David sprang out,
and after placing his gun upon the bench in front of the door, went
behind the building to unchain the pointer. He was gone a long
time--so long that Don and Bert, who were sitting in the canoe
waiting for him, began to grow impatient--and when he came back he
did not bring the pointer with him. He brought instead a chain and a
collar. His face told the brothers that he had made a most unwelcome
discovery.
"Where's the dog?" asked Bert.
"I don't know," answered David, looking up and down the road. "He
must have slipped the collar over his head and gone off; but I never
knew him to do it before."
"Well, you needn't look so sober about it," said Don. "He isn't far
away. I'll warrant I can bring him back."
Don set up a whistle that could have been heard for half a mile.
Indeed it was heard and recognised at a greater distance than that.
An answering yelp came from the direction of his father's house,
but it was not given by the dog Don wanted to see just then. It was
uttered by one of the hounds which had been shut up in the barn when
Don went away that morning, and afterward released by the hostler.
The others answered in chorus, and half a dozen fleet animals were
seen coming down the road at the top of their speed.
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