going
back down the road we had just come over.

The wagon master, a sergeant, had joined Faye, riding a mule, and the
two rode on after the dog, expecting every minute to overtake him. But
the recollection of the unhappy year at Baton Rouge with the hospital
steward was still fresh in Hal's memory, and the fear of another
separation from his friends drove him on and on, faster and faster, and
kept him far ahead of the horses. When at last Faye found him, he was
sitting by the smoking ashes of our camp stove, his long nose pointed
straight up, giving the most blood-curdling howls of misery and woe
possible for a greyhound to give, and this is saying much. The poor
dog was wild with delight when he saw Faye, and of course there was
no trouble in bringing him back; he was only too glad to have his old
friend to follow. He must have missed Faye from the company in the
morning, and then failing to find me in the shut-up wagon, had gone back
to camp for us. This is all easily understood, but how did that hound
find the exact spot where our tent had been, even the very ashes of our
stove, on that large camp ground when he has no sense of smell?

I wondered all the day why I did not see Faye and when the stop for
luncheon passed and he had not come I began to worry, as much as I could
think of anything beyond my own suffering. Late in the afternoon we
reached the camp for the night, and still Faye had not come and no
one could tell me anything about him. And I was very, very ill! Doctor
Gordon was most kind and attentive, but neither he nor other friends
could relieve the pain in my heart, for I felt so positive that
something was wrong.

Just as our tent had been pitched Faye rode up, looking weary and
worried, said a word or two to me, and then rode away again. He soon
returned, however, and explained his long absence by telling me briefly
that he had gone back for the dog. But he was quiet and distrait, and
directly after dinner he went out again. When he came back he told me
all about everything that had occurred.

Under any circumstances, it would have been a dreadful thing for him to
have been absent from the command without permission, but when officer
of the day it was unpardonable, and to take the colonel's horse with him
made matters all the worse. And then the wagon master was liable to have
been called upon at any time, if anything had happened, or the command
had come to a dangerous ford. Faye told me how they