"'Ess; me do see Mif' 'Ilson," Ralph declared, brightening. It was true that the good ranchman's wife had always made much of him, and was glad to have him with her, and I had a particular reason for being glad of the temporary freedom that his going over there would give me. I made haste to change his soiled dress and get him ready. "Tell her," I said, as I lifted him into the wagon, "that I'll come over after him some time this afternoon; it isn't far, and if I start early enough he can easily walk home with me before night." "Dat's right; we's got dat all fixed," Joe responded cheerfully. He started the team again, while Ralph, his good humor restored, threw me kisses as the wagon rattled away. I had mentioned it to no one, but I was secretly a good deal worried over the non-appearance of Guard. In the present absorbed interest in other matters, I think none of the family, save myself, had taken note of the fact that the dog had not been seen since his noisy scramble up the hillside in pursuit of some animal, the evening before. Only hunters, or those who dwell in remote and lonely places, can realize how fully one's canine followers may become, in certain surroundings, at once comrades and friends. I missed the dog's shaggy black head and attentive eyes as I hurried through with the morning's milking. He was wont to sit beside me during that operation, and watch proceedings with absorbed and judicial interest. I missed him again as I heard a fluttering and squawking that might mean mischief, near the poultry yard. Above all, in the absence of the other members of the family, I missed his companionship. So, as I hastened with the morning's tasks, I resolved to take the opportunity afforded by Ralph's absence, and go in search of him. Disquieting recollections of the wildcat that he and I had dared, and of the wildcat that had dared Mrs. Lloyd, came to my mind. It seemed to me by no means improbable that Guard had treed one of these creatures and was holding it until help came or until the cat should become tired of imprisonment and make a rush for liberty; a rush that, if it came to close quarters, would be pretty certain to result disastrously for Guard. So thinking, I took father's light rifle--which was always kept loaded--down from its place on the kitchen wall, buckled a belt of cartridges around my waist, and, locking the door behind me, started on my quest.