rich, mellow tone
as any sound could well be. Yet the dog heard it, ay, and recognised
it, for he immediately replied vigorously. Leslie continued to shout,
dashing recklessly forward in the direction of the barking as he did so,
and Sailor continued to reply; nay, more; now that he actually heard
Leslie's voice calling him, he uttered a whining howl of excitement,
hesitated for a few seconds, and finally bounded off to meet him in
response to Flora's feebly uttered commands. Five minutes later he came
dashing madly up to Leslie, looked up into his face, barked, wagged his
tail energetically, and then dashed off back in the direction from which
he had come, stopping at every few yards to assure himself that he was
being followed. And in this way he led Dick forward, for about a
quarter of an hour, over the rough, broken ground that Flora had
traversed some twenty-four hours before, until the pair stood together
on the spot from which the girl had fallen.

By this time Flora had become quite invisible from this spot; for she
had continued her struggles at intervals all through the night until she
had worked herself down into the very heart of the clump of scrub and
creeper into which she had fallen, and which had now closed over her
head. But there was a sort of indentation or sinkage in the surface of
the scrub, presenting an appearance suggestive of some tolerably heavy
body having fallen there, and at this indentation Sailor first
steadfastly gazed, and then looked up into Leslie's face, barking
continuously. And, peering intently down into this, Dick presently
became aware of what appeared to be some tiny shreds of clothing
clinging here and there to the bushes.

"Are you there, Flora?" he shouted.

There was no reply; for the moment that the sound of Dick's voice fell
upon her ear, encouraging and talking to the dog, and she knew that
rescue was at hand, the long-endured tension of her nerves relaxed, and
she fainted. But Sailor's actions were not to be misunderstood; he
continued to look alternately into Leslie's face and then down at the
bushes, barking excitedly all the while and making as though he would
leap down into the depression; so that even a very much less intelligent
individual than Leslie could not have failed to understand that it was
there that the missing girl would be found. He called once more, and,
still failing to obtain an answer, wasted no further time in hesitation,
but, seeing tha