The daily Alaskan., 1917-08-09
CHAPTER XII. %oh, my poor Tootlss."

| T "the pup might near you
 You didn't whistle very loud the first time" j.
 Lucile whistled again with q consid- erably more audible result We all listened. ---r -- -~y' There was faint whine and short, BhRrp, but distant bark. presume that l was the most surprised person in the party. s- poi4.,trr -a. r.a
 There she isr' Vida declared. T thought maybe she was up here"
 "But thnt doesn't sound like Too tles," Lucille objected.
 ,Tt must bep Bopp announced this [ masterpiece of logic. ,'SThere isn't any other dog in tho house, Is thereH Prob ably her voice sounds different far of. l"
 And probably she is penned in somewhere and frightened. That might make her sound different" An! Why did | have, that idea, and why, hRYIng!it, didI not conceal 1t in one of the Tecessess of my. brain instead of voicing 1t to All2 rr ,u-. =.
 "Oh, my poor Tootles." Lucille be- gan picturing her pet sufocating. 'eALaYbe she. is dying or dead already" rsWhistle again" directed the cap tain, ssIsf vg ,r' -r H.. ...
 LuGile made several intellectual at- tsmpts. but failed, q can't" she de- clRred- q have to cry"
 "Let me call her." interposed. "She knows me.n ." ,... -..
 As a boy used to be able to make considerable racket by blowing on two fingers held at the proper angle in my mouth. l tried 1t with gratifying re- suits. must have been heard on the mainland.
 The reply was immediate-short, snRppy barks, still long way or, but very reassuring as to Yigor and de- liSht IlguLI- 9g -. ....
 "She's right under usw Lucille cried. '"No, oyer by the window, should say" argued Vida. aT..... .....
 "POor darling, she has forgotten how abe got into the place, and she thinks come ono Is keeping her cooped up on purpose. Please, Monty, keep on whis- tiing She does recognize you, and she'll know that help is coming. We must take up the floor"
 In her excitement and time of need she, had turned to me and not to Bopp. I didn't know how Tootles, whom I had last seen dashtng up the beach amid a cloud of sand, could possibly have man. aged, to get under the attic floor, but Lucille had called me. Monty, and req son dimounted from her throne, and carnival was. king. .. ..
 I whistled blithely, piercingly, joy fully, coaxingly, and whenever l paus- cd the barking rewarded me.
 'Tear up the foor," Lucille ordered. We cant let her stay there any long er." A.. t.,. .....
 P. Hadn't we better see if she won't come out by herself?" the captain ask od tentatively. ''It seems @ shame to tear up that there planklng,"
 r "Not for Tootles," Lucille replied. "What do care for an old attic floor when my Tootles is in danger? She ahRn't stay there another minute If l can help it" She tried to pry up a board with her finger nails,
 "wait," ! requested. Let me do this scientifically"
 l wreDched a leg from an old arm ohalr which had already suffered the amputaton of one of It's eXtremities and with that as a lever pried up one oR the flooring boards at the ends which srtSnded looso over the floor beams. AS the plank came up amid cloud of aHas Lucfe gave me look such as must have rewarded Launcelot from tAo srandstand after be ran curtain pnla through c cast Iron white hoop.
 we assembled around the hole l had made, No Tootles n sight
 |. g'Whistle," Lncils commanded me.
 2 0beysd.
 Joyful barks, but nothing more,
 "Take up some more boards" Lucille mlght have been saying, Wait until yol. see the whites of their eyes' or SDoo't give up the ship"
 "Radn't ve better wait7" Captain PSFktnS was an earnest advocate of tho Fabian policy. .- .r
 SNo,"s- .e, -r
 ! took up another board and yet an- SthsR, stopping to whistle each tme- without apparently getting any nearer. .- ~ShSs there somewhere" declared TOotles' foster mother, puzzled, but sun determined. Keep on until you aDd heF,sso, ., .r- n .-, %. ., | ha6 taken up all but half dozen q ha boards when my foot slipped hOm the eToss floor beam on which l ,wes wording and struck the lath which was nRiied on the other side. Ths lnth offered but slight resistance. The plaster. vas even more fragile, and I went through rather hastily, clutch ins wildly -Gs nothing in particular. Ny lsss recollection was Of Lucile's hoEToP stricken face as she saw me sinking from sight, Ike the villain In AFI A;gaA DaaaA>H .4 .-s .... ----
 es..-... fOaStInWe3 homorTow)