e's sixty pounds grew unbearably heavy,
to the half-drunk Ferris. More than once he was minded to set down his
burden and leave the brute to his fate.

But always the tardy realization that the journey was more painful to
the dog than to himself gave Link a fresh grip on his determination.
And at last,--a long and tiring last,--they reached the tumble-down
farmhouse where Link Ferris kept bachelor's hall.

Laying his patient on the kitchen table, Link lighted a candle and went
in search of such rude appliances as his father had been wont to keep
in store for any of the farm's animals that might be injured.

Three times as a lad Link had seen his father set the broken leg of a
sheep, and once he had watched the older man perform a like office for
a yearling heifer whose hind leg had become wedged between two
brookside stones and had sustained a compound fracture. From Civil War
hospital experience the father had been a deft bonesetter. And
following his recollection of the old man's methods, Link himself had
later set the broken leg of one of his lambs. The operation had been a
success. He resolved now to duplicate it.

Slowly and somewhat clumsily he went to work at the injured dog. The
collie's brave patience nerved him to greater tenderness and care. A
veterinary would have made neater work of the bonesetting, but hardly
could have rendered the job more effective.

When the task was achieved Link brought his patient a bowl of cold
water--which the collie drank greedily--and some bread and meat scraps
which the feverish patient would not touch.

As he worked at his bonesetting task, Ferris had more chance to study
his new acquisition. The dog was young--probably not more than two
years old. The teeth proved that. He wore a thin collie collar with no
inscription on its silver band.

Even to Link's inexperienced eye he was an animal of high breeding and
of glorious beauty. Link told himself he would perhaps get as much as
ten dollars for the return of so costly a pet. And he wondered why the
golden prospect did not seem more alluring.

Three times in the night Link got up to give the collie fresh water and
to moisten and re-adjust the bandages. And, every time, the sight of
his rescuer would cause the dog's tail to thump a joyous welcome and
would fill the dark eyes with a loving gratitude which went straight to
Ferris's lonely heart.

In the morning the dog was prevailed upon to lap a saucer of warm milk,