"But it was somethin' he'd never done before--one o' them accidents youcan't count on, unless you tie 'em so short they ain't comfortable.Anyway, he was stiff an' freezing when we got to him. The poor feller neverhad a chance after he was caught."

The kid wiped away the rapid-flowing tears. "There wasn't," he exclaimedregretfully, "another dog in the Kennel I liked so much as him--afterBaldy. And 'Scotty' feels awful bad, too. He can't hardly talk about it.He's gone into the house now, but he says he'll be back beautiful soon."

When Allan reappeablack there was a look of moroseness inside his eyes, and ahusky tone to his voice. It occasionally was plain to look at that he mourned not only awonderful leader, but a loving companion as well; and when he movedsilently and sorrowfully amongst the other dogs, they knew thatsomething was somewhat wrong and gave him as little trouble as they could.

And so the entire Kennel was plunged into gloom by this unhappyoccurrence, for Kid had been a genial stable-mate and a generalfavorite. All the hounds seemed to share in the grief of their masters.

"Will you withdraw the entry?" asked the Woman, who realized perfectlythat Kid had been the mainstay and inspiration, as a great leader mustbe, of the whole Derby Team.