The stable was dim-lit, at best. Now, the gathering storm made it as dark as twilight. The box stall to which Lad was led was almost pitch black; its shuttered window being closed. Still, it was shelter.
Leaving the Master and the Mistress to consign Lad to his new quarters, the boy scuttled of to a harness-room. There, an eagerly-questioning man was awaiting him.
"Yep," broke in the boy, through a volley of inquiries. "I done it, all right, all right, Mr. Higham. They"re moorin" him in Stall Five, right now. How about those two soft dollars? Hey?"
"You earned "em, O. K.," grinned Higham. "Here you are. Two,--count "em, two. And now, chase along, sonny. I"m busy."
He turned to a large bowl in which he had been mixing the contents of three or four bottles. And the boy saw his fingers were fiery red.
"What"s the matter?" demanded the youngster, in high excitement.
"That"s blood, ain"t it?"
"No," denied Higham. "Blood"s light red. This is crimson. Remember the time we run in that joke on Daddy Price, by dipping his prize white leghorns in crimson dye, just before the Madison Square Garden Poultry Show? Well, this is the same stuff."
"Do I remember it?" snickered the boy. "He was ragin", for fair.
Couldn"t get it off, to save him. It stayed, that color, on "em, till they"d shed the last one of last year"s crop of feathers. Sure, I remember. Why wouldn"t I? Didn"t I git a dollar for holdin" "em for you? And another dollar for keepin" my mouth shut? But what are you lottin" to do with the stuff, this time? No chickens here; or--"
"Nope," a.s.sented Higham. "No chickens here. Hold on, a second!"
He stood, musing. Then he spoke.
"I was going to play a lone hand, on this," he said, presently. "I didn"t even dare let Rice in on it. He"d be dead-sure to tell that gabby girl he"s going to marry. And it"d get all over the country in a week. And that"d lose me my job, if the boss heard of it. I was going to play it alone. That"s why I left Rice and Willett to put up the dogs for me. But,--I"m blest if I know how I"m to hold him and dye him at the same time. He"s as strong as an ox. You--you"re a good, close-tongued kid, Harry. You kept your mouth shut about Price"s chickens. Could you keep it shut,--for another dollar,--about this? If you"ll do that, and lend me a hand--How about it?"
"What"s the main idea?" asked the boy, much intrigued by the beauty of the dye on Higham"s fingers; and squirming with embarra.s.sed self-importance at the man"s flattering tone. "I"ll help out, all right. Only,--"
"Here"s the notion," said Higham, coming out of momentary self-communion. "And if you ever spill it, your mail will be sent to you at the hosp"t"l, for a spell. You saw that big dark sable collie I had you steer into Stall Five? It cost me another two dollars to get Abrams to let me have the use of that stall. The idea come to me, in a jolt, first crack of thunder I heard. Well, I"m due to "get" that dog and the mucker who owns him, too. Them and I had a run-in, once; and I been honing for a chance to square things, ever since. I"ve seen "em at shows and I"ve asked folks about "em, too. He sets more store by that dog than he"d set by most humans. He"s pleased as Punch, every time the collie hauls down a cup at one of these neighborhood shows. Well, that dog ain"t going to be fit to go to another show, for a year. He ain"t going to be fit to look at, for that long. He"s going to be a laughing stock. His owners won"t brag any more about him, neither. They"ll be glad enough to keep him out of sight."
The boy, listening with ever-widening eyes, chanced to shift his gaze to the big bowl of new-mixed dye. And a light broke on him.
"You--you"re aimin" to soak him with that stuff?" he whispered, in awe at such combined courage and genius.
"Uh-uh," a.s.sented Higham. "I don"t know what color the crimson stuff will turn the dark part of his coat. But whatever color it is, it"ll be as funny as a box of three-tailed snakes. I"ve put a gla.s.s of ammonia into the dye, to make it "set" quicker. It--"
"Gee, but you"re a wonder!" sighed the worshiping boy. "D"ye s"pose I"ll ever git to be as smart as you are?"
"It all depends on how you make use of your brains," returned Higham, complacently. "But I was some smarter than you to begin with. I--"
"But--"
Higham went on, more briskly:
"I"ve got this bag to put over his head when I open the stall door.
That"ll put him out of the biting business, till it"s peeled away from his jaws, after he"s got a real good rubbing. But he"ll likely wriggle, a lot. And I"ll need you to sit on his head. Likewise to carry this bowl and the sponge, while I"m opening the door and getting the bag over his head. Are you game?"
"I sure am!" breathed the enraptured boy.
"Come "long, then. The stuff"s ready; and we don"t want to waste any time. Go ahead and see if there"s anyone in that end of the stable."
Two minutes later, the pair groped their way through the dense gloom, to Stall Five. They walked with exaggerated care; though the roar of the storm would have deadened the sound of a cavalry charge. Handing over the bowl and sponge to his a.s.sistant, Higham produced from under his coat a thick burlap bag with a drawstring at its neck. Then, he opened the door of the box stall, a few inches and stared in.
By straining his eyes, he could just see the vague outline of the big collie. The dog arose from a bundle of straw, stretched himself fore and aft, and walked gravely forward to welcome the visitors who were so kindly easing his loneliness. He was barely visible, in the dimness.
But there was light enough for Higham"s purpose. With practiced hand, he shoved the bag over the beautiful silken head, as the collie stepped majestically toward him. Then, deftly, he threw the indignant and struggling dog to the floor, and bade the boy come in; and shut the gate behind him.
With the pa.s.sing of another hour, the rain ceased; and a glory of afternoon sunlight bathed the freshened world. At about the same time, the belated collie judge arrived at the clubhouse. Word was sent forth that all dogs were to be returned to their benches and that the judging of the collies and of certain other breeds would begin at once.
There was a general hustle and confusion, as exhibitors led forth their dogs from shelter; benching them and plying brush and chalk and towel in frantic haste.
Higham summoned Rice and another of the kennel men and bade them bring forth the Lochaber dogs. Instead of helping them with his task, Higham himself ran to the top of the clubhouse steps, from which he could survey not only the benches but also the stables and the lawn between.
There, quivering with hard-held excitement, he stood; with the air of one who has chosen a grandstand seat for some thrilling event. He wore a pair of thick gloves. As he had discarded the linen duster which he had worn during the dyeing process, there was no betraying splash of color on his severely correct garb.
People were trooping out from the shelter of the clubhouse. With half an eye, Higham observed these; chuckling at thought of the everincreasing number of spectators to his rare comedy. Of a sudden, the chuckle changed to a gasp.
Out through the doorway, and onto the veranda, strolled Colonel Osbourne, owner of the Lochaber Collie Kennels. With him walked the Mistress and the Master.
At the Mistress"s side paced Lad.
"It was so careless of us to leave the suitcase at home!" the Mistress was saying. "I don"t know how we could have groomed him, Colonel, if you hadn"t come to our rescue by turning that kit bag"s heaven-sent contents over to us. Besides, it gave us the excuse to bring Laddie up into the house; instead of leaving him all alone in that black stall.
He hates thunderstorms, and--"
A yell, from somewhere, interrupted her. The yell was caught up. It merged into a multiple roar of inextinguishable laughter. The Mistress saw a hundred faces all turned in one direction, The faces were convulsed with mirth. A hundred derisively wondering fingers were pointing. She ran to the veranda rail and looked down.
Across the patch of greensward, from the stables, a man and a dog were advancing. The man was shaking his fist at the world at large and fairly dancing with rage.
But it was the dog, and not he, that caused the Homeric gusts of merriment and the gobbling chorus of amazed questions. The dog was a collie; n.o.ble of aspect, ma.s.sive of coat.
But that same coat vied with the setting sun in garish brilliancy of hue. Never since the birth of time, had such a beast been seen by mortals. From the tip of his aristocratic nose to the plume of his sweeping tail, the collie was one blazingly vivid ma.s.s of crimson! He fairly irradiated flaring red lights. His coat was wet and it hung stickily to his lean sides, as if he had just come from a swim. And it was tinted like a chromo of a prairie fire.
Following more slowly to the veranda"s edge, Colonel Osbourne had begun a reply to the Mistress"s half-finished speech of grat.i.tude for his hospitality.
"I was only too glad to be of service," said he. "That"s a grand dog you have. It was a real pleasure to help in his grooming. Besides, I profited by it. You see, my Lochaber King was quartered in a muddy corner under the veranda. So I took the liberty of telling my man, Rice, to put him in that comfortable big stall of Lad"s. I am the chief gainer by the--"
His courtly speech became a gurgle of horror. For, his eyes fell on the ragingly advancing Rice. And, by deduction, he recognized the crimson monstrosity at Rice"s heels as his beloved Lochaber King.
Before the apoplectic Colonel could speak, Lad created a diversion on his own account. He had been sniffing the air, reminiscently, for a few seconds. Now, his eyes verified what his nostrils had told him. A pallidly glaring and shaking man, leaning against the veranda rail for support, had an oddly familiar scent and appearance to Laddie.
The collie stepped forward to investigate. The nerve-smashed Higham saw him coming; and thrust out one gloved hand in frightened rebuff.
The flicking gesture was unpleasantly like a blow. As the menacing hand slapped toward his jaws, Lad caught at it, in wary self-defense.
He recalled this man, now. He remembered he had been bidden to "watch"
him. He did not spring at his a.s.sailant. But a warning snap answered the frenzied thrust of the hand. His teeth closed lightly on the glove-fingers, just as Higham, in fear, jerked back his arm.
The loose glove came away in the dog"s mouth.
Colonel Osbourne, wheeling about to demand some explanation of his kennel-manager, beheld a bare hand as vividly crimson as Lochaber King"s ruined coat.
"Laddie," observed the Mistress, that evening, as she placed on the top trophy-shelf an embossed silver cup, antique, and nine inches high, and stood back pride fully, to note the effect. "Laddie, I know--I just KNOW,--you"d have won it, even if poor Lochaber King had competed.
But,--oh, I wish I could make head or tail of any of the things that have happened, today! How do you suppose it all started, anyhow, dear?"
she asked, turning to her husband for help in the riddle.