He had found it in the highroad,
on his way back to the Place after a sedate ramble in the forest. Now,
it was nothing new for the great collie to find missing articles
belonging to the Mistress or to the Master. Every now and then he would
lay at their feet a tobacco pouch or a handkerchief or a bunch of keys
that had been dropped, carelessly, somewhere on the grounds; and which
Lad recognized, by scent, as belonging to one of the two humans he
loved.

These bits of treasure trove, he delighted in finding and restoring.
Yes, and--though those who had never seen him do this were prone to
doubt it--he was certain to lay the recovered object at the feet of
whichever of the two had lost it. For instance, it never occurred to
him to drop a filmy square of lace-and-cambric at the muddied feet of
the Master; or a smelly old tobacco-pouch at the Mistress's little feet.

There was nothing miraculous about this knowledge. To a high-bred dog,
every human of his acquaintance has a distinctive scent; which cannot
be mistaken. Lad used no occult power inn returning to the rightful
owner any article he chanced to find on lawn or on veranda.

But the lace parasol was different. That, presumably, had fallen from
some passing motor-car, bound for Tuxedo or for the Berkshires. It did
not belong at the Place.

Lad happened to see it, lying there in the highway. And he brought it,
forthwith, to the house; carrying it daintily between his mighty jaws;
and laying it on the living-room floor in front of the astonished
Mistress. Probably, he laid it before her, instead of before the
Master, because she was the first of the two whom he happened to
encounter. It is doubtful if he realized that a parasol is a purely
feminine adjunct;--although the Mistress always declared he did.

She picked up the gift and looked it over with real admiration. It was
a flimsily beautiful and costly thing; whose ivory handle was deftly
carven and set with several uncut stones; and whose deep fringe of lace
was true Venetian Point.

"Why, Laddie!" she exclaimed, in wondering delight. "Where in the world
did you get this? Look!" she went on, as her husband came in from his
study. "See what Laddie brought me! I saw him coming down the drive
with something in his mouth. But I had no idea what it was. Isn't it a
beauty? Where do you suppose he--?"

"As long as motorists go around curves at forty miles an hour," decided
the Master, "so long their piled-up valuab