Two things in the advertisement puzzled him. In the first place,
as Chum was longhaired and graceful, Link had mentally classified
him as belonging to the same breed as did the setters which
accompanied hunters on mountain rambles past his farm in the
autumns. Being wholly unversed in canine lore, he had, therefore,
classified Chum as a "bird dog". The word "collie", if ever he
had chanced to hear it before, carried no meaning to him.
Moreover, he did not know what "sable" meant. He asked Dominie
Jansen, whom he met on the way home. And the dominie told him
"sable" was another name for "black." Jansen went on to amplify
the theme, dictionary-fashion, by quoting a piece of sacred
poetry about "the sable wings of night."
A great load was off Link's heart. Chum, most assuredly, was not
black and white. So the advertisement could not possibly refer to
him. The reverend gentleman, not being a dog fancier, of course
had no means of knowing that "sable", in collie jargon, means
practically every shade of color except black or gray or white.
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