"Did you have to cross the creek?" asked Frank, who noticed that the man's long boots and part of his trousers were wet.
"No," said Jake curtly. "The critter took a notion he'd like to go in, and as I couldn't let him loose, I had to go in, too. We splashed around in it for quite a few minutes."
Harry broke into a burst of laughter and Jake handed him the club. "I want to get in by supper. Suppose you put a move on him."
He stood up and jerked the chain, but the dog bared his teeth again and declined to stir. Harry, getting behind him, tapped him with the club, and he swung round savagely, straining at the chain.
"Now," said Jake, "I know how we'll fix him. You make him mad and then head for the ranch while he gets after you, and I'll try to hold him."
"No," said Harry decisively, "I don't think we'll try that way. Go on and lead him."
The animal moved off at last and shambled toward the house, looking bigger and considerably more clumsy than the largest bulldog Frank had ever seen. He walked into the kitchen docilely, but when Miss Oliver approached him Harry cried out in dismay.
"Keep away!" he warned. "He isn't safe."
"Loose the chain," said Miss Oliver, and to their vast astonishment the dog walked up to her, wagging his disreputable tail, and crouching down, licked her hands. She patted his great head gently and then turned smilingly to the boys.
"I'm afraid Webster has been rough with him," she said. "It's clear that he's a woman's dog."