space where the log bounded the edge of the running
water. It was about a hundred yards from the trail and distinctly
visible because the brook was lower than the footpath where the scouts
stood.

"There it is! I saw it!" exclaimed Joan, excitedly.

At the same moment Jake also saw something doubtful moving swiftly out
of sight back of the log. The girls ran over to the bushes to see the
better, and Julie's hold on the leash relaxed unconsciously. In that
same second, Jake took mean advantage of her inattention to him and
darted away.

"Oh, oh! Come back here, Jake!" yelled Julie instantly.

But the dog stood upon a rock, his ears erect, his nose sniffing as he
pointed it in the direction of the log. His tail trembled spasmodically
and the hair along his spine stood up stiffly.

"I say, to heel, Jake. Come back, to heel!" shouted every scout in the
group. But Jake was deaf to their calls.

Then the Captain called to him, but he bounded from the rock and managed
to force his way through the bushes, the leash catching here and there
on stumps, on sharp rocks, or on bushes.

"What shall we do? Now he'll kill the little beaver!" wailed Betty,
wringing her hands.

"Some one run back and get Gilly! _He'll_ make him mind," ordered Julie.

"Who's Orderly for the Day? I want to wait and watch what he does," said
Joan.

"Oh, pshaw! I'm Orderly, and I s'pose I've got to go," declared Judith,
impatiently.

"I'll go for you, Judy, 'cause I can't bear to wait here and see Jake
kill anything," said Betty, deeply distressed.

"All right, Judy,--let Betty go instead, if she likes," agreed the
Corporal. So Betty ran swiftly away while the other scouts resumed their
coaxings to draw Jake away from the log.

Julie now started to break away through the bush to get the dog, and
several of the girls followed closely at her heels. When they reached
the place where they had seen something move, they also saw tracks in
the soft soil.

"It really is a wild animal," said Julie, excited at sight of the
footprints.

"But what? Do you know?" asked Judith.

"No, but it must be a beaver--or a fox. I don't know which," confessed
Julie.

But they couldn't get at Jake. He was racing excitedly up and down on
the log, his nose close to the strangely odorous scent, and all the
commands and persuasions from the scouts failed to make the least
impression on him. His nervous short yelps showed how keen he was to
have a face-to-face bout