And then the boy started back on the trail, the dog following close on his heels, as if the two had been friends for years. [[68]]
CHAPTER VIII
TAWNY
Ray approached the camp with his face flushed and his heart beating fast. He had been lonely on this trip thus far, but now he had found a companion.
“Oh, Bruce! Oh, Bruce!” he called when he had approached within calling distance. “I found somebody on the island, and I want to keep him.”
“What in the world did you pick up!” Bruce exclaimed, when he saw the animal that looked so much like the collie which Ray had been forced to leave behind in Vermont. Only this dog was bigger and appeared more wolf-like. Bruce felt almost a little afraid of the beast, but Ray stood with his right arm around the neck of the big tawny animal, who seemed to be as content and happy as the young boy.
“I am going to keep him!” Ray spoke [[69]]with his face set, without explaining just how he found the animal.
“There must be some Indians camping on this island,” Bruce suggested, when Ganawa stepped out of the tepee.
“No, my sons,” Ganawa replied, “no Indians camp on this island more than a few days, and this dog is no Indian dog. I have seen this dog with some miners that worked for the brave trader Alexander Henry, and they must have lost him on this island. It may be that he was hunting on a trail or was digging out a woodchuck, when the miners had to leave.”