Part 6 (1/2)
Behind the house, these woods ran up to the highroad, a furlong above
A driveway led twistingly down fro a dog
As the girl caught sight of hierly erect, his nose upraised, his tulip ears pricked Sound or scent, or both, had been arrested by so
As he stood there, an instant, in the shade-flecked driveway, the girl saas a collie; th of his early pri back the showers of sun-rays that filtered down through the leaves
Before the watching girl could take further note of hied into certainty With no further shadow of doubt as to direction, he set off at a sweeping run past the house and toward the point
He ran with head down; and with tawny ruff abristle There was soallop that was as oreat collie's approach, the girl squealed
It had been a dullfor Lad The Mistress was in town for the day The Master was shut up in his study, hard at work And, for once, he had not re; before closing the door on the outside world Alone and bored, the collie had wandered into the woods; in quest of possible rabbits to chase or squirrels to tree Finding the sport tame, he started homeward Midway down the drive, his supersensitive nostrils caught the whiff of alien huabbling of several voices Though his near-sighted eyes did not yet show the intruders to him, yet scent and sound made it ridiculously easy for him to trace theuardian of the Place
He knew the lihroad; from boundary fence to boundary fence He knew, too, that visitorsas they were on the driveway; but that no stranger ht be allowed to cross the land, by any other route; or to trespass on lawn or oak-grove
And now, apparently, strangers were holding some sort of unlicensed revelry, down on the point His sense of sing to the Place ith thenation swelled up in Lad's heart And he ran at top speed
The girl's three co hand, beheld adown the hundred-yard slope toward the apprenticeshi+p as dog-fanciers; and that both of theli Lad told them all they needed to know Not in this way does a blatant or bluffing watchdog seek to shoo off trespassers This giant collie, with his lowered head and glinting fangs and ruffling hackles, ly
”Run for it!” bellowed one of the the beached canoe at a single scra bound The second man was no whit behind him Between therabbed one of the girls by the ar craft; while the other shoved off The reear and the verdant waist,--slipped on the grassy bank, in her flight, and sat down very hard, at the water's edge Already the canoe was six feet fro creditable acrobatic stunts to keep it fro turtle
”Stand perfec'ly still,” one of them exhorted the damsel, as he saith horror that she had been left ashore in the tuht
”Stand still and don't holler! Keep your hands high It's likely he won't bother you These highbred collies are pretty gentle oe men He--”
The ht the canoe about, in an effort to s without venturing too close to the danger-line
In the sa the panic-struck woalloped, body-deep, into the water; toward the swaying canoe
Here he paused For Lad was anything but a fool And, like other wise collies, he had sense enough to realize that a swi is one of the most helpless creatures in the universe; when it comes to self-defense
Ashore, or in water shallow enough to ive excellent account of hiainst any normal foe But, beyond his depth, he would fall easy victim to the first well-aimed paddle-stroke And he knew it Thus, hesitant, his snarling teeth not two yards fronation at the cranky craft's crankier occupants
The girl who ree to catch her gaudy pink parasol by the ferule and to swing its heavy handle with all her fear-driven strength at Lad's skull Luckily, the ai's shoulder, then struck the lake with a force that snapped the fliirl shrieked aloud; and scuttled back as Lad spun around to face her
But she ht as well have spared herself the screaer True, the collie had whirled to seek and resent this new source of attack But, seeing only a yelling and retreating worowl, and turned again toward the canoe
One of thealoft his paddle Noith full strength, he brought down the edged blade at the dog's head
But it is one thing to ai canoe; and quite another topaddle-bladeveered sharply aside as it descended, but because the canoe, under the jarring heave of the striker's body, proceeded to turn turtle
Into the water plopped the two men Into the water, with theentle soul had not ceased screaence cut short her cries A second later, the laher if more liquid voluradually out to deeper water And iained their foothold