Those
teeth could crush a mutton-bone as a child cracks a peanut. But,
on Lady, today, their power was exerted only to the extent of
lifting her, in one swift wrench, clear of the ground and high in
air.
The mischievous collie flew through space like a lithe mass of
golden fluff; and came to earth, in a heap, at the edge of the
drive; well clear of the menacing wheels. With Lad, it fared
otherwise.
The great dog had braced himself, with all his might, for the
muscle-wrenching heave. Wherefore, he had no chance to spring
clear, in time to avoid the car. This, no doubt, he had realized,
when he sprang to his adored mate's rescue. For Lad's brain was
uncanny in its cleverness. That same cleverness, more likely than
mere chance,--now came to his own aid.
The left front wheel struck him and struck him fair. It hit his
massive shoulder, dislocating the joint and knocking the
eighty-pound dog prone to earth, his ruff within an inch of the
wheel. There was no time to gather his feet under him or to
coerce the dislocated shoulder into doing its share toward
lifting him in a sideways spring that should carry him out of the
machine's way.
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