Rick and Ruddy: The Story of a Boy and His Dog

by Howard Roger Garis

"He came up to us when we were on guard outside," explained Chot. "And he barked!"

"Is it really Ruddy?" asked Mr. Taylor.

"Oh, yes, it's Ruddy! It's my dog all right!" cried Rick. And it needed but one look to show how glad the dog and his boy-master were to be together again.

Then the lantern was turned higher and, when matters had quieted down a little, it was seen that Ruddy carried around his neck a collar of rope.

"He's been tied up!" exclaimed Rick. "The sailor and the junk man must have tied him up so he couldn't get away."

"And he broke loose," said Tom.

"No, this rope has been cut," said the Scout Master, as he looked carefully at the end of the heavy cord on the dog's neck. "This has been cut by a sharp knife. If some one tied Ruddy up some one cut him loose."

And so, without having seen it done, Mr. Taylor told exactly what had happened. He had read the "signs," just as Indians and scouts of the plains used to read signs, and as Boy Scouts of to-day are learning to do.

"Ruddy had a regular collar on," said Rick, as he looked at the harsh rope around his pet's neck. "I wonder where it is?"

"Well, I guess the junk man took it off to sell it," said Sam Brown. "Those fellows will sell anything they get that way."