Part 27 (1/2)

Lad was not of the bulldog breed which seeks and gains a hold and then hangs on to it with locked jaws A collie fights with brain as much as with teeth By the time he and Roodie struck the earth, Lad tore free fro embrace and whizzed about to face the second of his foes

Eitel had taken advantage of the moment's respite to seize with his uninjured hand his slashed wrist Then, on second thought, he released the wounded wrist and bent over the baby; with a view to picking hi the comparative safety of the car's floor But his well-devised maneuver was not carried out

For, as he leaned over the bundle, extending his hands to pick it up, Lad's teeth drove fiercely into the section of Eitel's plump anato down of the kidnaper Deep clove his sharp fangs Nor did Eitel Schwartz sit down again with any degree of co howls of pain, Eitel thrashed up and down the road; endeavoring to shake off this rear attack The noise awakened the baby; who added his wails to the din Roodie got dizzily to his feet; his left forear of itsthe whole county down on us?

We--”

He ceased speaking; and lurched at full speed to the car and to the top of its single seat For, at sound of his voice, Lad had loosed his grip on the screeching Eitel and whirled about on this earlier adversary

The man reached the car-seat and slammed the door behind him, perhaps a sixth of a second too soon for Lad to reach him

Eitel, warned by his brother's bawled command, made a rush for the other side of the machine and clambered up He was a trifle less fortunate than had been Roodie, in razed his ankle and carried away in that snap a sa trousers

Thus, on the seat of the car, swaying, and clutching at each other, crouched the two sore-wounded brethren; while Lad ravened about the vehicle, springing upward now and, again in futile effort to clear the top of the closed door

Far down the road shone the lights of an approachingseat and set the runabout into motion Once more, the dread of pursuit and of capture and of prison danced hideously before his frightenedbaby, as the runabout jerked forward, hecollie Then he addressed hi himself and his brother as far out of the way as possible, before the onco car should reach the scene of strife

As a matter of fact, the other car never reached this spot Its occupants were two youths and two damsels, in search of a sequestered space of road where theyparty,” on their way to a dance in the village They found such a space, about a furlong on the thither side of the curve where the runabout had stopped And they advanced no farther

Lad, for a few rods, gave chase to the retreating Schwartzes Then, the heavy exertions of the pastbody Also, the baby was still whiht to renew its sway on the racket awakened brain

The dog turned pantingly back to the bundle; pawed it softly, as though to make sure the contents were not harerly between his reddened jaws; and continued his sedate ho on the veranda It was alhtly task of locking the los Frohroad that lay two hundred yards distant from the house, came the confused noise of shouts Then, as he listened, the far-off sounds ceased He went on with his task of locking up; and returned in a minute or two to the veranda

As he did so, Lad ca slowly up the porch steps In his e and white and dusty This he proceeded to deposit with much care at the feet of the Mistress Then he stood back; tail waving, dark eyes mischievously expectant

”Another dividend frohed the Master ”What is it, this time? A pillow or--?”

He broke off in the middle of his aht on the dusty and blood-streaked bundle, the baby began once e across the lake, was ht him back to his lower hallway

”hello!” came the Master's hail, over the wire ”Chief, has there been any alar baby?”

”Baby?” echoed the Chief ”No Have you lost one?”

”No I've found one At least, Laddie has He's just brought it hos, my wife says There was a white baby-blanket strapped around it And there are dust and streaks of fresh blood on the blanket But the baby himself isn't hurt at all