w-grass, thick and prickly,
and his practised eye could discern where the original banks lay by the
spears thrust up above the surface a score of feet away. Thus he was
sure of his depth as he waded out staunchly, despite the cruel pricks
to his sensitive naked feet. The little dog had scant philosophy; he
squeaked and wheezed and wailed with the pain until the man, who had no
time to kill him now--for had he heard aught or naught?--picked him up
and carried him in his arms, the creature licking Hoxer's hands in an
ecstasy of gratitude, and even standing on his hind-legs on his master's
arm to snatch a lick upon his cheek.

In the darksome shadows, further and further from the spot where he had
entered the lake, Hoxer toiled along the margin, sometimes pausing to
listen--for had he heard aught or naught?--as long as his strength would
suffice. Then amidst the miry debris of last summer's growths beneath
the recent inundation he sank down in the darkness, the dog exhausted in
his arms.

This was one of those frequent crescent-shaped lakes peculiar to the
region; sometimes, miles in extent, the lacustrine contour is not
discernible to the glance; here the broad expanse seemed as if the body
of water were circular and perhaps three miles in diameter.

Suddenly Hoxer heard the sound that had baffled him hitherto--heard
it again and--oh, horrible!--recognized it at last! The baying of
bloodhounds it was, the triumphant cry that showed that the brutes had
caught the trail and were keeping it. On and on came the iteration, ever
louder, ever nearer, waking the echoes till wood and brake and midnight
waters seemed to rock and sway with the sound, and the stars in the sky
to quake in unison with the vibrations. Never at fault, never a moment's
cessation, and presently the shouts of men and the tramp of horses
blended with that deep, tumultuous note of blood crying to heaven for
vengeance. Far, far, down the lake it was. Hoxer could see nothing of
the frantic rout when the hounds paused baffled at the water-side. He
was quick to note the changed tone of the brutes' pursuit, plaintive,
anxious, consciously thwarted. They ran hither and thither, patrolling
the banks, and with all their boasted instinct they could only protest
that the fugitive took to water at this spot. But how? They could not
say, and the men argued in vain. The lake was too broad to swim--there
was no island, no point of vantage. A boat might have taken him off