"See here, you've got something in your mind, younker!" demanded Dunkan.
"Nothing except that I don't believe your collie was chasing an animal. I know a dog's bark well enough to know when he's on the trail of an animal. That bark and growl wasn't like any animal-chasing growl I ever heard."
"All right, sonny, we'll see who's right," smiled Jim, turning to his tent. "Night."
"Good-night," answered Butler. "He will see whether I am right or not in the morning. I am going to find out something for myself in the morning, too. I don't believe those men are very good mountaineers, though they may be most excellent prospectors."
Tad went to sleep and slept soundly until break of day when he was up and about. Dunkan's first inquiry upon getting up, was as to whether the collie had returned.
The collie had not. The broken rope with which he had been tethered before breaking away still hung from the stake.
"Well, kid, I reckon you were right about the dog's not coming back," announced Dunkan, his face troubled and anxious.
"I didn't say he would not come back, did I? What I tried to tell you, was that he wasn't chasing an animal."
"Well, he was. If he hadn't been, he'd been back in this camp hours ago. He's got mixed up in his trail, but I reckon he'll be along when he gets ready. I'm not going to worry about the dog, though I'd rather lose anything I've got than to lose him."
"You're wrong all around, Mr. Dunkan," asserted Tad confidently.