Part 3 (2/2)
As soon as she could, the Mistress got herself and the loudly-praised Lad into the car and set off for home Now that the peril was over, she felt dizzy and ill She had seen what it is not well to see And the ht thereafter
As for Lad, he was still atingle with excite hulad to escape it Lad hated to be ers But the Mistress's tre whisper of ”Oh, Laddie!
LADDIE!” had shown she was proud of hihted Lad, past all measure
He had acted on impulse But, from the Mistress's manner, he saw he had made a wonderful hit with her by what he had done And his tail thuainst the seat as he cuddled very close to her side
At ho;--this time from both the Mistress and the Master And the Master bathed and patched the insignificant bullet-scratch on the collie's foreleg Altogether, it was a gala afternoon for the young dog And he loved it
But, nexthim
Like most Great Moments, this exploit of Lad's was not on the free list And Trouble set in;--grim and sinister trouble
Breakfast was over The Mistress and the Master were taking their wonted , ahead of the did not la of canine interest; sniffing expert inquiry at holes whichin truculent threat up soht not harbor an i to see objects ofin dra-beetle which scuttled across his path
There are an i collie, in even thewalk; especially if his Mistress and his Master chance to be under his escort And Laddie neglected none of these things If a troop of bears or a band of Indians or aanywhere in the shrubbery or behind tree-trunks, Lad was not going to fail in discovering and routing out such possible dangers to the peace of ht presently were attracted by a feeble fluttering under a low-limbed catalpa tree in whose branches a pair of hysterical robins were screeching Lad paused, his tulip ears at attention, his pluh a clu hty jaws The birds, on the li; and made little futile dashes at the collie's head
Unheeding, Lad walked back to the Mistress and laid gently at her feet the baby robin he had found His keen teeth had not sodone his share toward settling the bird's dilerave interest while the Mistress lifted the fluttering infant and put it back in the nest whence it had fallen
”That ht to me in a month,”
she commented, as she and the Master turned back toward the house ”To say nothing of two field ed bat He seems to think I'll knohat to do for them”
”I only hope he won't happen upon a newborn rattlesnake or copperhead and bring it to you for refuge,” answered the Master ”I never saw another dog, except a trained pointer or setter, that could handle birds so tenderly He--”
The buainst the dock, at the foot of the lawn, a hundred yards below, checked his ra words Lad, at sudden attention, by his master's side, watched the boat's occupant cla the dock and up the laard the house The arrival was a long and lean and lank and lantern-jawed man with a set of the most fiery red whiskers ever seen outside a musical coe; and recognized him as Homer Wefers, the newly-appointed Townshi+p Head Constable The Mistress recognized him, too, as the vehement official whose volley of pistol-bullets had ended the sufferings of the black rel She shi+vered, in reminiscence, as she looked at hi!” Wefers observed, curtly, as the Master, with Lad beside hiuest ”I tried to get over here, last night But I guess it's soon enough, today Has he showed any signs, yet?” He nodded inquiringly at the ih' for what?” queried the puzzled Master
”And what sort of 'signs' are you talking about?”
”Soon enough to shoot that big brown collie of yours,” explained Wefers, with businesslike briskness ”And I'ns of hydrophoby Has he?”
”Are you speaking of Laddie?” asked the Mistress, in disulped ”Why should he show any signs of hydrophobia? He--”
”If he hasn't, he will,” rapped out the visitor ”Or he would, if he wasn't put out of the way That's what I'ht have done it, yourselves Can't be too careful, you know 'Specially--”
”What in blue blazes are you blithering about?” roared the Master, finding his voice andhis startled wits ”Do you lare the Master's disrespectfulcollie of yours He was bit by a e I shot 'es; or bite anybody One of 'eed to that little crippled Posthanger girl She cried and begged, so pitiful, when I come for him But dooty is dooty So I--”
”OH!”
The Mistress's horrified ht Lad protectingly by the ruff and stared in mute dread at the lanky and red-whiskered officer Lad, reading her voice as always, divined this nasal-toned caller had said or done so to make her unhappy His ruff bristled One corner of his lip lifted in so which looked like a sroas born
But the Master stepped in front of his wife and his dog, and confronted the constable Fighting for calmness, he asked: