“You’ll be all right now,” Shorty said as he rubbed the places where the strap had cut deeply.  Then when Jan had finished drinking, the man fed him bits of meat.

After the meal was over, Shorty took a pair of clippers and cropped Jan’s long hair close to the skin.  It did not hurt, so the dog submitted quietly.  A sponge and bucket of dark liquid were brought by the man and Jan was thoroughly saturated, until the dye dripped to the floor.

“Got to put on that muzzle, boy, before he gets back,” but this time the strips did not hurt so badly.

William chuckled when he saw the dog.  “Great stunt, Shorty!  The poundmaster wouldn’t know his own dog if he caught him now!”

He picked up a couple of bundles and a suitcase, while Shorty led Jan by the rope.  They were in a deep canon, where no sound of the ocean could be heard.  Jan did not know the place.  He had never been away from the noise of the surf since living in California.  A big, black automobile stood under a tree.  William tossed the things into it and climbed to the front seat with a laugh.

“The police will have as much trouble finding a grey machine as the poundman will have finding a long-haired St. Bernard dog.  We’ll hit the road lively at night and camp in the day.  There’s just one thing you’ve got to remember.  If I see you getting stuck on that dog I’m going to kill him.  I’m taking him along because you said you could sell him, and I’m not going to stand any nonsense about it.”

Shorty’s only answer was to open the back door of the machine and motion the dog to jump.  He obeyed and curled on the floor.  Shorty sat in the back seat while William drove.

Jan did not sleep during the long, dark hours they sped over the road.  He kept wondering what the captain would think, and hoping he could get back home some way.  Once in a while he lifted his head as a flash of light showed another automobile passing.  At daybreak William turned into thick brush and drove over rough ground until they stopped beside a shallow stream.

Still muzzled, Jan leaped from the car and followed Shorty, but he watched William closely.  The dog was tied after he had been allowed to drink at the creek.  William loafed while Shorty made coffee and cooked a meal, which the older man ate, grumbling all the time.  Then he threw himself on the ground and dragged his hat over his face.

Shorty fed Jan, and after clearing away the breakfast things, moved closer to the dog.  Jan’s tail rustled the dry leaves and twigs, as Shorty, with a boyish smile, stretched on the ground beside him.  A hand touched one of Jan’s ears and pulled it gently, but the hand was friendly and the dog’s eyes showed he understood.  Then, tired from the long ride, Shorty and Jan slept soundly.

At dusk another meal was prepared and eaten, and they started again on their journey.  For two more days and nights they travelled in the dark and camped in hidden places during the day, so that no one could see them.  The muzzle was never taken again from Jan’s nose, for William watched constantly and repeated his warnings several times.  He did not know, however, that Shorty eased the strap so that the wire and leather could not cut, and in this way he made Jan as comfortable as was possible.