Tito 



He was about to roll up in his blanket when, 

 out of the dark distance, there sounded the 

 evening cry of the Coyote, the rolling challenge 

 of more than one voice. Jake grinned in fiend- 

 ish glee, and said: "There you are all right. 

 Howl some more. I'll see you in the morn- 

 ing." 



It was the ordinary, or rather one of the 

 ordinary, camp-calls of 'the Coyote. It was 

 sounded once, and then all was still. Jake soon 

 forgot it in his loggish slumber. 



The callers were Tito and Saddleback. The 

 challenge was not an empty bluff. It had a 

 distinct purpose behind it — to know for sure 

 whether the enemy had any dogs with him ; and 

 because there was no responsive bark Tito knew 

 that he had none. 



Then Tito waited for an hour or so till the 

 flickering fire had gone dead, and the only 

 sound of life about the camp was the cropping 

 of the grass by the picketed Horse. Tito crept 

 near softly, so softly that the Horse did not see 

 her till she was within twenty feet ; then he gave 

 a start that swung the tightened picket-rope up 

 into the air, and snorted gently. Tito went 



337 



