he females should have been,
judged, the winning female and Chum must appear in the ring together to
compete for this trophy.

Sure enough, in less than thirty minutes Chum was summoned to the ring.
There, awaiting him, was a dainty and temperamental merle, of the
Tazewell strain. Exquisite and high-bred as was this female competitor,
Judge Leighton wasted little time on the examination before giving
Ferris a tricolored ribbon, whose possession entitled him to one of the
shimmering silver mugs in the near-by trophy case.

After receiving full assurance that the big cup should be his at the
close of the show, Link returned to Chum's bench in ecstasy and sat
down beside his tired dog, with one arm thrown lovingly round the
collie's ruff. Chum nestled against his triumphant master, as Link
fondled his bunch of ribbons and went over, mentally, every move of his
triumphal morning.

The milling and changing groups of spectators in front of Bench 65 did
not dwindle. Indeed, as the morning went on, they increased. People
kept coming back to the bench and bringing others with them. Some of
these people whispered together. Some merely stared and went away. Some
asked Ferris carefully worded questions, to which the shyly happy
mountaineer replied with sheepish grunts.

The long period of judging came at last to an end. And the "Best Dog in
Show" special was called.

Into the ring Ferris escorted Chum, amid a multitude of fellow winners,
representing one male or female of every breed exhibited. Leighton and
another judge stood in the ring's center, and around them billowed the
heterogeneous array. The two went at their Gargantuan task with an
expert swiftness. Mercilessly, dog after dog was weeded out and gated.
At last, Chum and two others were all remaining of the many which had
thronged the ring. The spectators were banked, five deep and
breathless, round the ropes.

The two judges went into brief executive session in one corner. Then
Leighton crossed to Link, for the fourth time that day, and gave him
the gaudy rosette which proclaimed Chum "best dog in the show." A roar
of applause went up. Link felt dizzy--and numb. Then, with a gasp of
rapture, he stooped and gathered the bored Chum in his long arms, in a
bearlike, ecstatic hug.

"We done it, Chummie!" he chortled. "WE DONE IT!"

Still in a daze, he followed the steward to the trophy case, where he
received not only the shining silver cup, but a "sovereign purse,"