To Mountain Tarn 



tell the whereabouts of the pursued ? It is much 

 as though the looker-on at a children's game of 

 hide-and-seek told where the hider was. All the 

 wild animal was loose in the dog, all the savage 

 in man and woman. One who heard from the 

 distance said it was the howl of a menagerie. 



There came a lull. Busy but silent, the dogs 

 crossed among the great elephant-eared leaves, 

 swam in the muddied bend of the stream, plash- 

 ing through the sedges, and nosing under the 

 tree roots. The sporting toot of the horn called 

 them back to the tunnel in the far bend whence 

 they started. 



" Piper," one of the wiry-haired terriers, started 

 on a little hunt of his own. His restless energies 

 wanted employment, which his nimble wits found. 

 It was like the clown amid the serious business 

 of the ring. He was after a water-hen. Un- 

 daunted by the unequal match of legs against 

 wings, he dogged its heavy flight, marked where 

 it lit among the sedges or crept up through the 

 tall grass. And finally, came down with it in his 

 mouth. 



" Tally ho ! " That bell-like note again, that 

 drumstroke on the heart. The smile on the 

 faces changed to another look. The terrier 

 dropped his game. The water-hen hobbled pain- 

 fully off with a broken wing, to play another 

 part later on. Bedlam once more broke loose. 

 Through the great elephant-eared leaves careered 



217 



