Time passed, and we in the cars watched, but neither men nor dogs came
back. Finally a long whistle was blown from the engine, and in a short
time the train began to move very slowly. The officers and men came
running back, but the dogs were not with them! My heart was almost
broken; to leave my beautiful dog on the plains to starve to death was
maddening. I wanted to be alone, so to the dressing room I went, and
with face buried in a portiere was sobbing my very breath away when
Mrs. Pierce, wife of Major Pierce, came in and said so sweetly and
sympathetically: "Don't cry, dear; Hal is following the car and the
conductor is going to stop the train."
Giving her a hasty embrace, I ran back to the end of the last car, and
sure enough, there was Hal, the old Hal, bounding along with tail high
up and eyes sparkling, showing that the blood of his ancestors was
still in his veins. The conductor did not stop the train, simply
because the soldiers did not give him an opportunity. They turned the
brakes and then held them, and if a train man had interfered there
would have been a fight right then and there.
As soon as the train was stopped Faye and Ryan were the first to go
for the dogs, but by that time the hounds thought the whole affair
great fun and objected to being caught--at least Ryan's dog objected.
The porter in our car caught Hal, but Ryan told him to let the dog go,
that he would bring the two back together.
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