Page:Silversheene (1924).djvu/255

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sure danger would come from this unprotected quarter. He was lying perfectly motionless, seemingly asleep. But he was very much awake, although his head was between his paws. His eyes were wide open and gazing intently about while his keen nostrils, which were as sharp as the scent of a wolf, were continually testing the air, and his pointed ears were cocked. Presently he lifted his head cautiously, his nostrils extended several times rapidly, and his ears became a little more erect. After perhaps a minute his vigilance was rewarded for he saw a figure, which he thought he recognized, open the gate at the back of the garden and approach the house. A dog with less wisdom and with less hunting instinct might have sprung down from his perch at once and made for the intruder, and thus given him a chance to escape, but not so Silversheene. He had watched and waited too many times by squirrel holes and by beaver dams not to know that it was useless to strike until the quarry was within