Part 6 (2/2)
There, chest deep the trio stood or staggered And, there, between theed Lad None of the three cared to risk wading shoreward, with such an obstacle between theirl on the bank added her quota of squalls to those of her sean to reach far under water for a rock to throw at the guard dog
The first shrill cry had reached the Master, as he sat at work in his study Down the slope he ca; and stopped in slack-jawed amaze at the tableau in front of hiarments,--a wo an Indian war-howl
Elbow deep in the placid waters of the lake floundered another woman almost as wonderfully attired as the first, and quite as vocal On either side of her was a drenched and gesticulating round bobbed an upset canoe Between the two disrupted factions of the happy picnic party stood Lad
The collie had ceased to growl; and, with head on one side, was looking in eager inquiry at the Master Lad had carried this watchdog exploit to a point where the next lad the Master had arrived, to take charge of the situation It seemed to call for human, rather than canine, solution And Lad was profoundly interested as to the sequel All of which showed as clearly in the collie's whimsically expressive face as ever it could have been set forth in print
Both an to talk at once; with lurid earnestness and vast wealth of gesture So did the woht sight of the half-spread lunch on the grass And it was by no means his first or his tenth experience with trespassers He understood Snapping his fingers, to su's silken head; and strove not to laugh
”And just as as sitting down, peaceful, to eat, and not harment of onedark-sable collie of yours ca down on us and--”
The triple opposition of outcry and coed whine But the Master looked out at him in new interest The man had used the term, ”dark-sable collie”; which, by the as the technical phrase for Lad's coloring Not one non-collie- of the ter it by instinct The Master stared curiously at the floundering and sputtering speaker
”Aren't you the er of the Lochaber Collie Kennels, up at Beauville?” he asked, speaking loud enough to be heard above the subsiding din ”I think I've seen you at Westham is your name, isn't it?”
”Yes, it is,” returned the kennel man, truculent, but surprised almost into civility ”And this islady friends of ours are--Say!” he broke off, furiously, rean to wade shoreward ”We're going to have the law on you, friend! Your collie tackled us as peaceably-”
”When you were peaceably ignoring this trespass sign of et that If you didn't have these girls with you, I'd keep my hands off Lad's collar and let him hold you out in the lake till it freezes for the winter As it is, one of you men can swim out for your canoe and tow it in; and then the rest of you can bundle aboard it and finish your picnic on somebody else's land”
”Well!” shrilled the wet da shoreward like so frohborly, hospitable way to treat poor unfortunate--!”
”Trespassers?” suggested the Master, as she groped for a cliht It is no way to treat a woman who has fallen into the lake; trespasser or not If you and this other young lady care to go up to the kitchen, the maids will see that your clothes are dried; and they'll lend you other clothes to go home in Lad won't hurt you And in this hot weather you're in no danger of catching cold While you're gone, Highaht it and bail it out And, by the way, I want one of you two reasy paper off my lawn Then--”
”Into the kitchen!” snorted the wet o into kitchens I--”
”No?” queried the Master, trying once h ”Well, my wife does So does my mother I spoke of the kitchen because it's the only room with a fire in it, in this weather If you'd prefer the barn or--”
”I won't step one foot in your house!” declaiirl ”Nor yet I didn't coone and spoiled our whole day, you big brute! Boys, go get that canoe! We won't lower ourselves by staying another minute on his rotten land Afterward, our lawyer'll see what's the penalty for treating us like this! Hurry up!”
Rice had clu shore until he found a dead branch washed up in a recent rainstor back into deeper water he was just able to reach the gunwale of the drifting canoe with the forked end of the bough and, by careful jockeying, to haul it within hand-grasp
Aided by Highahted it All the tiuage waxed hotter and hotter and whose thunderbolts centered about the Master and his dog;--particularly about Lad;--and about the dire legal penalties which were to be inflicted on the Lad's ruff, stood to one side during the work of salvaging the canoe; and while Rice replaced the paddles and cushi+ons in it Only when the toly aboard did he interfere
”One otten your lunch That and the ream or two of newspapers you've strewn around: and a feooden dishes I--”
”I picked up all the lunch that orth saving,” grunted Rice ”Your y collie trampled the rest of it, when he ran down here at us I wisht it'd had strychnia in it and he'd et it! We'll go eat our dinner over to the village And, before we go, I got this o,” interrupted the Master, shi+fting hio, let me remind you that you've left a lot of litter on my clean lawn; and that I asked you to clean it up”
”Go clean it up, yourself!” snapped Rice, fro' uy has a three-dollar patch of bu it up, ' whenever decent folks happens to walk on it Go clean up the papers, yourself! We ain't your slaves You're due to hear a lot from us, later, too Clean it, yourself!”
The ladies applauded these stirring proletariat sentihahaone back to the picnic site for an overlooked cushi+on On returning toward the beach, he had found the Master and Lad standing in his way Loftily, he h to skirt them and reach the canoe
”WATCH hi's ruff