“Now,” continued the logical young man, “while I keep to the water I don’t leave any scent3; I’m like the fawn4 which the hound can’t track through the woods, and when Zip comes to the point where I stepped into the water, he’ll be up against it—hello!”
He had come to a place where the brook expanded into a pool and more than fifty feet across. Opposite to where he halted, the foaming5 current tumbled over a series of boulders6, and then spread out into the calm expanse, whose outlet7 was the small stream which Hoke had ascended8 to this point. The water lost a good deal of its limpidity9, so that the bottom could be traced only a little way from where he stood.
“That’s bully10!” exclaimed the Scout11, after brief reflection; “I’ll walk across the pond—it can’t be deep—and step ashore12 on the other side, Zip won’t come within a mile of the spot.”
He began wading13, cautiously feeling each step before advancing. Since the depth was unknown he could not be too careful, though confident that the little lake was shallow in every part.
Half across the icy water reached to his knees. He pressed slowly on, thrusting out a foot and making sure of a firm support.
“It ought now to grow more shallow,” he reflected as he felt his way forward; “when I get to shore I may as well go back to the bungalow14 and wait till Zip returns disgusted. I guess Burton can take a joke when it’s on him, and he’ll laugh with the rest of us——”
At that instant, Hoke stepped into an unseen hole and dropped out of sight. The sudden clasp of the icy element made him gasp15, and when his head popped up, he spat16 and struck out frantically17 for land. It was remarkable18 that the only spot in the pond where the water was over his head was barely two yards across, and beyond it the depth was so slight that while swimming, one of Hoke’s feet struck bottom. He straightened up, and strode to land, shivering in his dripping garments.
“Who’d have thought that? I didn’t dream of anything of the kind—where did you come from?”
This angry question was addressed to Zip, who thrust his muzzle19 against Hoke’s knee, looked up and wagged his tail.
“I’d like to know what led you here, when you hadn’t any scent to follow.”
“It was his nose,” remarked young Burton some time later, when Hoke having exchanged his wet clothing told his story to the laughing group on the piazza20.
“I left no scent when I stepped into the brook,” replied Hoke.
“Therefore he knew you were in the brook; and set out to find where you had left it.”
“He had to follow both sides in turn.”
“Not at all; from one bank he could detect, without the least difficulty, the scent on the other side. He failed to take it up, and therefore knew you had still kept to the stream. If you had not been in sight when he reached the pond, he would have circled around it and nothing could have prevented his discovering your trail within the next few minutes. But he saw you feeling your way across, and the direction in which your face was turned told him where you would come out,—so he trotted21 around to welcome you when you reached land.”
“Why didn’t he jump in to help me out of the hole?”
“The bloodhound is content to leave that kind of work to his brother the Newfoundland, and a few others. You are ready to admit, Hoke, that there are bigger fools than Zip.”
“Yes,—and here sits one of them. Mike doesn’t seem to care to match with him.”
“There’s where you’re mistook, as 241Bridget Lanigan said whin she picked up a red hot poker22 thinking it was a ribbon she had dropped from her hair. Come, boys.”
Mike sprang from his seat and addressed Alvin and Chester. There was much chaffing as the three passed into the bungalow and out at the rear. Zip had taken his place beside his master’s chair, where he sat with his long tongue hanging far out, his mouth wide open, and his big ears dangling23 below his massive jaws24. He manifested no further interest in what was going on around him, though he must have understood everything.
The agreement with Mike was that the dog should remain on the piazza with his master and the other scouts25 until a full hour should have passed. Then he was to be allowed to smell of a pair of shoes which the fugitive26 left behind him. These belonged to Alvin Landon, who had brought some extra footgear. They had been worn by Mike for several days when he replaced them with his own, which he had on at the time he left the bungalow. Thus far everything was plain and above board.
“I don’t know what Mike has up his sleeve,” remarked young Burton; “no doubt it is something ingenious, for he and his two chums have been whispering and chuckling27 a good deal together, but Zip will defeat him as sure as the sun is shining in the sky. You have noticed that my dog does very little baying,—or rather, Isaac and Hoke have noticed it.”
“But he gets there all the same,” laughed Rothstein; “I should like to know what plan Mike has in mind.”
“We shall learn when he comes back and we hear his story.”
Prompt to the minute, Burton directed the attention of Zip to the pair of shoes that had been placed on the ground at the foot of the steps.
“Find him,” was the command of his master, and the hound fairly bounded out of sight around the corner of the building. He bayed once as he picked up the scent, and then vanished like a bolt from a crossbow. The crowd of Boy Scouts resumed their chat and awaited as patiently as they could the issue of the novel test.
Meanwhile, Mike Murphy and his two chums set to work to carry out the scheme which they had formulated28, and which each one was confident must result in the humiliation29 of the wonderful dog and his owner. With abundance of time at their command they did not hasten, but walked with a moderate pace to a point some two hundred yards from the bungalow. They had straggled along side by side, without trying to make their trail hard to follow, and now halted.
“This is far enough,” remarked Alvin, as the three peered around without seeing any one.
His companions agreed. Then Alvin and Mike sat down on the ground and exchanged shoes. Not only that, but the former stooped and the latter mounted his back, his arms loosely around Alvin’s neck with his legs projecting in front and supported by the crooked30 elbows of his carrier. Then he resumed his walk with Chester trailing behind.
When the distance from the bungalow had been doubled, Alvin asked:
“How much do you weigh, Mike?”
“A hundred and forty-three pounds—when ye started.”
“I think it is about a ton now; how far do you expect me to carry you?”
“Not far,—say two or three miles.”
“I rather guess not; Chest, it’s time you took a turn.”
“Oh, wait awhile; you have only just begun.”
“This isn’t as much fun as I thought,” growled31 Alvin, resuming the task that was fast becoming onerous32.
“I’m enj’ying mesilf, as Jerry Dunn said whin he tackled three p’licemen. When I git tired I’ll sing out, and we’ll make a change.”
Chester’s sense of justice led him soon after to help in shifting Mike to his own shoulders, and the progress was resumed much the same as before.
You will perceive the trick the boys were playing upon the bloodhound. Mike had not only changed shoes with Alvin Landon, but his new ones were not permitted to touch ground while they traveled a fourth of a mile through the unbroken woods. Moreover, for this distance the leaves were trampled33 by Mike’s shoes, but they were on the feet of Alvin.
The next step in this curious mixup was for Alvin, still wearing Mike’s shoes, to diverge34 to the left, while Chester, with Mike on his shoulders, went a considerable distance to the right, where he halted and the Irish youth slipped to the ground and stood in the footgear of Alvin, who was so far away that he could not be seen among the trees.
All this was prearranged, as was that which followed. Mike started off alone, aiming to return to the bungalow by a long roundabout course, while the other two came together at a new point, and made their way by a more direct route to where their friends were awaiting them.
“I wonder that Zip doesn’t show up,” said Alvin, when they caught sight of the building, and he looked back; “it is considerably35 past the hour, and he ought to be in sight.”
“It can’t be he was sharp enough to detect our track.”
“Impossible!”
And yet that is precisely36 what he did do, and later, when all were gathered on the piazza, including the dog, who arrived less than ten minutes after the astounded37 Mike, George Burton complacently38 explained how it had all come about.
“It was an ingenious scheme, Mike, and deserved success, but it did not bother Zip for more than a few minutes. If a dog can smile, he must have grinned when he penetrated39 your strategy. You made one mistake which was natural.”
“It looks to me as if our greatest mistake was in thinking the pup didn’t know more than ten times all of us together,” said Mike with a sniff40.
“That, too, was natural in the circumstances, but when you changed your shoes with Alvin, then was the time you three should have parted company. Instead, you stayed together, and Zip kept to the trail, for it was the only one for him to follow. Had you separated, he probably would have followed Alvin for awhile, but not long. He would have detected the deception41, run back to the point of separation and hit the right one.”
“But he virtually did that afterward,” remarked Scout Master Hall.
“A proof of the truth of what I said. No doubt Zip trailed Alvin for a little way or until he discovered that the scent had changed and he was on the wrong track. Then he turned back and hunted out the right one.”
“If that explanation is correct,” said the amazed Mr. Hall, “it proves that the bloodhound was able to detect the emanations, or whatever it was that exhaled42 from Alvin’s feet, and could be differentiated43 from Mike’s even though it must have passed through the leather worn for days by Mike.”
“Unbelievable as it sounds we have to admit it, but,” added Burton, “we mustn’t lose sight of what doubtless was a contributing factor. It was not Mike’s shoes alone that told the secret, but his clothes. He brushed the trees and limbs when carried on the backs of his friends, and while walking. It was that which was probably the surest clue to Zip, as it was with Isaac and Hoke, and made it impossible for any one of the three to mislead the dog.”
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1
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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2
brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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3
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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4
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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foaming
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| adj.布满泡沫的；发泡 | |
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6
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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7
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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8
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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limpidity
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| n.清澈，透明 | |
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bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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11
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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13
wading
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的现在分词 ) | |
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14
bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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15
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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16
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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17
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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18
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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19
muzzle
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| n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默 | |
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piazza
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| n.广场；走廊 | |
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21
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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22
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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23
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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24
jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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25
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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26
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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27
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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28
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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29
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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30
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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31
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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32
onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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33
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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34
diverge
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| v.分叉，分歧，离题，使...岔开，使转向 | |
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35
considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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36
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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38
complacently
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| adv. 满足地, 自满地, 沾沾自喜地 | |
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39
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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40
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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41
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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42
exhaled
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| v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气 | |
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43
differentiated
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| 区分，区别，辨别( differentiate的过去式和过去分词 )； 区别对待； 表明…间的差别，构成…间差别的特征 | |
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