n the avenging collie's brain.

"LAD!" came the Master's sharp, scandalized mandate. "LAD!!!"

Hating the thought of desisting from his cherished revenge, the dog
heard and heeded. With visible reluctance, he drew back from the
slaughter; and turned his noble head to face the man who was running
down the steps toward him.

Lad knew well what he might expect, for this thing he had done. He knew
the Law. He knew, almost from birth, the courteous tolerance due to
folk among whom his deities took him. And now he had made an
industrious effort to kill one of these people.

It was no light offense for a dog to attack a human. Lad, like every
well-trained collie, knew that. His own death might well follow.
Indeed, from the babel of voices on the veranda, squalling confusedly
such hackneyed sentiments as "Mad dog!" and "Get a gun!" it seemed
highly probable that Lad was due to suffer full penalty, from the
man-pack.

Yet he gave no heed to the clamor. Instead, turning slowly, he faced
the Master; ready for whatever might follow. But nothing
followed,--nothing at least that he expected.

The Master simply commanded:--

"Down, Lad!"

As the dog, obediently, dropped to the ground, the Master bent to
examine the groaning and maudlinly weeping Rhuburger. In this Samaritan
task he was joined by one or two of the club's more venturesome members
who had followed him down the steps.

Rhuburger was all-but delirious with fright. His throat was scored by
the first raking of Lad's teeth; but in the merest of flesh-wounds. The
chewed arm was more serious; but no bone or tendon was injured. A
fortnight of care would see it as good as new. By more or less of a
miracle, no bones had been broken and no concussion caused by the
backward dive down the flight of steps. There were bad bruises
a-plenty; but there was nothing worse.

As the Master and the few others who had descended the steps were
working over the fallen man, the Mistress checked the turmoil on the
veranda. At Lad's leap, memory of this speed-mad motorist had rushed
back to her.

Now, tersely, for the benefit of those around, she was identifying him
with the killer of Lady; whose death had roused so much indignation in
the village. And, as she spoke, the people who had clamored loudest of
mad dogs and who had called so frantically for a gun, waxed silent. The
myriad glances cast at the prostrate and blubbering Rhuburger were not
loving. Someone even said, loudly:

"