strange look come over his face. He turned and looked at my dogs.
Some of the men started shouting, 'Here it is!'
The crowd parted and the judge walked through. I saw the gleaming metal of the gold cup in his hand. After a short speech, he handed it to me, saying, 'Son, this makes me very proud. It's a great honor to present you with this championship cup.'
The crowd exploded. The hunters' shouts were deafening.
I don't know from where the two silly old tears came. They just squeezed their way out. I felt them as they rolled down my cheeks. One dropped on the smooth surface of the cup and splattered. I wiped it away with my sleeve.
Turning to my dogs, I knelt down and showed the cup to them. Little Ann licked it. Old Dan sniffed one time, and then turned his head away.
The judge said, 'Son, there's a place on the cup to engrave the names of your dogs. I can take it into Oklahoma City and have it done, or you can have it done yourself. The engraving charge has already been paid by the association.'
Looking at the cup, it seemed that far down in the gleaming shadows I could see two wide blue eyes glued to a windowpane. I knew that my little sister was watching the road and waiting for our return. Looking back at the judge, I said, 'If you don't mind, I'll take it with me. My grandfather can send it in for me.'
Laughing, he said, 'That's all right.' Handing me a slip of paper, he said, 'This is the address where you should send it.'
Grandpa said, 'Now that that's settled, I'm ready to go to town.' Turning to Papa, he said, 'You'll have to bring the buggy, and I wish you'd look after my stock. I know Grandma will want to go in with us and there'll be no one there to feed them. Tell Bill Lowery to come up and take care of the store. You'll find the keys in the usual place.'
'We'll take care of everything,' Papa said. 'Don't worry about a thing. I don't intend to stop until we get back, because it looks like we're in for some more bad weather.'
I went over and kissed Grandpa good-bye. He pinched my cheek, and whispered, 'We'll teach these city slickers that they can't come up here and beat our dogs.'
I smiled.
Grandpa was carried out and made comfortable in the back seat of Dr. Lathman's car. I stood and watched as it wheezed and bounced its way out of sight.
'While I'm harnessing the team,' Papa said, 'you take the tent down and pack our gear.'
On the back seat of the buggy, I made a bed out of our bed-clothes. Down on the floor boards, I fixed a nice place for my dogs.
All through the night, the creaking wheels of our buggy moved on. Several times I woke up. My father had wrapped a tarp around himself. Reaching down, I could feel my dogs. They were warm and comfortable.
Early the next morning, we stopped for breakfast. While Papa tended to the team, I turned my dogs loose and let them stretch.
'We made good time last night,' Papa said. 'If everything goes right, we'll be home long before dark.'
Reaching Grandpa's store in the middle of the afternoon, Papa said, 'I'll put the team in the barn and feed the stock while you unload the buggy.'
Coming back from the barn, he said, 'In the morning, I'll go over and tell Bill Lowery to come up and open the store.'
Looking around, he said, 'It snowed more here than it did where we were hunting.'
Feeling big and important, I said, 'I don't like the looks of this weather. We'd better be scooting for home.'
Papa laughed. 'Sure you're not in a hurry to get home to show off the gold cup?' he asked.
A smile was my only answer.
Two hundred yards this side of our home, the road made a turn around a low foothill shutting our house ofT from view.
