She had
sent the chauffeur back with instructions to bury the dog. She could
not bear looking at him. She wanted it to be all over with before
she came home.
"I don't blame her," said Charlie soberly. "Shows how much she
thought of Sergeant when she's willing to pay five hundred dollars
reward for the capture of the man or men who poisoned him."
"Where did you hear that?" demanded Courtney, surprised.
"Ed Stevens says she told him to authorize Bill Foss to have reward
notices struck off over at the Sun office, offering five hundred
cash. She always said that dog was the best friend she had on
earth."
"But five hundred dollars! Why, good Lord, you can buy a dozen
police dogs for that amount of--"
"You couldn't have bought Sergeant for ten times five hundred,"
interrupted Charlie. "You see, as a matter of fact, he didn't
actually belong to Alix."
"You must be crazy. She has had him since he was a puppy three
months old."
"Sure, But, all the same, he didn't belong to her. He belonged to
David Strong. Davy got him in France in the spring of 1918 and sent
him clear over here for his mother to take care of for him."
Courtney was silent for a moment. "It's strange Miss Crown never
told me this," he said, biting his lip.
"Well," said Charlie quaintly, "far as that goes, I don't suppose
it ever occurred to her to tell Sergeant he belonged to somebody
else, but even if she had I don't reckon it would have made a darn'
bit of difference to him.
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