ntil I
impressed upon the mind of the hound that he was to follow the one who
had worn the shirt, and if there was not scent enough the thief was not
to blame, for the article looked as though it had seen service.

At length the dog comprehended me. He trotted to the cart, walked around
it once or twice, with his nose close to the ground, and when he had got
track of the thief he uttered a low bay of satisfaction, and looked up
into my face as much as to say, "shall I go on?"

We caught up our rifles, and leaving the sleeping stockman to continue
his nap, we motioned the dog to start, and followed close at his heels.

He led the way along the path until he came to the spot where I imagined
I had seen a man disappear, and after snuffing for a moment, the hound
trotted on, sometimes leaping over bushes four feet high, a feat which
we found not easy of accomplishment, tired as we were, and the heat up
to over a hundred in the shade of a forest.

If the animal got two rods in advance of us, a word was sufficient to
check him until we came up, when, receiving our praise with an
acknowledgment in the shape of a wag of his tail, he would trot on with
renewed watchfulness.

We observed that our course led us towards the spot where we had been
digging a few minutes before, and as we neared the clearing our
watchfulness increased. Not a tree was passed without anxious glances
being cast among the branches to see if an enemy lurked there, but
nothing in the shape of a man was to be seen.

At length we were within a few steps of the bushes from whence we
supposed the gun to have been discharged. Immediately in front of us was
a low tree of the balsam species, with branches and leaves so close
together that it was impossible to see through the top. The foliage was
most dense, and the thought suddenly occurred to me that if a man wished
to secrete himself that tree would be the one which he would choose from
amongst the thousands within sight. I was not, therefore, greatly
surprised when Rover suddenly stopped and exhibited signs of having
treed his game.

"The thief is lodged in that tree," shouted Fred, eagerly.

"It is singular that we did not think of examining it before," I
remarked, as we sheltered ourselves behind trees, for we had evidence
that, whoever he was, he possessed a gun and know how to use it, and
therefore we did not wish to needlessly expose our lives to his aim.

Rover acted in a frantic manner. He stoo