The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1922-04-14

| branch If / hadn't caught il from his
hand. For what he saw, and what
had seen, was the unmistakable print
in the soft earth just inside of the
planking, of one of Jeanie's brown
leather riding-boots.
In another half-second we were both
in the tunnel and Daddy was heaving
the dog aside from the hole he was
paving out in the earth fall. Snatch
ing up a -broken-handled shovel that
the former tunnel drivers had thrown
away. the old man flung himself mad
ly upon the dirt pile, and since there
was room for only one to work at a
| time, 1 stood at his elbow and held the
torch. l don't know what he expected
TO find hidden under the slide, but 1
do know what / was afraid he was
going to find.
After all, 1t was only a flash in the
pan, so far as any dreadful discovery
was concerned. Inside of FIVE minutes.
Daddy, working like a man demented,
had dug the entire cavern away, and
there was nothing to show for the
frantic shoveling-less than nothing.
Again, l don't know how Daddy felt,
but I'm sure l was able to breathe
better, the Improvement dating from
the moment when it became apparent
that the earth heap had grown too
small under the shovel stabs to pos
sibly conceal a human body.
The collie had followed US and
Daddy Hiram scowled down at him.
Of that dog could only be like old
Gran'paw Balaam's donkey for min
ute or So" he unused. HE saw her
go in there and saw her come out
likewise and the same, he must We
seen what she did after she come out.
Looks as if he wanted to talk and tell
US, don't hep"
Barney was certainly giving a good
imitation of that, or some other anx-
iety. He was frisking about and bark
ing, leaping up now and then TO snap
at an imaginary fly in the air. Daddy
caught him by his lower jaw and held |
him immOvable. go find her, Bar |
ney" he commanded; good dOg-go |
find her"
The instant he was released the col |
lie acted as if he understood perfectly |
what was wanted of him. Springing |
aside. he began to circle again, nose
to the ground, and within half a min
ute he was off, this time heading into
a dim trail that led away diagonauy
down the mountain, not in the direc-
ton of AtrOpia, but rather on the 9th
ar leg Of a triangle, one side of which
night be the desert edge, one the trail
We had followed from the Atropia
road, and the third the route we were
low taking to the eastward.
1t must have been within an hour
1r so of midnight when we left the
mountain forests behind and got into
he region of barren foothills. Here
he collie seemed much surer of his
ground, and we had our work cut out
or US in the effort to keep up with
lin. In the starlight l made out the
Inc Of telegraph poles as we ran, and
pretty soon our dog leader swung off
o the right and we found ourselves
rOttfng on a line parallel to the rail
Dad track and only a little way from
Pretty soon the dog disappeared;
nd then we heard him barking at |
little distance to the left of the paral-
ell tracks. When we went to see what
e had found, the mystery suddenly
OOk another tack and veered off into ]
new channel. In a small grassy hoI-
DIV between two of the hills we came
pom the dog and the calico pony. The I
ride reins had slipped over the bron-
o's head, and Barney had them be- 1
ween his teeth and was backing and {
juggling and apparently trying to pull S
he pony along. L
''Well, I'll be ding-jiggered ~ said G
daddy; but I couldn't unload quite [