“No sooner was she well inside and going to the swimming-pool to give her horse a drink, than Harkaway, lying outside in the long grass, gave Silver Tongue the silent signal. Then Silver Tongue, standing in his usual place, watching frogs by the pond sluiceway, gave his far-away cry that sounded as if it came from over by Mr. Hugh’s barn, and Miss Letty, hidden by low-hanging trees, did not notice that all the foxhounds understood it and sprang up, that the setters stood first at a point and then dashed toward the gate, one by one disappearing down the lane. “Lucky for them that Mr. Wolf didn’t see, for he would have told Miss Jule and spoiled their sport, for of all the dogs within or out the kennel Mr. Wolf has the most ‘say so,’ and we almost know that he tells Miss Jule our secrets, and that they talk together. This much was told me; the rest I saw myself, for I was in the lane on rabbit business that morning. “As it happened, it was our family, the Beagles, that gave warning, for the moment the first one, old Bramble, my grandmother, and my uncle Meadow Brook, got into that lane they fell on a fresh rabbit trail and gave tongue, and then the hounds answered with full cry, and throwing family pride away, ran with the little hounds, barking, yelping, following every trail, fresh and stale, and dashing here and there, where there was no scent at all. “Miss Letty turned, saw what she had done, and galloped toward the house, from which Martin and Miss Jule came running, speechless with astonishment, for all the dogs in the grow-ups’ exercise yard had gone, and the puppies were wild with excitement and dashing at the wires. “At first Miss Letty was almost crying, but in a few minutes Miss Jule began to laugh until she shook all over, and you know that is a great deal of shake. Then Miss Letty laughed, too, and Martin closed the back gate and opened one to the barnyard, and sat down by the pump and waited. “Soon Mr. Hugh came riding by, looking, oh, so cross, that I was afraid and hid. He went to where Miss Jule was standing by the puppy yard fence talking to Flo, and asking her how she came there. Flo had been shut in by mistake that day, and as she couldn’t get out to go with the others she was amusing herself catching meadow-mice and she told me what they said. Flo is such a hard-working dog, and she points, flushes, and retrieves as well as any two others, and even when she is shut up she keeps in practice on mice, toads, and squirrels. I can always tell when it’s a meadow-mouse she is pointing, even when I watch her through the wires from far off, because she stands short and points down into the grass, but other times she spreads out more and points ahead. This day she quite forgot the mouse in listening to Mr. Hugh; for she said she never knew before that House People could growl.” [Illustration]