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it around the dog's neck, and then ordered him home in an emphatic tone of voice.

The dog, convinced that something was wrong, ran home with the utmost speed, and scratched with great violence at the door of the house for admittance. The parents of the young man were greatly alarmed at his appearance, especially when they had examined the handkerchief and its contents. Instantly concluding that some accident had befallen their son, they did not delay a moment to go in search of him. The dog anxiously led the way, and conducted the agitated parents to the spot where their suffering son was lying. Happily, he was removed just at the close of day; and the necessary assistance having been procured, he soon recovered.

On one of the roads leading from Switzerland to Italy, called the Pass of St. Bernard, is a convent situated at more than eight thousand feet above the level of the sea. In the winter time, when the cold is intense and the snows are deep, travellers are exposed to great danger; and the inmates of the convent, when storms are raging, are in the habit of going abroad to assist such wayfarers as may need their service. They are accompanied by their dogs, a noble breed of animals, called by the name of the convent where they are kept. They carry food and cordials fastened to their necks, and are able to pass over snow wreaths too light to bear the weight of a man. They are aided by the acuteness of their scent in finding the unfortunate persons who have been buried in the snow; and many men have owed their lives to the timely succour afforded by these four-footed philanthropists.

One of them, which had served the convent for twelve years, is said to have been instrumental in saving the lives of forty individuals. He once found a little boy, who had become benumbed by the cold, and had fallen down upon a wreath of snow. By licking his hands and face, and by his caresses, he induced the little fellow to get upon his back, and cling with his arms around his neck; and in this way he brought him in triumph to the convent. This incident forms the subject of a well-known picture. When this dog died, his skin was stuffed and deposited in the museum at Berne; and the little vial in which he carried a cordial draught for the exhausted traveller still hangs about his neck. How many men have there been, endowed with reason and speech, whose lives were less useful than that of this noble dog!

PART II.

It is also unquestionable that dogs have some mode of communicating among themselves. A remarkable instance of this is given in a book called the

Cyclopædia of Natural History." A gentleman living near St. Andrews, in Scotland, had a very fine Newfoundland dog. About a mile off there was a farm house, where a large mastiff was kept as a watch-dog; and about the same distance in another direction there was a mill where a stanch bull-dog kept guard. Each of these three dogs was lord paramount within his own domain, and two of them seldom met without a fight to settle their respective dignities.

The Newfoundland dog used to go every forenoon to the baker's shop in the village, with a towel con

taining money tied in the corner, returning with the value of the money in bread. There were many useless and ill-behaved curs in the village; but generally the haughty Newfoundland treated this ignoble race in that contemptuous style in which great dogs are wont to treat little ones. When the dog came back from the baker's shop, he was regularly served with his dinner.

One day, however, he returned with his coat soiled and his ears scratched, having been attacked by a large number of curs while he had charge of his towel and bread, and so could not defend himself. Instead of waiting for his dinner as usual, he laid down his charge somewhat sulkily, and marched off. It was observed that he went in a straight line to the farmer's house; and it was noticed as a remarkable fact, that the meeting between the two dogs was peaceful, and not warlike. After laying their heads together, and conversing in some language which they understood, the two set off in the direction of the mill; and having arrived there, they in brief space engaged the miller's dog as an ally.

The three champions now took the nearest road to the village, and, having reached it, scoured it in great wrath, and took summary vengeance on every cur they met. Having taken ample satisfaction for the insult that had been offered to the Newfoundland, they separated, and each went home. When any two of them met afterwards, they went to fighting as before, just as if the joint campaign had never taken place.

We will conclude these anecdotes of dogs with a short moral. Some boys, more perhaps from thoughtlessness than cruelty, amuse themselves by worrying

dogs, throwing stones at them, and otherwise illtreating them. Such conduct is very wrong; and no manly and generous boy will ever be guilty of it. Cruelty to any animal is highly to be blamed; and especially when shown to a dog, the docile and intelligent friend of man, that loves him while living and mourns him when dead, repaying kindness with affectionate gratitude, and often showing an undeserved attachment to a worthless and ill-tempered master,

LOST IN THE FOREST.

PART I.

AN English soldier in the Island of Ceylon was very fond of making short excursions into the forest; and one evening he set out, intending, as usual, to keep upon the outskirts, and return before it was dark. But as he was walking along, a peacock ran across the path, and he was seized with a desire to catch it. He ran after it, pelting it with stones; and became so much interested in the chase that he forgot where he was, and entangled himself in the mazes of the forest. Then he gave up all wish for the peacock, as well he might, and thought only of how to find his way back!

But it was something like getting into a labyrinth. No path was to be seen; and the best thing he could do was to climb a tree, and ascertain in which part of the sky the sun was setting, that it might be a guide to him. But the trees were lofty and thick, and he could not see anything of the sun, or catch even his faintest gleams. So he descended in haste, dreading lest

night, with its attendant dangers, should overtake him in this wilderness.

But, alas! an enemy met him at the very outset. He was trespassing on the domain of beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and could expect nothing else than encounters with them. And so it was that at this moment a lordly elephant stood full in his way, listlessly flapping his ears and swinging his trunk, as elephants always do when they stand still to drive away the flies.

The elephants lead a very pleasant life in these great forests, bathing in the rivers that meander through them, or rolling their gigantic bodies on the luxuriant grass. The young and tender branches afford them a constant supply of food, and they can tear them down with their trunks from the loftiest trees. The other animals treat the elephant with respect, on account of his superior size. Even the tiger does not care to attack him; for, if he did, he would be received upon his tusks, and tossed into the air. The female elephant has no tusks, and cannot toss her enemy; but, what is quite as fatal, she has a habit of throwing herself upon him, and stamping him to death with her feet.

Man is the most powerful foe the elephant has to dread. He kindles a fire, and the huge animal is struck with terror at the mysterious light that blazes amongst the trees, and flies before it, trampling down everything in his way; or else he digs a pit, and covers it over with turf, and the elephant falls in, and is caught as in a trap.. When he has expended his strength in useless struggles, he seems to give up the contest, and becomes the docile servant of his captor. It often happens, that, when an elephant is alone,

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