showing his teeth.

"I---I'll take you!" quavered Ripley.

"Of course you will," nodded Darrin. "Wait till I see if the
lantern is all right."

He crawled into the tent, found the lantern and struck a match.
Curiously enough the lantern had not been injured. Placing the
lantern outside, Darrin sharply commanded his chance companion
to aid in propping the canvas so that those underneath could get
air.

"Now, come along," ordered Darrin, when this had been done. "Towser,
watch the---the gentleman!"

Thus they started up the slope, when they heard a growl just ahead
of them. In the same instant Towser, uttering a yelp, turned
and darted away as fast as he could go.

"Now, we'll see whether you'll boss me," grunted Fred Ripley,
brandishing the club that he held in his left hand. "Your dog
is no good any more."

"Neither will you or I be any good any more if we don't keep our
nerve," uttered Darrin quietly, as he turned the lantern's rays
against the object in their path. "There's only one thing in
the world Towser would run away from, and that's just what is
ahead of us---a mad dog!"

At this instant Fred, too, caught sight of the object in their
path. A large dog, of doubtful breed, stood before them, its
head down, but its bloodshot eyes watching them cunningly. It's
dripping jaws carried conviction that the animal was rabid.

Fred did not cry out or stir. He was too frightened to do either.
But Dave very stealthily put down the lantern. Then, his muscles
wholly steady, he snatched up an eight-foot pole that lay on the
ground.

"Now, come on, you beast!" challenged Darrin, making a slight
thrust with the pole.

Enraged at the challenge, the rabid dog sprang forward, its mouth
wide open. Without faltering, Dave made a thrust that jammed
the pole hard into the animal's mouth.

Staggered by the blow, the dog fell back on its side. It never
rose again, for now Darrin used the pole as a club, raining down
blows upon the dangerous animal until he was sure that there was
no life left in it.

"Darrin, that was wonderful nerve of yours!" gasped Fred with
admiration wrung from him in spite of himself. "And you saved
my life!"

"I wasn't thinking of that," said Dave grimly, as he picked up
the lantern. "Don't you believe I'll ever brag about having saved
your life. Now to the car, and be quick."

Fred, stung by the contemptuous answer, felt his resentment raging.
He darted forward so swiftly t