e, insured sound
slumber. The joggling of the car did not rouse the tiny sleeper; as he
lay snugly between the feet of the man into whose care he had been
given.

The first six miles of the easy journey were soon traversed. Then, with
a pop and a dispiritedly swishing sound, a rear tire collapsed. Out
into the road jumped both men. Their nerves were none too steady. And,
already, in fancy they could hear all the police cars in New Jersey
close at their heels. It behooved them to change tires in a hurry, and
to finish their nerve-twisting trip.

The driver vaulted over the side nearest him and began to explore the
under-seat regions for a jack. The other man picked up the baby and
hurried to the rear of the runabout to detach the spare tire from its
dusty rack. Manifestly, he could not unstrap the tire while he was
carrying a baby in his arms. So he set down his burden at the roadside,
near him.

Then, still obsessed by fear of pursuit, he hit on a safer scheme.
Picking up the sleeper again, he carried the warm little bundle to the
far side of the road, some thirty yards beyond, and deposited it there,
behind a dwarf alder bush which screened it from any stray automobilist
who might be passing. Thus, in case of pursuit, he and his brother
would merely be changing tires; and would know nothing of any missing
baby.

Failing to find a jack under the seat, the driver climbed over into the
adjoining field in search of two or three big stones to serve the same
purpose in holding up the axle. For several minutes the men worked fast
and tensely; blind and deaf to anything except the need of haste.

Thus it was that neither of them saw a tawny-and-snow collie,--huge and
shaggy except for a pair of absurdly tiny white forepaws,--come pacing
majestically along the road from the direction in which they were
heading. The car lamps played but faintly upon the advancing Lad; for
the dimmers had been applied.

The big dog was taking his usual before-bedtime stroll. Of old, that
evening stroll had been confined to the Place's grounds, a quarter-mile
beyond. But, lately, his new obsession for finding treasures for the
Mistress had lured him often and oftener to the highway.

Tonight, as for a day or so past, he had drawn blank in his quest. The
road had been distressingly bare of anything worth carrying home. But,
now, as he moved along, his near-sighted eyes were attracted by a dim
blur of white, behind a bush, at the road-edge;