My 19 hour nightmare

Apparently when Duke read about Sadie's little adventure when her dad accidentally left the gate open, he was intrigued with the idea of exploring on his own.
Yesterday after work I put him out on his lead like I always do. I heard his usual someone is walking by my yard bark but then he quieted down, nothing out of the ordinary. It was a beautiful day so I let him enjoy the sunshine and fresh air while I chilled out for a while. Around 3:00 when I went to bring him back in, he wasn't there. I ran to the street in front of the house, not there. The street one block over, nothing. His tie out was laying in the yard, the hook didn't appear to be broken at all and his collar wasn't attached to it. Panic set in. I got in the car and drove all over town three times looking for him but no sign. I checked with all the neighbors, stopped at the vets office to see if anyone had brought him in, nothing. I was totally devastated, barely slept all night praying that he would come back. I was even thinking that someone may have come in to the yard and taken him.
This morning I went to work heavy hearted as he had not returned. The girl who works in the office asked me if I was tired and I told her the story. She went to the bulletin board and pulled a notice off that read "Anyone missing a unneutered male white scottie dog please contact the borough office. Duke isn't a scottie but a westie pretty much looks like a white scottie.
I waited one grueling hour for the borough office to open. When I called I was transferred to the garage and got voice mail. I left a message with my number at work. Today I had to leave at 10:00 because I have to work a 1/2 day on Saturday and by then I still had not gotten a phone call. I left work and drove to the borough garage. The woman who's name was on the notice wasn't there but I told the man why I was looking for her. He asked me if I knew where (something I didn't quite understand) was and I said no. He told me he would be pulling his truck out and I could follow him there. He said that they had 2 dogs in a kennel that they had found and that they had been fed and watered.
I followed him to the kennel and finally breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Duke happily wagging his tail from inside one of the kennels.
This is a terrible picture that I took with my cell phone when we got home but it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

He was wet and scraggly looking but none the worse for wear. His companion for the evening was a beautiful and very large chocolate lab. I'm sure Duke felt very safe with him there. I so hope that whoever lost him finds him soon. I hugged Duke a million and one times and made him promise never to do that again.