That the prowlers had come there to force an entrance into the cabin, was quickly made plain to even Dan’s dull comprehension.  He saw them try the door, and then go around to the other side of the building and attempt to pry off the planks that covered the window.  Dan heard something crack as Bob laid out his strength on the lever he was using, and believing that the thieves were on the point of accomplishing their object, he uttered a loud whistle to let the rest of the pack know that they were wanted, and shouted: 

“Here they be!  Take ’em, fellers!  Take ’em down!”

Bose, who had been growing more and more impatient every moment, was quite ready to obey.  Uttering a loud yelp, which was almost immediately answered by the rest of the pack, he raised himself upon his hind legs, and struggled so furiously to escape that Dan was obliged to drop his rifle and seize him with both hands.  But when the brute was thoroughly aroused, it was hard to restrain him.  The thick, loose skin on the back of his neck did not afford Dan a very good hold, and almost before he knew it, Bose slipped from his grasp, and bounded toward the cabin.  At the same instant, a chorus of loud bays sounding close at hand announced that the rest of the pack were coming at the top of their speed.  Bob and Lester had never before been in so much danger as they were at that moment.

Dan, who began to fear that the plan he had adopted for protecting the quails was about to result in a terrible tragedy, was very badly frightened.  He stood for a few seconds as if he had been deprived of all power of action, and then caught up his rifle and took to his heels.  He ran as if the pack were after him instead of Bob and Lester, and never slackened his pace until he was out of hearing of their angry voices.  He crept home like a thief and got into bed without arousing either David or his mother.  But he could not sleep.  He was haunted by the fear that something dreadful had happened down there in the quarters, and that there would be a great uproar in the settlement the next morning.  He felt that he could never be himself again until he knew the worst, so a little while before daylight he put on his clothes, slipped quietly out of the cabin and bent his steps toward the big gate near which he had been concealed the night before.  By the time he reached it there, was light enough for him to distinguish objects at a considerable distance, and we can imagine how greatly relieved he was when he discovered Bob and Lester perched upon the ridge pole of the cabin.  At first, he thought his eyes were deceiving him, but a second look told him that there was no mistake about it.  He would have been glad to know if either of them had been injured by the hounds before they got there, but that was something he could not find out just then.  They had not been torn in pieces, as he feared, and that was a great comfort to him.