the car got under
way; moving at rackety and racking "first speed" over hummock and bump;
as it joggled 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
mile, the horrible roadbed began 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 remembered where he had left the dog. He glanced
obliquely at the truckman, who had unloaded and who was cranking.

"Now--" said the scared youth, glibly, avoiding his father's
unsuspecting eye. "Now--now, 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
something."

The Mistress was busy with details of the car's unpacking. So she
accepted the explanation. It seemed probable that the long 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 from home.

Not until dinnertime did she give another thought 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 himself
at dinnertime from his time-honored place on the dining-room floor, at
the Master's left. And, amusedly, she recalled what her husband had
said of the stately dog's new propensity for mischief. Perhaps Lad was
exploring the 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 music-room piano, for the night, 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.

From puppyhood, Laddie had always come, at a sweeping gallop, on sound
of this whistle. Its notes could travel, through still air, for a half
mile or m