ONE WE READ ABOUT 257 



" I'll catch ' Hail, Columbia ! ' when I tell 

 Mr. D. Do you know that Eover was his 

 splendid bird dog, and it is hard to duplicate 

 him ? " 



We consoled ourselves with the fact that 

 it was accidentally done, and therefore no 

 one was to blame, and concluded, as Mr. D. 

 was a reasonable man, he would accept the 

 explanation, and with the fact that I could 

 get him a fine pup to replace his loss, the 

 matter would be smoothed over. The walk 

 homeward was more hopeful, the track was 

 at last reached, and we started to follow it, 

 keeping the dogs in the background. We 

 could see as we went along that they had 

 been on it for half a mile before leaving it 

 to return. By its appearance we concluded 

 it was made the previous afternoon, and we 

 would probably find the maker of it yarded 

 near the swales about the lake. Never- 

 theless, we proceeded cautiously, scrutinizing 

 closely our surroundings, when we came to 

 an immense track, apparently made within 

 an hour or so, and going directly west. As 

 we stopped to examine, Eeady, who was by 

 us alone, the others having forged ahead on 



s 



