he tracks and then running with nose to the ground, barking as he went.

"What in the dickens does the dog mean by such behavior?" said the Judge.

"Looks as if he were following the scent of some person," replied the
constable.

"Perhaps he is!" from the Judge.

"See, he is jumping upon the stone wall as if trying to get over it."

"That would appear as if the person whose track he is on had climbed the
wall at that point."

Here Zip came back with head up.

"Well, what do you want, Zip?" asked the Judge, for Zip had caught his
trouser leg in his teeth and was trying to pull him after him.

[Illustration]

"I think he is trying to tell us to follow him," said the constable.

At this Zip let go the Judge's trousers, jumped up and down on the
constable as much as to say, "That is just what I mean!" and then darted
off down the path again. Seeing the men did not follow him, he came back
and jumped up and down on the Judge and then ran down the path once more.

"Surely that is what he wants," agreed the Judge, and so the two walked
just behind, following the dog until he stopped and began to scratch the
dirt away from the roots of a clump of trees. And as he dug spoons,
knives, forks and sugar-bowl lids began to fly out from under his feet.
When a big tablespoon landed at the Judge's feet, he exclaimed, "By all
that is wonderful, see this spoon! That dog has discovered where the
burglar hid my silver. Pretty clever work for a little dog!"

"One would think he was a police dog and had been trained to hunt down
thieves," said the constable.

"Well, Zip, you shall have a silver collar for this, made out of one of my
solid silver spoons," promised the Judge, as the men went to the hole Zip
was digging and helped push away the earth. Soon they counted the pieces,
and found they had recovered all that had been missing.

"Hello!" exclaimed the constable. "Whose cat are you? I never saw such a
large cat in my life!"

"Where is any cat?" asked the Judge.

"Up there on the wall," replied the constable, pointing his finger at
Tabby, who was quietly sitting on top of the wall enjoying the unearthing
of the stolen property.

"Oh, that is Zip's playfellow! I have often seen them playing together
when I have been at the doctor's," said the Judge.

"Just like a smart dog to select a cat as a chum instead of another dog.
And I tell you what, I should like to own that dog myself, but I suppose
the doctor would not sell