A FLIGHT OF WOODCOCK The sheriff stood tall in the doorway, his face unreadable, while at the same time he seemed to strain forward like an eager hound on a hot scent. Disconcerted, showing it and aware that he showed it, Ted fought for self-possession. He said, "Well hello." "Hello, Ted." Callahan was not unfriendly. "How are things?" Ted tried to cover his confusion with a shrug. "Not much change." "You seem," Callahan was looking narrowly at him, "a bit nervous." "Is that strange?" "Guess not." Callahan was too casual. "It's probably a nerve-wracking business. Uh--thought I heard you talking?" "You might have. I was talking to Tammie." "Your dog, eh?" "That's right." "I don't see him around." "I just let him out the back door. He likes to go for a little run at night." "I'm darned," Callahan said, "if I didn't think I caught a glimpse of you letting him out. Tammie looked awful big." "He's a big dog." Just how much had Callahan seen? Definitely, a pack-laden collie was not going camping and Callahan would know where it was going. The sheriff dropped into a chair and crossed his right leg over his left knee. "I know he's big, I've seen him before. But he sure looked bigger than usual. That's a mighty good dog, Ted." "Yes, he is." "Highly-trained, too, isn't he? That dog will do almost anything you want him to, won't he?" "Oh, sure," Ted said sarcastically. "Every night he sets his own alarm for five o'clock. Then he lays and lights a fire so the house will be warm when I get out of bed." "Aw now, Ted!" Callahan said reproachfully. "You know darn' well what I mean! Why only the other night I found Silly Ass Stacey running down the road like a haunt was chasing him. 'Don't go up there!' he told me. 'Don't go up to Harknesses! They have a man-eating dog and it just ate me!'" Doubtless unintentionally, Callahan had given something away. The Harkness house was being closely watched or the sheriff wouldn't have been on the Lorton Road at the hour when Sammy ran down it. In full control of himself now, Ted did not let himself reveal what he had just learned. He said grimly, "Sammy was in our chicken coop." "_Hm-m._ Want me to pick him up for it?" "I doubt if he'll be as fond of chicken stealing from now on. Tammie knocked him down and did a little snarling over him. He didn't hurt him." Callahan grinned. "Figured that out all by myself; nobody who'd most been eaten could run as fast as Silly Ass was running. Hope it does teach him a lesson; if he gets rid of his oversized notions, he won't be anything except a harmless sort of nut. Jail might make him vicious. But that's what I mean about your dog. You've really got him trained." "I spend a lot of time training him." "You have to if you want results, but it's worth it. You have a dog you can really work." "There are limits."