Redruff 7 1 



suddenly caught sight of a new toe close at 

 hand, the yellow cur, coming right on. Red- 

 ruff, much farther off, could not see him for the 

 bushes, and Graytail became greatly alarmed. 



* Kwit^ kwit * (Fly, fly), she cried, running 

 down the hill for a start. *■ Kreet, k-r-r-r' (This 

 way, hide), cried the cooler Redruff, for he saw 

 that now the man with the gun was getting in 

 range. He gained the great trunk, and be- 

 hind it, as he paused a moment to call earnest- 

 ly to Graytail, * This way, this way,* he heard 

 a slight noise under the bank before him that 

 betrayed the ambush, then there was a terrified 

 cry from Graytail as the dog sprang at her, 

 she rose in air and skimmed behind the shield- 

 ing trunk, away from the gunner in the open, 

 right into the power of the miserable wretch 

 under the bank. 



Whirr, and up she went, a beautiful, sentient, 

 nv^ble being. 



Bang, and down she fell — battered and bleed- 

 ing, to gasp her life out and to lie a rumpled 

 mass of carrion in the snow. 



It was a perilous place for Redruff. There 

 was no chance for a safe rise, so he squatted 

 low. The dog came within ten feet of him, and 

 the stranger, coming across to Cuddy, passed 

 at five feet, but he never moved till a chance 



