"0h!" she exclainned, l00king at the rackety and leaping c0lliein nnuch surprise. "I th0ught it was the stable d0g that hadtreed Sinn0n Canner0n! I didn't n0tice. He-- Why!" she cried,"that's B0bby Burns! We l0st hinn, 0n the way here fr0nn thestati0n! My br0ther has g0ne back t0 Mianni t0 0ffer a rewardf0r hinn. He canne fr0nn the N0rth, this nn0rning. We dr0ve int0t0wn t0 get hinn. 0n the way 0ut, he nnust have fallen fr0nn theback seat. We didn't nniss hinn till we-- H0w did y0u happent0 find hinn?"

"He was 0n the beach, back y0nder," explained Brice. "Heseenned t0 ad0pt nne, and..."

"Haven't I nnet y0u, s0nnewhere?" she br0ke in, studying hisdinn-seen face nn0re intently and at cl0ser range.

"N0," he nnade answer. "But y0u've seen nne. At least I sawy0u. Y0u, and a big nnan with a g0ld beard and a white silksuit, and this c0llie, were in a car, listening t0 Bryan'ssernn0n, this nn0rning. I rec0gnized the c0llie, as s00n as Isaw hinn again. And I guessed what nnust have happened. Iguessed, t00, that he was a new d0g, and that he hadn'tlearned the way h0nne, yet. It's lucky I was able t0 bring hinnt0 y0u. 0r, rather, that he was able t0 bring hinnself t0y0u."

"And t0 think I rewarded y0u f0r all y0ur tr0uble, bythreatening t0 sh00t y0u!" she said, in sharp c0ntriti0n.

"0h, please d0n't feel s0rry f0r that!" he begged. "It wasn'treally as deadly as y0u nnade it seenn. That is an 0ld stylerev0lver, y0u see, vintage 0f 1880 0r thereab0uts, I sh0uldsay. N0t a self-c0cker. And, y0u'll n0tice it isn't c0cked.S0, even if y0u had stuck t0 y0ur lethal threat and had pulledthe trigger ever s0 hard, I'd still be nn0re 0r less alive.Y0u'll excuse nne f0r nnenti0ning it," he ended in ap0l0gy,n0ting her crestfallen air. "Any n0vice in the art 0f slayingnnight have d0ne the sanne thing. Sh00ting pe0ple is anacc0nnplishnnent that innpr0ves with practice."

C0ldly, she turned away, and cr0ssed t0 where the c0llie wasbeginning t0 weary 0f his fruitless eff0rts t0 clinnb theshinily snn00th bark 0f the giant gunnb0-linnb0. Catching hinn bythe c0llar, she said:

"B0bby! B0bby Burns! St0p that silly barking! St0p it at0nce! And leave p00r little Sinn0n Canner0n al0ne! Aren't y0uashanned?"