Mistress gazed interestedly down upon the sprawling and wiggling
puppy. "Her pedigree reads like a page in Burke's Peerage. She--"

He paused. For Lad had moved forward to where the infant collie
was trying valiantly to walk on the slippery boards. The big dog
regarded the puppy; his head on one side, his tulip ears cocked;
his deep-set eyes friendily curious. This was Lad's first
experience with one of the young of his species. And he was a bit
puzzled; albeit vastly interested.

Experimentally, he laid one of his tiny white forepaws lightly on
the mite's fuzzy shoulder. Instantly, the puppy growled a
falsetto warning to him to keep his distance. Lad's plumed tail
began to wag at this sign of spirit in the pigmy. And, with his
curved pink ribbon of tongue, he essayed to lick the shivering
Lady. A second growl rewarded this attention. And Lady sought to
avoid further contact with the shaggy giant, by scrambling at top
speed to the edge of the veranda.

She miscalculated the distance or else her nearsighted baby eyes
failed to take account of the four-foot drop to the gravel drive
below. Too late, she tried to check her awkward rush. And, for a
moment, her fat little body swayed perilously on the brink.

The Mistress and the Master were too far away to catch her in
time to prevent a fall which might well have entailed a broken
rib or a wrenched shoulder. But Lad was nearer. Also, he moved
faster.

With the speed of lightning, he made a dive for the tumbling