Peter had the trundle bed. Aunt Eliza and Uncle Peter were going to sleep in the big bed, and another bed was made on the attic floor for Pa and Ma. The buffalo robes and all the blankets had been brought in from Uncle Peter’s sled, so there were enough covers for everybody.
Pa and Ma and Aunt Eliza and Uncle Peter sat by the fire, talking. And just as Laura was drifting off to sleep, she heard Uncle Peter say:
“Eliza had a narrow squeak the other day, when I was away at Lake City. You know Prince, that big dog of mine?”
Laura was wide awake at once. She always liked to hear about dogs. She lay still as a mouse, and looked at the fire-light flickering on the log walls, and listened to Uncle Peter.
“Well,” Uncle Peter said, “early in the morning Eliza started to the spring to get a pail of water, and Prince was following her. She got to the edge of the ravine, where the path goes down to the spring, and all of a sudden Prince set his teeth in the back of her skirt and pulled.
“You know what a big dog he is: Eliza scolded him, but he wouldn’t let go, and he’s so big and strong she couldn’t get away from him. He kept backing and pulling, till he tore a piece out of her skirt.”
“It was my blue print,” Aunt Ella said to Ma.
“Dear me!” Ma said.
“He tore a big piece right out of the back of it,” Aunt Eliza said. “I was so mad I could have whipped him for it. But he growled at me.”
“Prince growled at you?” Pa said.
“Yes,” said Aunt Eliza.
“So then she started on again toward the spring,” Uncle Peter went on. “But Prince jumped into the path ahead of her and snarled at her. He paid no attention to her talking and scolding. He just kept on showing his teeth and snarling, and when she tried to get past him he kept in front of her and snapped at her. That scared her.”
“I should think it would!” Ma said.
“He was so savage, I thought he was going to bite me,” said Aunt Eliza. “I believe he would have.”
“I never heard of such a thing!” said Ma. “What on earth did you do?”
“I turned right around and ran into the house where the children were, and slammed the door,” Aunt Eliza answered.
“Of course Prince was savage with strangers,” said Uncle Peter. “But he was always so kind to Eliza and the children I felt perfectly safe to leave them with him. Eliza couldn’t understand it at all.
“After she got into the house he kept pacing around it and growling. Every time she started to open the door he jumped at her and snarled.”
“Had he gone mad?” said Ma.
“That’s what I thought,” Aunt Eliza said. “I didn’t know what to do. There I was, shut up in the house with the children, and not daring to go out. And we didn’t have any water. I couldn’t even get any snow to melt. Every time I opened the door so much as a crack, Prince acted like he would tear me to pieces.”
“How long did this go on?” Pa asked.
“All day, till late in the afternoon,” Aunt Eliza said. “Peter had taken the gun, or I would have shot him.”
“Along late in the afternoon,” Uncle Peter said, “he got quiet, and lay down in front of the door. Eliza thought he was asleep, and she made up her mind to try to slip past him and get to the spring for some water.
“So she opened the door very quietly, but of course he woke up right away. When he saw she had the water pail in her hand, he got up and walked ahead of her to the spring, just the same as usual. And there, all around the spring in the snow, were the fresh tracks of a panther.”
“The tracks were as big as my hand,” said Aunt Eliza.
“Yes,” Uncle Peter said, “he was a big fellow. His tracks were the biggest I ever saw. He would have got Eliza sure, if Prince had let her go to the spring in the morning. I saw the tracks. He had been lying up in that big oak over the spring, waiting for some animal to come there for water. Undoubtedly he would have dropped down on her.
“Night was coming on, when she saw the tracks, and she didn’t waste any time getting back to the house with her pail of water. Prince followed close behind her, looking back into the ravine now and then.”
“
I took him into the house with me,” Aunt Eliza said, “and we all stayed inside, till Peter came home.”
“Did you get him?” Pa asked Uncle Peter.