im when his knee was crushed, and had held his head in her lap
till the doctor came.
After the briefest of greetings the three men, followed by the girl,
went around to the rear yard. Here, in a lot enclosed by a high wire
fence, wagging his tail like any other dog, was the National
Championship hope.
Great dogs, like great men, do not always look the part. This one did.
He was a big white fellow, his ears and a portion of his head liver
brown. His head was nobly carved, his back long and straight, his legs
rangy, clean-cut, his tail thin, like a lance; he was all a pointer of
the highest breeding ought to be. But to the man who knows dogs there
was in his eyes something wild, headstrong, untamed, the kind of thing
you see in the eyes of young aviators.
"Let him out, Jess," said Arnold.
The girl opened the gate and he sprang out. He ran eagerly around the
yard, inspecting the familiar premises to see if there had been any
other dog there recently. Every motion showed unbounded power, as if the
yard, and even the town itself, were too small for him. Not until Arnold
called him twice, and severely, did he come to them. But he had no
attention to bestow upon his distinguished visitor. His eyes sought
first his master's face, then the face of the girl. There they rested a
moment in adoration. Then he reared gently up against her, ears thrown
back, upraised eyes affectionately searching her face.
Old Burton had been looking on with impassive countenance. But from the
moment his eyes rested on this dog he wanted him. His hunch told him
that here was a champion, and he went by hunches. He looked at Ferris,
quickly, significantly. Ferris nodded in a way which indicated that he
would like to speak in private. Millionaire and handler withdrew a few
steps from father and daughter and dog.
"I don't like that look in his eyes!" whispered Ferris vehemently.
"I do!" said old Burton.
In Arnold's little over-furnished parlour the business was transacted.
But neither the young pointer out there, nor the girl who remained with
him, were to know anything about it. So far as the dog was concerned,
man, his master and god, moves in mysterious ways. As for the girl, it
was her father who requested that the trade be kept a secret from her.
"She sets a lot of store by Drake," he explained. "She picked him out
from the litter when he was a pup. She's fed him and raised him. People
are always comin' to see him. She thinks that'
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