Part 22 (2/2)
Lad had notdown in keen enjoyment at the lively spectacle But as the boy caainst a sharp-pointed rock, and sat up, sniveling with pain, the great dog's aspect changed Seehtly down from the car and went over to offer to the sufferer such coue could afford
”Here!” called the guide, who had seen but a crosssection of the collision ”Here, you! Stop a-playin' with the dorg, and hustle thes onto--”
”I wa'n't playin' with hi dourly at the sy up froround ”He came a-buntin' me; and I--”
”That'll do, Sonny!” rasped Barret, as strong on discipline and who fancied he had witnessed the cli, ”I seen what I seen And I don't aied, chuckle-headed brat; that's hired to help his poor old dad and who spends his ti
You take that collie over to the truck, and ask his boss to look after him and to see he don't pester us while we're aworkin' On the way back, stop at the lean-to and catch s I left there The's just room for 'em, under the seat Chase!”
Woefully, the boy li, ordinarily, would have resented such fa to comfort the victi Which was Lad's way The sight of sorrow or of pain always entle and sympathetic
The boy's bruises hurt cruelly The distance to the truck was a full hundred yards The distance to the lean-to (a permanent shed, back of the camp-site) was about the same, and in almost the opposite direction The prospect of the double journey was not alluring The youth hit on a sche back to see that his father was not looking, he cli courteously along beside hith; tied it around Lad's neck; fastened the dog to one of the uprights; shouldered the cooking-utensil bag; and started back toward the car
He had saved hier walk; and had obeyed his father's orders to take Lad away He was certain the Master, or one of the others,forlornly there, just outside the lean-to's corner; or that another errand would bring some of the party to the shed to release him At best, the boy was sore of heart and of body, at his own rough treat else
Twenty ed bumpily off, upon its trip down the hazardous uide's boy rode in triumph on the seat beside the truckman;--a position of honor and of excitement
”Where's Lad?” asked the Mistress, a uide et into the car and follow
”Aboard the truck,” responded Barret, in entire good faith ”Hiot a-skylarkin' here So I sent Bud over to the truck with him”
”That's queer!” mused the Mistress ”Why, Laddie never condescends to play,--or 'skylark,' as you call it,--with anyone except my husband or myself! He--”
”Never mind!” put in the Master ”We'll catch up with the truck before it's gone a mile And we can take Laddie aboard here, then But I wonder he consented to go ahead, without us That isn't like Lad
Holiday-spirits, I suppose This trip has entle up bears and skunks, if he was at ho at rackety and racking ”first speed” over huled into the faint wheeltrack By reason of this noise and of the Master's stupid homily, none of the trio heard an amazed little bark, from the knoll-top, a hundred yards behind them
Nor did the car catch up with the truck At the end of the first half an to take toll of the elderly tires
There were two punctures, in rapid succession Then came a blowout
And, at the bottom of the mountain a third puncture varied the monotony of the ride Thus, the truck reached the Place well ahead of the faster vehicle
The Mistress's first question was for Lad Terror seized upon the guide's boy, as he relanced obliquely at the truck
”Now--” said the scared youth, glibly, avoiding his father's unsuspecting eye ”No, Lad he was settin' 'twixt Simmons and me
And he hops down and runs off around the house, towards--towards the lake--soon as we stopped here Most likely he was thirsty-like, or so”
The Mistress was busy with details of the car's unpacking So she accepted the explanation It see and dusty ride should have made Lad thirsty; and that after his drink at the lake, he had made the rounds of the Place; as ever was his wont after his few brief absences froht to her loved pet's absence The guide and his boy had long since departed, on the truck, for their ten-mile distant home Nor, even yet, did it occur to the Mistress to question the truth of the youngster's story She merely wondered why, for the first time in his life, Lad should absent hi-room floor, at the Master's left And, amusedly, she recalled what her husband had said of the stately dog's new propensity forthe friendly home-woods in search of a bear!
But when ten o'clock came and Lad did not seek the shelter of his ”cave” under the ht, there was real worry
The Mistress went out on the veranda and sounded long and shrilly upon the silver whistle which hung from her belt