p who is such a pal of you fellows, is he? Gee, but it was a treat to
see how tickled he was to meet you again!"

To the rookie's amazement none of his hearers seemed in the least
chagrined over the dogs chilling disregard of them. Instead, Mahan
actually grunted approbation.

"He'll be back," prophesied the Sergeant. "Don't you worry. He'll be
back. We ought to have had more sense than try to stop him when he's on
duty. He has better discipline than the rest of us. That's one of very
first things they teach a courier-dog--to pay no attention to anybody,
when he's on dispatch duty. When Bruce has delivered his message to the
K.O., he'll have the right to hunt up his chums. And no one knows it
better'n Bruce himself."

"It was a sin--a thoughtlessness--of me to hold the sugar at him," said
old Vivier. "Ah, but he is a so good soldier, ce brave Bruce! He look
not to the left nor yet to the right, nor yet to the so-desired
sugar-lump. He keep his head at attention! All but the furry tips of
his ears. Them he has not yet taught to be good soldiers. They tremble,
when he smell the sugar and the good soup-bone. They quiver like the
little leaf. But he keep on. He--"

There was a scurry of fast-cantering feet. Around the angle of the
trench dashed Bruce. Head erect, soft dark eyes shining with a light of
gay mischief, he galloped up to the grinning Sergeant Vivier and stood.
The dog's great plume of a tail was wagging violently. His tulip ears
were cocked. His whole interest in life was fixed on the precious lump
of sugar which Vivier held out to him.

From puppyhood, Bruce had adored lump sugar. Even at The Place, sugar
had been a rarity for him, for the Mistress and the Master had known
the damage it can wreak upon a dog's teeth and digestion. Yet, once in
a while, as a special luxury, the Mistress had been wont to give him a
solitary lump of sugar.

Since his arrival in France, the dog had never seen nor scented such a
thing until now. Yet he did not jump for the gift. He did not try to
snatch it from Vivier. Instead, he waited until the old Frenchman held
it closer toward him, with the invitation:

"Take it, mon vieux! It is for you."

Then and then only did Bruce reach daintily forward and grip the grimy
bit of sugar between his mighty jaws. Vivier stroked the collie's head
while Bruce wagged his tail and munched the sugar and blinked
gratefully up at the donor. Mahan looked on, enviously. "A dog's got
forty-two