.c.k carrying the dead dog between them. All were sorry that the canine was dead, for they realized that the animal had done its best for them against the bob cats.

They had no spade, but with some flat sticks managed to scoop out a hole of respectable depth and in this they buried the canine. Over the spot the young Southerner placed a peculiar stick to mark the spot.

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