late in the evening when Sundown returned to his ranch. Chance
welcomed him with vocal and gymnastic abandon. Sundown hastened to his
"tame cow" and milked her while the four hens peeped and clucked from
their roost, evidently disturbed by the light of the lantern.
Meanwhile Chance lay gravely watching his master until Gentle Annie had
been relieved of the full and creamy quota of her donation to the
maintenance of the household. Then the wolf-dog followed his master to
the kitchen where they enjoyed, in separate dishes, Gentle Annie's warm
contribution, together with broken bread and "a leetle salt to bring
out the gamey flavor."

Solicitous of the welfare of his stock, as he termed them, he betook
himself to the hen-house to feed the chickens. "Huh!" he exclaimed,
raising the lantern and peering round, "there's one rooster missin'!"
_The_ rooster had in truth disappeared. He put down the lantern and
turned to Chance. "Lemme look at your mouth. No, they ain't no signs
on you. Hold on! Be Gosh, if they ain't some leetle red hairs
stickin' to your chops. What's the answer?"

Chance whined and wagged his tail. "You don't look like you was
guilty. And that there rooster wasn't sportin' red hair the last time
I seen him. Did you eat him fust and then swaller a rabbit to cover
his tracks? I reckon not. You're some dog--but you ain't got
boiler-room for a full-size Rhode Island Red and a rabbit and two
quarts of bread-and-milk. It ain't reas'nable. I got to investigate."

The dog seemed to understand. He leaped up and trotted to the yard,
turning his head and silently coaxing his master to follow him.
Sundown, with a childish and most natural faith in Chance's
intelligence, followed him to the fence, scrambled through and trailed
him out on the mesa. In a little hollow Chance stopped and stood with
crooked fore leg. Sundown stalked up. At his feet fluttered his red
rooster and not far from it lay the body of a full-grown coyote.
Chance ran to the coyote and diving in shook the inanimate shape and
growled. "Huh! Showin' me what you done to him for stealin' our
rooster, eh? Well, you sure are goin' to get suthin' extra for this!
You caught him with the goods--looks like. And look here!"--and
Sundown deposited the lantern on a knoll and sat down facing the dog.
"What I'm goin' to give you that extra for ain't for killin' the
coyote. That is your business when I ain't to home. You could 'a'
finished