That was the last I saw of my dog! Faye
returned long before I had expected him, and one quick glance at his
troubled face told me that something terrible had happened. I saw that
he was unhurt and apparently well, but--where was Hal? With an awful
pain in my heart I asked, "Did Lieutenant Lomax shoot Hal?" After a
second's hesitation Faye said "No; but Hal is dead!" It seemed too
dreadful to be true, and at first I could not believe it, for it had
been only such a short time since I had seen him bounding and leaping,
evidently in perfect health, and oh, so happy!
No one in the house even thought of dinner that night, and poor black
Cagey sobbed and moaned so loud and long Faye was obliged to ask him
to be quiet. For hours I could not listen to the particulars. Faye
says that they had not gone out so very far when he saw a wild cat
some distance away, and taking careful aim, he shot it, but the cat,
instead of falling, started on a fast run. Hal was in another
direction, but when he heard the report of the rifle and saw the cat
running, he started after it with terrific speed and struck it just as
the cat fell, and then the two rolled over and over together.
He got up and stood by Faye and Lieutenant Lomax while they examined
the cat, and if there was anything wrong with him it was not noticed.
But when they turned to come to the post, dragging the dead cat after
them, Faye heard a peculiar sound, and looking back saw dear Hal on
the ground in a fit much like vertigo.
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