The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-09-19

| lHtic is i,auuiciOOse again, saws
she Would you let bin in, dear 2"
l did not like facing the cold wind,
but could not refuse the poor animal.
Strangely enough, when | opensd
the door and called him be wouldn't
come He runs upto the door and
looks in my face with dumb entreaty;
then be runs back a few steps, look
ing around to see II am following;
and finally be takes my coat in his
mouth and tries to draw me out.
'Laddie wont come in" | called
out to my wife. 'fOn the contrary,
be seems to want me to go out and
have game of SNOWFALL with him"
She throws shawl round her and
comes to the door. The collie was
hers before we were married, and
she is almost as fond of him, | tell
her, as she is Of Jack. our eldest boy
Laddie, Laddie {" she calls;
"come in, sir" He comes obediently
at her call, but refus,s to enter the
house, and pursues the same dumb
pantomime be has already tried on
me
II shall shut him out jessie" say
"A ght in the snow VOL. hurt him"
aud / prepare to close the door
lyon will do nothing of the kind,"
she replies with an anxious look;
but you will rouse the servants at
once and folI1w him. Some one is
lost in the snow, and Laddie knows
it"
! ! laugh Really, Jessie. you are
absurd. iIaddie Is sagacious ami
NAL, no doubt, bat | cannot believe
that e is clever as that How can
he possibly know whether any one is
lost in the snow or notyn
Because be has fund hem aud
come back to US for help Look at
him now"
cannot but own that the dog
seems restless a1d uneasy, and is ev-
identity endeavoring to coax US to fol-
low him; be looks at US with pathetic
entreaty in bis eloquent eyes. why
won't vou believe me ?" be seems
to ask
Come" she continues; "you know
you could not rest while there was q
possibility of a fellow-creature want
ing your assistance. And | am GER
tain Laddie is not deceiviug u.s."
What is poor hen-pecked man to
do grumble and resist and yield;
as | have often grumbled and resist
ed and yielded before, and as doubt
less shall do again
"Laddie once found man in the
snow before but be was dead" Jessie
SAYS, as she burries off to fill a flask
with brandy, and get ready some
blankets for US to take with US. In
the meantime rouse the servants
They are ali English with the excep-
tion of Donald, the gardener. and
can see they are scoffingly skeptical of
Laddie's sagacity, and inwardly dis
gusted at having to turn out of their
warm beds and face the bitter winter
night.
-
"Dinna trouble yoursels," | hear
old Donald say. "The mistress is
right enough. Aud Laddie is c!everer
than mony a Christian, aud will End
something in the snaw this night.n
Don't sit up, JESSIE" I saw as we
star; 1--WE may be out half the night
on this wild-goose chase.n
"Foiiow Laddie closely" is the
only answer she makes.
The dog springs forward with a
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 through the driving clouds. |
and lights up with q sickly CLEAN the
snow-clad country before US. Its |
like hunting for needle in a bundle
Of nay, SIR" says John, the coach
man. confdentially, 80 think as we
should fad anybody on such a night
as thisl Why, in some places the
snow is more than a couple of feet
thick, aud it goes again reason to
think that dumb animal would have
the sense to come home and fetch |
help"
"Bide a wee, bide Vice." says old |
Donald. 81 dinna ken what your
English dugs can do; but a collie.
though ii hasna been pleasing to
Providence to give the creatur the gift |
o. speech, can do mony mair things
than them that would deride it.n
81 aia't a deridih' Of 'em," saws
John. 81 only say as how If they be
so very clever Tre never seen it."
"le wull, though, We wull," says
old DOoalG, as be hurries forward az
ter Laddie, who has now settled down
into swinging trot, and is taking
bis way straight across the loneliest
part of the bleak moor. The cold |
wind almost cuts US in two, and
whirls the snow into cur faces, near
ly binding us Ny fnger-tips are
becoming numbed, icicles hang from
my moustacbe and teard, and my
feet aud legs are soaking wet. even
through my shooting boots and stout
leather leggings.
The moon has gone in again, and
the light from the lantern we carry is
barely sufficient 10 show rs the ine-
qualities in the height Of the snow,
by which We are guessing at our
path. | begin to wish | had staid at
bone. "Lhomme propose, mais Ia
femme dispose" sigh to myself;
and | begin to consider whether
may venture to give up the search
(Which 1 have undertaken purely to
satisfy nv wife, for / am like John,
sad won't believe in Laddie,) when
suddenly l hear shout in front of
me, and see old Donald. who has all
the time been keeping close to Lad
die, drop on his knees and begin dig
ging wildly in the snow with his
hands We all rush forward. Lad
die has stopped at what appears to lie
the foot of stun,ed tree, and after
scratching and whining for q moment,
site down and watches, leaving the
rest to US. What is it that appears
when We have shoveled away the
snowy A dark object. Is it q bum
die Of rags? Is ii-or alas, was il q
4 Il .. q IL