of squalls to those of her semi-engulfed
friend; and one of the men began to reach far under water for a rock to
throw at the guard dog.

The first shrill cry had reached the Master, as he sat at work in his
study. Down the slope he came running; and stopped in slack-jawed amaze
at the tableau in front of him.

On the bank hopped and wriggled a woman in vivid garments,--a woman who
waved a broken parasol and seemed to be practicing an Indian war-howl.
Elbow deep in the placid waters of the lake floundered another woman
almost as wonderfully attired as the first, and quite as vocal. On
either side of her was a drenched and gesticulating man. In the
background bobbed an upset canoe. Between the two disrupted factions of
the happy picnic party stood Lad.

The collie had ceased to growl; and, with head on one side, was looking
in eager inquiry at the Master. Lad had carried this watchdog exploit
to a point where the next move was hard to figure out. He was glad the
Master had arrived, to take charge of the situation. It seemed to call
for human, rather than canine, solution. And Lad was profoundly
interested as to the sequel. All of which showed as clearly in the
collie's whimsically expressive face as ever it could have been set
forth in print.

Both men began to talk at once; with lurid earnestness and vast wealth
of gesture. So did the women.

There was no need. The Master, already, had caught sight of the
half-spread lunch on the grass. And it was by no means his first or his
tenth experience with trespassers. He understood. Snapping his fingers,
to summon Lad to his side, he patted the dog's silken head; and strove
not to laugh.

"And just as we was sitting down, peaceful, to eat, and not harming no
one at all and minding our own business," came a fragment of one man's
oration, above the clamor of the others, "that big dark-sable collie of
yours came tearing down on us and--"

The triple opposition of outcry and complaint blurred the rest of his
enraged whine. But the Master looked out at him in new interest. The
man had used the term, "dark-sable collie"; which, by the way, was the
technical phrase for Lad's coloring. Not one non-collie-man in a
thousand would have known the meaning of the term; to say nothing of
using it by instinct. The Master stared curiously at the floundering
and sputtering speaker.

"Aren't you the manager of the Lochaber Collie Kennels, up at
Beauville?" he asked, speaking loud enoug