ish that the dog
would come back.'

"'He will never come back,' said the old woman. 'He is dead. I can hear
him howl nights, far away on the hill. He haunts me. Every night, when I
put out the light, I can hear him howl out in the forest. 'Tis my
tender heart that troubles me. 'Tis a troubled conscience that makes
ghosts.'

"The old man tottered away with his gun. It was a cold morning after a
snow. The old woman watched him from the frosty window as he
disappeared, and muttered:

"'It is hard to be old and poor. God pity us all!'

"Night came, but the old man did not return. The old woman was in great
distress, and knew not what to do. She set the candle in the window, and
went to the door and called a hundred times, and listened, but no answer
came. The silent stars filled the sky, and the moon rose over the snow,
but no answer came.

"The next morning she alarmed the neighbors, and a company gathered to
search for Gragstein. The men followed his tracks into the forests, over
a cliff, and down to a stream of running water. They came to some thin
ice, which had been weakened by the rush of the current, and there the
tracks were lost.

"'He attempted to cross,' said one, 'and fell in. We will find his body
in the spring. I pity his poor old wife. What shall we tell her?--What
was that?'

"There was heard a pitiful howl on the other side of the stream.

"'Look!' said another.

"Just across the stream a great, lean shepherd dog came out of the snow
tents of firs. His voice was weak, but he howled pitifully, as though
calling the men.

"'We must cross the stream!' said they all.

"The men made a bridge by pushing logs and fallen trees across the ice.
The dog met them joyfully, and they followed him.

"Under the tents of firs they found Gragstein, ready to perish with cold
and hunger.

"'Take me home!' said he. 'I can not last long. Take me home, and call
home the dog!'

"'What has happened?' asked the men.

"'I fell in. I called for help, and--the dog came--Faithful. He rescued
me, but I was numb. He lay down on me and warmed me, and kept me alive.
Faithful! Call home the dog!'

"The men took up the old man and rubbed him, and gave him food. Then
they called the dog and gave him food, but he would not eat.

"They returned as fast as they could to the cottage. Frau Gragstein came
out to meet them. The dog saw her and stopped and howled, dived into the
forest, and disappeared.

"The old man died tha