as over others, hung a lettered sign. And this
especial sign read "Collie Section."

So Chum was a "collie"--whatever that might be. Link took it to be a
fancy term for "bird dog." He had seen the word before somewhere. And
he remembered now that it had been in the advertisement that offered
seventy-five dollars for the return of a lost "sable-and-white collie."
Yes, and Dominie Jansen had said, "sable" meant "black." Link felt a
glow of relief that the advertisement had not said "a brown-and-white
collie."

Chum was viewing his new surroundings with much attention, looking up
now and then into his master's face as they moved along the rackety
line--as though to gain reassurance that all was well.

To a high-strung and sensitive dog a show is a terrific ordeal. But
Chum, like the aristocrat he was, bore its preliminaries with debonair
calm.

Arriving at Bench 65 in the collie section, Link enthroned his dog
there, fastening the chain's free end to a ring in the stall's corner.
Then, after seeing that the water pan was where Chum could reach it in
case he were thirsty and that the straw made a comfortable couch for
him, Ferris once more patted the worried dog and told him everything
was all right. After which Link proceeded to take a survey of the
neighboring collies, the sixteen dogs which were to be Chum's
competitors.

His first appraising glance of the double row of collies caused the
furrow between his eyes to vanish and brought a grin of complacent
satisfaction to his thin lips. For he did not see a single entrant
that, in his eyes, seemed to have a ghost of a chance against his
idolized pet--not a dog as handsome or with half the look of
intelligence or with the proudly gay bearing of Chum.

Of the sixteen other collies the majority were sables of divers shades.
There were three tricolors and two mist-hued merles. Over nearly all
the section's occupants a swarm of owners and handlers were just now
busy with brush and cloth. For word had come that collies were to be
the second breed judged that day. The first breed was to be the Great
Danes. As there were but three Danes in the show, their judging would
be brief. And it behooved the collies' attendants to have their entries
ready.

Link, following the example of those around him, took from his pocket
the molting dandy brush and set to work once more on Chum's coat. He
observed that the rest were brushing their dogs' fur against the grain,
to make it fluf