er horns at him and a toss of tail and heels in the air, she,
too, swept over the slope and on, until the sound of her bell passed
out of hearing. Even to-day, in lonely parts of the Cumberland, the
sudden coming of a stranger may put women and children to
flight--something like this had happened before to Chad--but the sudden
desertion and the sudden silence drew him in a flash back to the lonely
cabin he had left and the lonely graves under the big poplar and, with
a quivering lip, he sat down. Jack, too, dropped to his haunches and
sat hopeless, but not for long. The chill of night was coming on and
Jack was getting hungry. So he rose presently and trotted ahead and
squatted again, looking back and waiting. But still Chad sat irresolute
and in a moment, Jack heard something that disturbed him, for he threw
his ears toward the top of the hill and, with a growl, trotted back to
Chad and sat close to him, looking up the slope. Chad rose then with
his thumb on the lock of his gun and over the hill came a tall figure
and a short one, about Chad's size and a dog, with white feet and white
face, that was bigger than Jack: and behind them, three more figures,
one of which was the tallest of the group. All stopped when they saw
Chad, who dropped the butt of his gun at once to the ground. At once
the strange dog, with a low snarl, started down toward the two little
strangers with his yellow ears pointed, the hair bristling along his
back, and his teeth in sight. Jack answered the challenge with an eager
whimper, but dropped his tail, at Chad's sharp command--for Chad did
not care to meet the world as an enemy, when he was looking for a
friend. The group stood dumb with astonishment for a moment and the
small boy's mouth was wide-open with surprise, but the strange dog came
on with his tail rigid, and lifting his feet high.

"Begone!" said Chad, sharply, but the dog would not begone; he still
came on as though bent on a fight.

"Call yo' dog off," Chad called aloud. "My dog'll kill him. You better
call him off," he called again, in some concern, but the tall boy in
front laughed scornfully.

"Let's see him," he said, and the small one laughed, too.

Chad's eyes flashed--no boy can stand an insult to his dog--and the
curves of his open lips snapped together in a straight red line. "All
right," he said, placidly, and, being tired, he dropped back on a stone
by the wayside to await results. The very tone of his voice struck all