rson who had given me the
hot coffee. He held my pulse, and I thought that he was a doctor.

4. "Within ten minutes of midnight," was the answer. "And it has taken
hours to bring you round. I was almost giving you up for dead."

"You found me on the moor?"

5. "Yes, half buried in the snow. You may thank your dog for your
life."

"My dog? I have no dog," said I, for I did not think of my poor friend
at the moment.

6. "Yes; if it had not been for his faithful barking and howling, we
should not have set out to seek you. My wife heard him, and she said
that some one must be lost on the moor.

7. "The dog guided us to the shed. He had kept your face clear of snow
by licking it, and had kept a little warmth in your body by lying on
it; if he had not, you would now have been dead. We dug you out, and
brought you here."

8. I thanked the doctor for his goodness, but my mind was chiefly fixed
on that other friend, who was not dumb, for he had spoken for me after
his own plan.

9. How great a reward he had given me for a few bones and a friendly
word!

"Where is he now?" I asked in an eager tone.

"Who?--the dog? Oh, he is tied up in the stable.

10. "He was so much in the way, and did so much to hinder us by his
attempts to show his fondness for you, that we had to shut him up.
Hark! Do you hear him?"

11. As the doctor spoke, a long, doleful howl was borne past the
windows of the room. It seemed to speak of pain, longing, reproach: all
feelings that a dog who had been ill repaid for his love could put into
the sound.

12. "Oh, let him out, please! let him out, do!" cried I. "I cannot bear
to hear him howl like that."

I then told them the story of the dog. And in the midst of the surprise
which all felt at hearing it, he came in.

13. At a word from me, he jumped up by the side of the bed, and barked
out all his joy at seeing me again. You may be sure that the dog was
not left behind when I started that next day for home.

[Illustration: GRATEFUL FRIENDS.]

14. And you may guess what my wife and little girl thought of him. They
gave him the name of Trusty, which he had well earned.

15. He had a share of the birthday feast, which took place a day later
than the right one. No one at the table enjoyed a taste of each dish
more than Trusty.

16. The fruit was the only thing which he did not care for. His looks
improved day after day. He is my friend and the dearly loved playmate
of my little girl.

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