"If he's yours," said Brice, pleasantly, "stop hauling him
along and let him loose. He'll follow you, without all that
hustling. A good collie will always follow, his master,
anywhere."

"When I'm honin' for your jabber," retorted the other, "I'll
come a-askin' for it."

He drew back his foot once more, for a kick. But, with a lazy
competence, Brice moved forward and gave him a light push,
sidewise, on the shoulder. There was science and a rare
knowledge of leverage in the mild gesture. When a man is
kicking, he is on only one foot. And, the right sort of
oblique push will not only throw him off his balance, but in
such a direction that his second foot cannot come to earth in
position to help him restore that balance.

Under the skillfully gentle impact of Brice's shove, the man
let go of the snarling collie and hopped insanely for a second
or so, with arms outflung. Then he sat down ungracefully on
the sand.

Scarce had he touched ground when he was up.

But the moment had sufficed for the collie to go free.
Instead of running off, the dog moved over to Brice, thrust
his cool muzzle into the man's hand, and, with wagging tail,
looked up lovingly at him.

A collie has brains beyond most dogs. And this collie