The Ekalaka eagle. [volume] (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, 1912-03-15
CHAPTER VII.-(Continued.)

I"
His voice must have carried to the
animal: he heard a whine, the quick
padding Of paws, and a huge Scotch
collie bounded clumsily out of the
mists, passed him within an arms
length, vanished and returned, whin-
Ing and circling, nose to ground. as ii
confused and unable to locate him. He
watched the animal, h~alf-stupefied
with wonder at its cratic actions;
then uncOnsciously moved slightly. A
pebble grated beneath his foot The
dog wheeled toward him instantly
and paused at attention.. a forepaW
lifted. ears pricked forward. delicate
Uostrils expanding and contracting
as be shifted for the scent of man.
"Here. boy. here!" Coast called soft
iy; and the nex moment had the ami
NAL fawning upon him. alternately
cringing at his feet and jumping up
to muzzle his legs and hands, as If
they were his own masters.
Good boy! Steady now! 500,
SOL" Puzzled by this demonstrative
reception, Coast bent over the animal,
trying to soOthe 1t with voice and
hand. 1t IA plainly in a state OF
high excitement and evidently deep
ly grateful for his sympathetic
liberation. He caught the finely mod
eled head between his palms, lifting
up the muzzle. Come. now" he said
In a soothing tone. lets have a look
at you. old fellow. Good old boy-it's
all right n0w-steady Why,
the poor brute's blind"
For as its eyes rolled up he saw
that they were blank and lightless,
the rides masked with y film Of
white.
Cataract" he said. releasing the
dog. That's why be couldn't see
me. | wondered . Hell
10, what now"
COmfOrted and treasured, the dog
a drawn away and resumed it's mys-
ferrous circling. nosing the earth with
anxious winnings. Abruptly is paused,
tense, 1.-the frame %quivering, then
made OH at a rapid trot in the direc-
ton whence it had appeared. A mo-
ment later the heartrending howl
walled out again.
Almost unwillingly Coast followed,
Eerving himself against the discovery
he feared to make.
Halt a dozen steps, and he almost
fell over the dog. He recoiled with a
cry Of Mortified CONSERVATION.
"~Appleyard!. . :"
But it was not Appleyard.
On raw. naked earth in the middle
of the rude village street, a man lay
prone with n forearm crooked be-
meath his head. his other limbs re-
pusively asprawl. His head, near
which the collie squatted. lifting its
mournful muzzle to the sky, was bare
and thickly matched with reddish
hair.
The man had been murdered. foul
~ slain by a means singular and
unique outside the Orient. Deem
buried in a crease round his throat
Coast had seen a knotted loop OF
crimson silk wh~ipcord-the bow.strine
of the East. Above it the face was a
grinning mask of agony and fear
dark with congested blood; a face
that. mi the less-despite those
frightfully Swallowed. blurred and
swollen features-had unquestionably
once been comedy in the youthful
Irish way.
He rose and searched the ground
for indications of a struggle. He
found none. No confusion of foot
prints about the dead man showed OF
the damp earth. Apparently the vic
tim had been taken from behind, with
out warning.
lrresolute. bafaed, he fingered fol-
another moment.
BY his side the dog howled deer
and long.
He turned. half-faint. and fed the
place. bearing with him what he wal
not to forget for maAy a night: the
picture of the blind dog mourning full
mouthed beside the crumpled. nfelesi
Thing that had been its master, there
in that nameless spot Of death and
d~es0latiou.