"Rudy is vicious!" Penny warned. "And he's been left unchained."
"Let's get away from here."
The girls turned and started hurriedly back down the lane, but the hound had made up his mind that they were intruders. With a low growl he leaped toward them.
"Run!" cried Susan in terror.
Instead of fleeing, Penny stooped to snatch up a stick. Rudy sprang at her, and the force of his powerful body knocked her to the ground. Susan screamed in terror.
Help was closer at hand than either of the girls suspected. A man had been crouching behind the hedge. As Penny struggled to regain her feet, he came running toward her. It was Michael Haymond.
CHAPTER XII
The Matron's Story
"Stay where you are!" commanded the young man sternly.