The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1877-09-14
Faithful unto Death.

The fire burns ch eerily on the hearth
the great logs crackle and flare up the
wide chimney, up which it is my wont
to say you could drive a coach-and-fou..
draw my chair nSarer to it with ashiver.
"What a night" I say.
"Is it still snowingG' asks my wife,
who sits opposite to me, her books and
work on the table beside her.
east. You can scarcely see q yard
before you"
"Heaveu help any poor creature on
the moor to-nightr says She.
"Who would venture out2 1t began
showing before dark, and all the people
about know the danger of being be
nighted on the moor in a snow-storm."
eyes. But l have known people
frozen to death hereabouts before now
Ny wife Is Scotch, and this pleasant
house in the Highland Is hers We are
trying a winter in it for the first time,
and l find it excessively cold and some
what dull. Mentally I decide that in
future we will only grace it with our
presence during the shooting season.
Presently I 90 to the window and look
out; it has ceased showing, and through
rift in the clouds 1 see a star.
ct is beginning to clear" I tell my
wife, and also inform her that it is past
eleven. As she lights her candle at a
side-table I hear a whining and scratch
ing at the front door.
she. Would you let INN IN, dear. ~~~s
1 did not like facing the cold wind,
but could not refuse 70 let IN the poor
animal Strangely enough, when I
opened the door and called him he
wouldn't come. He runs up to the door
and looks into my face with dumb en-
treaty; then he runs back a few steps
looking around to see if am following
and finally he takes nv coat in his
mouth and tries to draw me out.
''Laddie won't come in" I call out to
my wife. con the contrary, he seems
TO want me to go out and have a game Of
snow ball wish him.
She throws a shawl round her and comes
to the door. TIE collie was hers before
we were married, and she is almost as
fond of him, 1 tell her, as she Is of Jack
our eldest boy.
"Laddie, Laddie," she calls; come
in sir He comes obediently at her
call, but refuses to enter the house, and
pursues the same dumb pantomime he
has already tried on me.
90 / shall shut him out Jessie. " I say
" \ night in the snow won't hurt him.
and I prepare to close the door.
'You viii do nothing of the kindr'
she replies with an anxious look; 'but
you will rouse the servants at once and
follow MIN. Some one is lost in the
snow, and Laddie knows it"
I laugh. Really, Jessie, yo1 are
absurd. Laddie is a sagacious animal,
no doubt, but | cannot believe he is'as
clever as that. How can he possibly
know whether any one is lost in the
snow or not?''
Because he has found them and
come back to US for help. Look at him
now"
cannot but own that the dog seems
restless and uneasy, and is evidently en-
deavoring to coax US to follow MIN; he
looks at us with pathetic entreaty in his
eloquent eyes. "WhY won't you believe
me?" he seems to ask.
"COme," she continues; ''You know
you could not rest while there was a pos
sibility Of fellow-creature wanting
your assistance. And I am certain Lad
die is not deceiving us"
What is poor hen-pecke1 man to do?
I grumble and resist and yield, as l have
often grumbled and resisted and yielded
before, and as l doubtless shall do again.
"Laddie once found man in the snow
before, but he was dead" Jessie saws. "a
she hurries off to fill flask with brandy,
and get ready some blankets for us to
carry with us. In the meantime / rouse
the servants. They are all English with
the exception OF Donald, the gardener,
and I can see they are scofiingly skeptical
of Laddie's sagacity, and inwardly dis
gusted at having to turn out of their
warm beds and face the bitter winter's
night.
"Dinna trouble yoursels," 1 hear old
Donald say. "The mistress is right
enough. Aud Laddie is cleverer that
mony Christian, and viii find some
thing in the snaw this night"
Don't sit up, Jessie" 1 say as wo
start; eve may be out half the night on
this wild-goose chase"
"FOllow Laddie closely" is the only
answer she makes.
The dog springs forward with joyous
bark, constantly looking back to see If
we are following, As we pass through
the avenue gates and emerge on to the
moor, the moon struggles for a moment
through the driving clouds, and light
up with sickly gleam the snow-clad
country before US. It's like hunting
for needle in a bundle of hay, sir
says John, the coacnman, confdentiallv
.'to think as we should find anybody on
such night as thisl Why, in some