THE WEST SHORE.
r. TL,ntM lie down injwhere and deep
Uck the Tnrkiah cap which be
M rtit hand through the closely-cropped
rurli of dark eUtnut in perplexing indecision. Ills
Mt taftU-hM He curia, Rnd usually held m their
Iwn o.thi KB lUmcQ hi fat'9 capnC"
. TU ch'-rt opir lip could take a scornful curve,
i d mite tif, r imile sweetly as a cherub, as dex
lroul; m hi ready brush by a line here, a touch
there, could change the face of bin canvas.
He vm a hort jacket and trowsersof brown cor
dary, and wa, altogether, as handsome a specimen
iif a B .heraian m one would see in many a day. But
Ut in a Ubyrintbian tongle, with the gnawings of
burner M, the nituation bad become a critical
one. The like bad never happened to him before.
1Mb y and faco were grave enough now for the
trirtt l'rriilijtcrinn deacon.
"'Where there' a will there's a way,'" he mut
Wf!, and dajdiM off at a tangent, whistling snatches
f an old rollicking Ullml
AfUr travening, it neemed to him, miles, in every
direction, be wm forced, at laM, to admit the cruel
fart that he m only the more completely bewildered
- the tiK.re hoeK(dr lout
Tb light wm fat fading out of the sky. Gro
Uju, il.adwy hnjea were prowling about the
taoubUin li.b-a, On a projecting npur the slim, gray
fynre f a coyote pnunnl for a Hecond, outlined as in
iar.;te kuM the darkening heavens, gave its pecu
liar, Ulf-bntking, bulf.wailing cry, then leisurely
tM5 out of niht
He htrtl nil this in an indifferent sort of way.
The uti.t lad utterly mccuraW to the man. He
u m k from exhaustion and want of food as
Hetmlsiofadis.
Iu uaa, and a Grange, whirling sensation in
. "!"Bi'i;'.i-ii.iiMi1Criej,6,,gB(,r.
-I I- r ,,l of k nllk n,,'
7 m IT' ! " l"tt"rn: '"'itaklo.g.
..tun; ;
Ml
S :.
Its delicious odor tantalized his olfactories and resus
citated his appetite. Through the open doorway he
8aw the sun climbing the blue stairway, and the
snowy summits hung with purple and blue and gold
draperies, woven at invisible looms.
Soft, cool breezes stole in and stirred the moist
hair on his temples.
" What a royal day for the artist 1 " he thought,
his eyes kindliDg with eager interest.
He lifted himself on his elbow as if to make the
e(fort to rise, when suddenly an apparition confronted
him. Whence it came, or how, he could not divine,
but there it stood, as if evolved by some device of
magic-the most powerful in size and muscular de
velopment, the shaggiest, the ugliest and most fero-cious-visaged
specimen of the canine species he had
ever beheld. The huge creature seemed to belong to
no particular type, but to combine the most promi
nent characteristics of several remarkable breeds.
H;s long, silky coat was mottled gray and black,
and his lopping ears and massive chest of a dark tan
color. The short, square, heavy jaws had a frightful
scar on the left side, where the muscles were drawn
away, which gave to them a singularly savage look.
But the majestic carriage of the body, the broad paws
and muscular legs, the dignity of the upper head,
and the fine, large, lustrous eyes, in which, from un
der shaggy, overhanging brows, gleamed an almost
more than human intelligence, amply redeemed the
grotesque deformity of the lower face. There he
stood glowering up at Paul, and at every attempt on
his part to rise, uttered a low, significant growl.
It was plain that he was a prisoner and could not
hope to elude the watchful eyes of that shaggy senti
nel. It was just as plain, too, that he was complete
ly at the animal's mercy, for he recognized the small
derringer, which he carried, lyiDg on a table across
the room. Even it would probably have availed him
little, for the unerring brute instinct would have
rightly interpreted the deadly menace, and one grip
of those mighty jaws on his throat would have ended
his career before he could have pulled the trigger or
made an outcry. He felt as helpless as though, taken
utterly unawares in a lonely, isolated spot, he had
been accosted with " hands up 1 " and looked into the
cocked revolver of some daring highwayman. Like a
prudent man, he quietly succumbed to the inevitable,
and assumed a recumbent position. The dog straight
way stretched himself out at full length, with his
nose between his fore paws, and made a pretense of
eleep. But Renfrew knew, by the occasional flutter
of an eyelash, that a close watch was being kept upDn
his movements. He in turn kept a close surveillance
on the dog, and, in a measure, the clamor of returning
vitality was merged into that absorbing occupation.