, self-sacrificing man, and I have often thought of his manner
that morning.

We were, of course, very anxious to see the dogs, but were told they are
now becoming exceedingly scarce. They can not be kept very long in the
piercing air of the mountains, its rarefaction being as injurious to
them as to human beings. Most of them are therefore kept at Martigny, or
some other place below. We were told, however, that two 'pups' were now
at the hospice; and as we sallied out for a walk over the hills, we
heard a violent scratching at an adjoining door, which being opened, out
burst the pups. They were perfect monsters, though very young, with huge
paws, lithe and graceful but compact forms, full of life and activity,
and faces beaming with instinct. Darting out with us, they seemed
frantic with joy, snuffed the keen air as they rushed about, sometimes
tumbling over each other, and at times bursting against us with a force
that nearly knocked us down. They reminded me of two young tigers at
their gambols. I have never seen nobler-looking brutes. What fine,
honest, expressive countenances they had! At times a peculiar sort of
frown would ruffle the skin around their eyes, their ears would prick
up, and every nerve seem to be quickened. The face of a noble dog
appears to me to be capable of almost as great a variety of expression
as the human countenance, and these changes are sometimes more rapid.
The inquisitive and chagrined look when baffled in pursuit of prey, the
keen relish of joy, the look of supplication for food, of conscious
guilt for misdemeanor, the eyes beaming with intense affection for a
master, and whining sorrow for his absence, the meek look of endurance
in sickness, the feeble, listless air, the resigned expression of the
glassy eye at the approach of death, blending even then with indications
of gratitude for kindness shown! These dumb brutes can often teach us
lessons of meek endurance and resignation as well as courage, and few
things call forth more just indignation than to see them abused by men
far more brutish than they.

Accompanying one of the younger brethren on an errand to the valley
below, we watched them dashing along till the intervening rocks hid them
from our view. In the extensive museum of the Monastery we found much to
interest us. Many of the curiosities are gifts of former travelers, and
some of them are of great value. There is also a small collection of
antiquities found in the immedi