ly prepared for what followed. No sooner did the
hunter see the spot and realise what it meant, than without a word he
turned, caught up his bundle, uttered a yell of terror, and fled from
the spot, closely followed by his dogs, which howled as if in sympathy.

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.

A STRANGE ENCOUNTER AND A FRIEND IN NEED.

About a week after the events narrated in the last chapter, an incident
occurred which, trifling in itself, was nevertheless the cause of
momentous issues in the life of our hero.

He was returning one evening from a long ramble with his dog, when the
screams of a pig in evident distress attracted his attention. Hastening
to the place he found that a small member of his charge had fallen over
a cliff into a crevice in the rock, where it stuck fast and was unable
to extricate itself. The violent nature of the porcine family is well
known. Although very little hurt, this little pig felt its position so
unbearable that it immediately filled the woods with agonising shrieks
until Bladud dragged it out of the cleft, and carried it in his arms to
the foot of the precipice, where he set it free. Then the whirlwind of
its outcry came to a sudden stop, thereby proving beyond a doubt that
passion, not pain, was the cause of its demonstrations.

From that date many of the pigs became affected by a cutaneous disease,
which gradually spread among all the herds. It was some time before
Bladud observed this; but when he did notice it, he jumped at once to
the conclusion that he must have communicated leprosy to his unfortunate
herds while rescuing the little pig. Whether or not he was right in
this conjecture, we cannot say; but the probability of his mere touch
being so contaminating was sufficient to increase greatly the depression
of spirits which had been stealing over him--a condition which was not a
little aggravated by the fact that the white spot on his arm was slowly
but surely spreading. Still the disease had not, so far, affected his
general health or strength in any serious degree.

About that time there set in a long period of fine sunny weather, during
which Bladud busied himself in hunting and drying meat, as well as fish,
which he stored in his larder for future use. He also cut a large
quantity of firewood, and built another booth in which to protect it
from the weather, and otherwise made preparation for the winter when it
should arrive.

One day he had wandered a considerable way