The New King 175 



that afflicted man really had the very best 

 kind of a doctor. 



It was four days after the accident, 

 though, before Shep was enabled again to 

 take up the trail of the fugitive, which by 

 this time was entirely cold, and could not 

 be followed by scent. 



One would naturally think that the dog 

 would have turned his nose homeward. 

 The trail was cold and his particular bison 

 was like a needle in a haymow upon these 

 endless plains. But his master's orders, 

 " Go bring Buck," were still ringing in his 

 ears, and he could not return without him. 



So Shep started on up the river, feeling 

 quite sure that the bison was headed in that 

 direction and that he would not go so very 

 far from it. For a whole day he did not 

 see a sign of his friend, but the second even- 

 ing he found hoof prints in the sand where 

 he thought Buck had come down to a creek 

 to drink. It was the print of a bison's hoof, 



