Part 7 (2/2)
Arrived at the country club whose grounds had been fitted for the charity show, Lad was benched in the shade And there, all the rest of the e of the collies and Old English Sheepdogs and of two other breeds, had missed a train from Canada; and had not yet arrived His various classes were held up, pending his advent
”Loder's a lucky e, ho ”And he'll be still luckier if he misses the whole show You 'small exhibitors' have no notion of the rotten deal handed to a dog-show judge;--though lots of you dohis life a burden Before the judging begins, some of the exhibitors act as if they wanted to kiss hih flattery and loving attentions Then, after the judging is over, he is about as popular with those sah things about hirafter,--'he's 'afraid of the big kennels,'--he's 'drunk' He's any of these things; or all of theether nobody's satisfied
Everybody has had a raw deal Everybody's hae Well, not everybody's, of course There are so on the surface of the earth But the big majority pan him, all the way home; and then some of them roast him in print The Inco-show judge”
”But--”
”Then, again,” pursued the Toy Breeds ot to leave his heart at hoate' the second-rate mutts shown by outsiders who never exhibited before and who think their pet dog ought to get every prize because he's so cunning and friendly I hate to--”
The Mistress ca up fro her husband aside, she whispered, excitedly:
”There's only one other collie here, whose coat can anywhere near equal Laddie's The rest are all in shabby summer coat Come across and let eous coat Not that _I_ think it's half as good as Lad's,” she added, loyally, as she piloted the Master between the double lines of clae may think it is! You see, he doesn't know Laddie as we do”
She stopped before a bench whereon lay a pale golden sable collie; alnificence of coat thatwas shter of frame than was Lad Nor, in head and expression, was he Lad's equal But his coat was every bit as luxuriant Indeed, there was perhaps a shade more of it than Lad carried
A collie's coat, as a rule, takes about seven row Thus, each year, it comes into full bloom a little later than on the year before And, in course of time, it is prone to reach its climax of excellence in su
”Lochaber King,” read the Master, froreatest pup Remember,him at Westminster?
It's nip-and-tuck, between hih luck!”
”Oh, this has been just one of those days nobody wants!”Laddie's suitcase, though I could have sworn I saw you lift it aboard,--and then the judge not being here; and now this horrid collie with his wonderful coat!
What next, I wonder?”
Like a well-staged bit of mechanism, the reply to her rhetorical question came down to her froan far off and reverberated from mountain to mountain; then muttered itself into silence in the more distant hills
The Mistress, like everyone else, looked skyward
The hazy blue of the suray and black Up fro array of dun and fla way No weather-prophet was needed to tell these hillcountry folk that they were in for a thunderstor'lar ol' he-one,” at that
Now, under right conditions, an open-air dogshow is a thing of beauty and of joy At such places as Tuxedo and one or two others it is a sight to be remembered But in rainy weather,--especially in a tu feature
The Beauville Show Committee,--like all experts in such matters, had taken this chance into account Down the aisles of benches and through the questioning and scared groups of exhibitors ran attendants and officials; shouting that the Country Club polo stables and the wide spaces under the clubhouse verandas had been fitted up for eht be housed, dry and safe, until the passing of the store-boy
”This way, sir!” he panted ”I saved a special box stall, in the first stable, for your collie”
”YOU saved it?” queried the puzzled Master, while the Mistress began to unfasten Lad's leash ”How did you happen to do that?”
”I was told to, sir,” answered the boy ”A--a gentleman told me to, just now One of the of'cers of the club I don't know his na there”
”That'sthe freed dog to hi stables ”I wish you knew his name I'd like to thank him”