The big dog had sprung up from his rear seat cushion and, with forepaws gripping the back of the front seat, he was peering forward; his head and shoulders between the Mistress and the Master.
Never before in all his rides had Lad so transgressed the rules of motoring behavior as to thrust himself forward like this.

A word of rebuke died on the Master's tongue; as the Mistress, with a gasp of fear, pointed ahead, in the path of the speeding runabout.
Lady and Wolf had had a jolly gallop through the summer woodlands.

And at last they had turned their faces homeward; for the plunge in the cool lake which was wont to follow a hot weather run.

Side by side they jogged along, to the forest edge--and into the sixteen-acre meadow that stretches from forest to highway.
A few rods on the far side of the road which separated the meadow from the rest of the Place, Wolf paused to investigate a chipmunk hole.

Lady was more interested just then in splashing her hot body in the chill of the lake than in exploring for hypothetical chipmunks.
Moreover, her keen ears caught a sound which rapidly swept nearer and nearer.