know where he is?"

"Me and my mate saw him go by, sure enough; but as for getting
him--why the keepers'll have shot him by this time."

"Oh no!" cried Sheila, almost in tears, "they must not shoot him. It
was my fault. I will pay them for all the harm he has done. Can't you
tell me which way he will go past?"

"I don't think, miss," said the spokesman quite respectfully, "as you
can go much furder. If you would sit down and rest yourself, and keep
an eye on this 'ere shovel, me and my mate will have a hunt arter the
dawg."

Sheila not only accepted the offer gratefully, but promised to give
them all the money she had if only they would bring back the dog
unharmed. She made this offer in consequence of some talk between her
husband and her father which she had overheard. Lavender was speaking
of the civility he had frequently experienced at the hands of Scotch
shepherds, and of the independence with which they refused to accept
any compensation even for services which cost them a good deal of
time and trouble. Perhaps it was to please Sheila's father, but at any
rate, the picture the young man drew of the venality and the cupidity
of folks in the South was a desperately dark one. Ask the name of a
village, have your stick picked up for you from the pavement, get into
a cab or get out of it, and directly there was a touch of the cap and
an unspoken request for coppers. Then, as the services rendered
rose in importance, so did the fees--to waiters, to coachmen, to
game-keepers. These things and many more sank into Sheila's heart. She
heard and believed, and came down to the South with the notion that
every man and woman who did you the least service expected to be paid
handsomely for it. What, therefore, could she give those two men if
they brought back her deer-hound but all the money she had?

It was a hard thing to wait here in the greatest doubt and uncertainty
while the afternoon was visibly waning. She began to grow afraid.
Perhaps the men had stolen the dog, and left her with this shovel as
a blind. Her husband must have come home, and would be astonished and
perplexed by her absence. Surely, he would have the sense to dine
by himself, instead of waiting for her; and she reflected with some
glimpse of satisfaction that she had left everything connected with
dinner properly arranged, so that he should have nothing to grumble
at.

"Surely," she said to herself as she sat there, watching the light
on the gras