Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/140

 had learned to dread all guns. At last he stood in plain sight, standing rigid fifty yards away down an aisle through the trees.

Foot by foot he approached. He whined and this was the first sound Moran had ever heard from him. When he stood within ten feet of Moran his conflicting emotions were so powerful that he writhed his head from side to side and clashed his teeth in savage snaps to relieve the inner strain, baring his fangs terribly but whining eagerly at the same time.

When at last Moran touched him all doubt was gone. In his frantic joy he abandoned his usual dignity and threw his weight upon him so recklessly that Moran braced himself to keep from being overthrown.

At the end of an hour Moran started on and Flash stayed so close as to almost touch him. When they reached a spot where several canyons branched off, Flash trotted ahead and stood in a break in the rims through which a game trail pitched down over the lip of a deep gorge. He looked back expectantly at Moran.

“You think that’s the best one to follow down, old boy?” said Moran. “All right, we’ll try it.” And Moran started along the trail that tacked diz-