Let any of my young readers who are inclined to bully a dog, or whose hearts are not warm towards the noblest friend of man, recall Shag to their minds when they feel thus. Let them imagine the position of utter helplessness which Sir Francis and the rest of this little search party would have been in, on the verge of a dense, unknown, untrodden forest, if it had not been for the sagacious assistance and keen, unerring knowledge of the Labrador. All depended on him. Topsie’s fate was practically in his—I can’t say hands—paws. And thus it was that the Indians, who by this time were up and stirring, beheld their beloved young Queen enter the dreaded and Trauco-haunted forest, from which they hardly dared to hope to see her return alive.
But Aniwee had no fear, and her heart was at rest in regard to her child. Was not La Guardia Chica in the care of Graviel, and had not her faithful Araucanians sworn to protect and guard the baby Queen in her absence?
Without the slightest hesitation Shag piloted the party through a narrow clearing in the forest, and then entered a wild horse path which led through it, and which must have been often used, judging by the manner in which the soil had been trampled into a hard, opaque cake. This made travelling easy work at first, and our friends, proceeding in Indian file, covered a good distance in the first hour of their march.
At starting, the forest had been on a level with the plain, but the direction in which Shag led the party gradually bore away into hilly slopes, still thickly covered in with trees. Natural clearings in the forest would, however, from time to time, occur; and these clearings were generally covered with a long, luxuriant grass and stumpy bushes, and in nearly every case had a mountain torrent dashing down their sides.
All of a sudden the Labrador came to a halt, and planting his forefeet firmly on the ground, raised his head and sniffed the air. Then he looked back at Harry, who was just behind him, and wagged his tail.
“Steady, Shag,” whispered the young midshipman, hastening forward, and laying his hand on the noble dog’s massive head. “What is it, old boy?”
Again Shag wagged his tail and sniffed the air, but did not move.
Turning round to those behind, Harry laid his finger on his lips and made a sign of caution, at the same time whispering to Shag to down charge, which the dog at once obeyed. Then the lad stole forward noiselessly and carefully, to see if he could make out anything ahead.
They were close to another of the natural clearings just described, and it was towards this that Harry directed his footsteps. Keeping well out of sight behind the trees, he gradually made his way to within sight of the opening. Then he drew back and crouched down.
For there in the clearing grazed a large troop of horses, and in their midst was not only the stallion which Topsie had striven to capture, with the noose and snapped lasso still around its neck, but Topsie’s horse itself, saddleless, yet still bridled!