began to examine the animal's paws. The dog submitted patiently.
"Nothing wrong with that one," commented Charley, dropping a fore paw.

But when he began to feel the other front foot the dog whined with pain.
"No wonder," said Charley with sympathy. "Look here, Lew," and he pointed
to an enormous thorn that had embedded itself in the paw.

"Hold him tight while I take it out," said Charley as he drew forth his
knife, opened the small blade, slit the skin slightly, and carefully dug
the thorn out. The foot was festered and swollen. Charley squeezed out
the pus.

"Don't let him get that paw in the dirt," he said, and ran to his pack. He
fished out the first-aid kit and got some absorbent cotton and a
disinfectant. He wrapped a tiny bit of cotton around the end of a twig,
wet it with water from the canteen and swabbed out the little wound. Then
he soaked another bit of cotton with the disinfectant and stuffed it into
the foot.

"We'll let that stay there a while," he said.

"The dog is probably lost. We'll keep him until we find his owner."

Relieved of the thorn, the little animal frisked about, limping but
slightly. He fawned upon Charley and seemed to be trying to express his
gratitude.

The two boys shouldered their packs again and started on. Charley whistled
to the pup, but the call was unnecessary. The pup stuck to their heels as
close as a sticking-plaster.

"They say two's a company, but three's a crowd," laughed Charley, "but I
guess it doesn't apply to dogs."

"You never can tell," replied Lew. "A pup of that age may get you into all
sorts of difficulty."

"I'll take a chance on it," smiled Charley, as he bent and patted the dog.

They went on. For a long time they traveled in silence, the little dog
trotting and frisking at their heels. From time to time they stopped to
rest. Their packs were growing heavy and neither felt like talking. They
settled to their tasks and plodded on. When they came to the fire trail,
they turned to their right and went straight over the first mountain. The
way was smooth enough, but the grade was very steep and it tested their
endurance to the utmost. Every few minutes they were compelled to rest.
Finally they topped the ridge and went down into the next valley.

The bottom here was very wide, for the mountains had drawn far apart.
Apparently the valley soil was rich. It seemed to be deep and black, and
the trees grew to massive size. Ordinarily the two boys would hav