e of the Place. These exhibitions
entailed no great strain or danger. Lad's chief objection to them was
that he hated to be chirped to and pawed and stared upon by an army of
strangers.

Such a one-day event was the outdoor Charity Dogshow at the Beauville
Country Club, forty miles to northeast of the Place; an easy two-hour
drive. It was to be a "specialty show"; at which the richness and
variety of prizes were expected to atone for the lack of A. K. C.
points involved.

A premium-list of the show had been mailed to the Place; and one of its
"specials" had caught the Mistress's quick eye and quicker imagination.
The special was offered by Angus McGilead, an exiled Scot whose life
fad was the Collie; and whose chief grievance was that most American
breeders did not seem able to produce collies with the unbelievable
wealth of outer-and-undercoat displayed by the oversea dogs. This
particular special was offered in the following terms:

Embossed Sterling Silver Cup, 9 Inches High (Genuine Antique) For The
Best-Coated Collie Shown.

Now, Lad's coat was the pride of the Mistress's heart. By daily
brushings she kept it in perfect condition and encouraged its luxuriant
growth. When she read of McGilead's eccentric offer, she fell to
visualizing the "embossed sterling silver cup, 9 inches high (genuine
antique)" as it would loom up from the hedge of dog-show prizes already
adorning the living room trophy-shelves.

Summer is the zero hour for collies' coats. Yet, this year, Lad had not
yet begun to shed his winter raiment; and he was still in full bloom.
This fact decided the Mistress. Not one collie in ten would be in
anything like perfect coat. And the prize cup grew clearer and nearer,
to her mental vision. Hence the series of special baths and brushings.
Hence, too, Laddie's daily-increasing gloom.

At eight o'clock on the morning of the show, the Mistress and the
Master, with Lad stretched forlornly on the rear seat of the car, set
forth up the Valley on the forty-mile run to Beauville. On the tonneau
floor, in front of Lad, rested a battered suitcase, which held his
toilet appurtenances;--brushes, comb, talcum, French chalk, show-leash,
sponge, crash towel, squeaking rubber doll (this to attract his bored
interest in the ring and make him "show") and a box of liver cut in
small bits and fried stiff.

Lad blinked down at the suitcase in morose disapproval. He hated that
bag. It spelt "dogshow" to him. Even the pre