The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1881-09-30

N'N'' WY III oOlut Ill9 SflOV
Is more than couple o feet thick, ant
1t goes agin' reason TO think that duml
animal would have the sense to com,
home and ask for help"
Bide wee, bide vice." says ole
Donald. "I dinna ken what YOU
English dogs can do, but collie
though 1t has ma been pleasing to Prov
idence to give the creature tho gift o
speech, can do mony mair things thar
them Wad deride It,"
" L amt deridin' of EN-" says John
:" only says as how if they be so very
clever I've never seen it."
Ye wull, though, We wull," saws old
Donald, as he hurries forward afte1
Laddie, who has now settled down into
swinging trot, and is taking his way
straight across the loneliest part of the
bleak moor.
The cold wind almost cuts us in two.
and whirl5the snow into our faces, nearly
binding MS. Ny finger tips are be-
coming numbed, icicles hanging from
my mustache and beard, and my feet
and legs are soaking wet, even through
my shooting boots and slous leather
leggings.
The moon has gone in again, and the
light from the lantern we carry is barely
sufficient to show us the ineonalities in
the height of the snow, by which we
arc guessing at our path. 1 begin TO
wish l had staid at heme. "Lbomnis
PROPOSE nldis Ia Jomme dispose" 1 sigh
to myself, and / begin to consider
whether may venture to gi7o ND the
search (Which have undertaken purely
to eatisfy my wife, for I am like John.
and won't believe in Laddie), when,
suddenly, hear shout in front of mo
and see Donald, who has all the time
been keeping close to Laddie, drop on
his knees and begin digging wildly in the
snow with his hands. We all rush for
ward. Laddic has stopped at what ap-
pears to be the foot of stunted tree.
and after scratching and whining for a
moment, sits down and watches, leaving
the rest to MS. What is it that appears
when we have shoyeled away the snowf
A dark object. Is it bundle of regsP
Is it-or, alas was it-a human being?
We raise it carefully and tenderly, and
wrap it in ono of the warm blankets
with which my wifo's forethought
had provided us.
Bring me the lantern" I say, husk-
lily, and John holds it over the PROSTATE
form, of not as we might have expected.
some stalwart shepherd of the hills, but
over that OF n poor, shriveled, wrinkled,
ragged old woman. ] try 60 pour q little
brandy down the poor old throat. but
the teeth are so firmly clenched that |
cannot.
"Get her homo as quickly rs may be,
sir; the mistress will know better what
to do for her nor We do, il so be the poor
creature is not past help" says John,
turning instinctively, as we all do in
sickness or trouble, to woman's aid.
So we improvise sort of hammock
of the blankets, and gently and tenderIy
the men prepare TO carry their poor,
helpless burden over the snow.
." am afraid your mistress will be in |
bed" I say, as we begin to retrace our
steps.
"Never fear, sir" says Donald, with !
q triumphant glance at John, "the mis- |
tress will be mp and waiting fo- Us |
one Kens LauuIeunnH Drrng us ont IN |
tho snaw for naething."
"Pll never say nought about believ-
ing dog again" says John, gracefully
striking his colors "You were right,
and l was wrong; but to think there
should be such sonso in an animal
passes me |"
AS We reach the avenue gate I dis
patch one of tho men for the doctor,
who fortunately lives within stones
throw of us, and hurry on myself to
prepare my wife for what is coming.
She runs out into the hall to meet me.
"Well?" 2" she asks, eagerly.
"We have found poor old woman"
l say, "but we do not know whether
she is alive or dead" |
My wife throws her arms around me
md gives me o great hug.
"You will find dry things in your
dressng-room, DEAR" she says, and this is
the revenge she takes ON me for my skep-
ticism. The poor old woman is car
ried upstairs and placed in a warm
bath under my wife's di ection, and be-
fore the doctor arrives she has shown
some faint symptoms of life; SO my
wife sends me word. DIR. Bruce shakes
his head when he sees her. "Poor old
SOUL" says he, chow came she out on
such fearful night? doubt she has
received q shock which, at her age,
she will not easily get over"
They manage, however, to force a
few spoonfuls OF hot brandy and water
down her throat; and presently faint
color fiickers on her cheek, and the
poor old eyelids begin TO tremble. Ny
wife raises her head and makes her
swallow some cordial which DIR. Bruce
has brought with him, and lays her
back among the soft, warm pillows.
II think she will rally now" says
DR.. Bruce, as her breathing becomes
more regular and audible. "Nourish-
ment and warmth will do the rest, but
she has received shock from which, l
fear, she will never recover" And so
saying, hetakes leave.
By.and-bye l so up to tho room, and
ind my wife watching alone by the
aged sufferer. She looks ut mo with
t@rs in her eyes. "Poor old SOUL"
she says, 81 am afraid she will not rally
from the cold and exposure"
l go round to the other side of the
bed and look down upon her. The aged
iace looks wan and pinched, and the
leanty gray locks which lie ON the pill
low are stin wet from the snow. She
is very little woman, as far as I can
Judge Of het in her recumbent position,
and shouh think had reached her al
lotted thre@eore years and ten.
"Who crn she bop [ repeat, won.
deringly. She does not belong to
any OF the villages hereabouts, or we
should knoy her face, and / cannot
imagine what could bring n stranger
to the moor pa snch a uight"