It was all right, somehow. Only, the waiting was
tedious!
With a tired little sigh, the collie curled up in a miserable
heap on the stony ground, the shortness of his tether making even
this effort at repose anything but comfortable. And he waited.
A dog, that is happy and well, settles himself for a prolonged
wait, by stretching out on his side;--oftenest the left side; and
by dropping off into slumber. Seldom, unless he be cold or ill,
does a big dog curl up into a ball, to rest. Nor is he thoroughly
comfortable in such a posture.
Lad was not comfortable. He was not resting. He was wretched. Nor
did he try to snooze. Curled in a compact heap, his sorrowful
eyes abrim with sorrow, he lay scanning the bumpy mountainside
and straining his ears, for sign of the car's return. His
breathing was not as splendidly easy as usual. For, increasingly,
that earlier twinge of acrid smoke-reek was tickling his throat.
The haze, that had hovered over the farther hilltops and valleys,
was thickening; and it was creeping nearer. The breath of morning
breeze was stiffening into a steady wind; a wind that blew strong
from the west and carried on it the smell of forest fire.
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