Pleasantest of all was it to sit and talk to the collie in the
once-tedious evenings, and to know that his every word was
appreciated and listened to with eager interest, even if the full
gist of the talk itself did not penetrate to the listener's
understanding.

Link Ferris, for the first time in his life, had a dog.
Incidentally, for the first time in his life, he had an intimate
friend--something of whose love and loyalty he waxed increasingly
sure. And he was happy.

His brighter spirits manifested themselves in his farm work,
transforming drudgery into contentment. And the farm began, in
small ways, to show the effects of its owner's new attitude
toward labor.


The day after he found Chum, Link had trudged to Hampton; and,
there, had affixed to the clapboards of the general store a bit
of paper whereon he had scrawled:

"Found-One white and brown bird
dog with leg broken. Owner can have
same by paying a reward."

On his next huckster trip to Craigswold he pinned a similar sign
to the bulletin board of that rarefied resort's post-office. And
he waited for results.

He did more. He bought two successive copies of the county's