l times the boy had to turn his back to the driving
storm and gasp, in order to get his breath.

"Where are you going, old boy?" again queried Ross.

The terrier paused, shook himself so that the drops flew in all
directions, looked up in his master's face, gave a short sharp bark and
trotted on.

Ross leaned down, patted the dog, and followed. By some instinct of his
own, the terrier was keeping to a submerged road, though how he managed
to remain on it was beyond the lad's comprehension, for the night was as
dark as a wolf's throat and the path was under water half the time.

Suddenly the dog stopped and looked back as though for guidance. Before
them was a swirl of water. In the darkness it was impossible to say how
deep the wash-out might be, or how wide. Ross hesitated. His father had
warned him against foolhardiness, and here he was facing the crossing of
a swift current of unknown depth on a pitch-black night. Should he
venture?

Rex barked, a short excited "yap" of urgency.

"I'll go as far as I can wade, anyhow," said Ross in response; "maybe it
isn't so deep after all. I'm not particularly anxious to have to swim."

The terrier watched his master, and as soon as the boy started to cross
the wash-out in the road-bed, the dog plunged in. The current swept him
down rapidly, but Rex was a powerful swimmer and the lad had little fear
for him. It took all his own strength to keep him from being swept off
his feet, but the break in the road was not more than six yards across,
and the boy was soon safe on the other side. He whistled shrilly and a
moment or two later, Rex came bounding up and jumped on his master with
clumsy delight. Then, with another cock of his head, as though to make
sure of himself, he took up his position in front of the lad and trotted
ahead.

How it rained! The water had gone down Ross's neck and inside his shoes,
so that they sloshed and gurgled with each step. Little rills of water
trickled coldly down his back and legs. The wind was dropping, so that
the rain drove less in slanting sheets, but it seemed to pelt down all
the more heavily for that. Even in the darkness, Ross could see the
plops, where the drops fell, standing up from the surface of the flooded
water like so many spiny warts. It was lonely, even with Rex for
company, so dark and so wet was the night, and Ross was glad when the
glow of a fire in the distance told him that he was approaching an
encampment, probably, he t