And, sad to say, many an old dog, on his own account, picks up odd new accomplishments--exploits which would never have occurred to him in his early prime.

Nobody knows why.

But it has happened, numberless times.
And so it was with Sunnybank Lad.
Laddie had passed his twelfth birthday; when, by some strange freak, he brought home one day a lace parasol.

He had found it in the highroad, on his way back to the Place after a sedate ramble in the forest.

Now, it was nothing new for the great collie to find missing articles belonging to the Mistress or to the Master.