These true stories were told me by Mr. W. R. of New Bedford, whogave the name of the captain of the wrecked vessel, and said he wassure they were true.
A fact of this kind fell once under my own observation. One night,our dog Caesar made a barking at the door, till, at last, he broughtsome one out. The dog then ran towards the road, and when he foundhe was not followed, came back and barked, and then ran to the roadand back again, and so on till we understood he wanted to befollowed, and some one went with him.
Caesar immediately led the way to a ditch over which there was abridge without any guard. There a horse and wagon had been upset.The wagon had fallen upon the driver in such a way that he could notmove. The men came immediately to the aid of the poor man, took himout, put him in his wagon and new harnessed his horse, and set himoff comfortably on his way again. The dog sat by and saw it all. Whoshall say how much of the compassionate love of the good Samaritanwas in his canine heart? Who shall exactly measure and justlyestimate the joy of the other faithful, intelligent animal who savedthe crew of the wrecked vessel?
One more story of a dog I remember which is too good to beforgotten; as it shows, not only the sagacity, but the love andself-denial of one of these faithful creatures.
A shepherd, whose flocks were in the high pastures on the GrampianHills, took with him one day his little boy who was about threeyears of age. They had gone some distance, when he found itnecessary, for some reason or other, to ascend the summit of one ofthe hills. He thought it would be too fatiguing for the child to goup; so he left him below with the dog, telling the little fellow tostay there till he returned, and charging the good and faithful dogto watch over the boy.
Scarcely had the shepherd reached the summit, before there came upone of those very thick fogs which are common among these mountains.These heavy mists often come up so suddenly and so thick that it islike a dark night–you can see absolutely nothing.
The unhappy father hurried down the mountain to his little boy; but,from fright and from the utter darkness, lost the way.
The poor shepherd for many hours sought his child among thetreacherous swamps, the roaring cataracts and the steep precipices.
No little boy, no faithful dog could he see or hear. At length,night came on, and the wretched father had to return to his cottage,and to the mother of his child, and say the sad words, “He is lost.My faithful dog is gone too, or he might help me find the boy.”
That was a sad night for the poor cottagers. At break of day, theshepherd, with his wife and his neighbors, set out to look for thechild. They searched all day long, in every place where it seemedpossible that lie could be, but all in vain. No little boy couldthey find. The night came on, and again the poor shepherd and hiswife came home without their child.
On their return home, they found that the dog had been there; and,on receiving a piece of oatmeal cake, had instantly gone off withit. The next day and the day after, the shepherd renewed the searchfor his child. On each day when they returned, they heard that thedog had been to the house, taken his piece of cake, and immediatelydisappeared. The shepherd determined to stay at home the next dayand watch his dog. He had a hope in his heart that the dog wouldlead him to his child.
The dog came the next day, at the same hour, took his piece of cake,and ran off. The shepherd followed him. He led the way to a cataractat some distance from the place where the father had left the child.
The bank of the cataract was steep and high, and the abyss downwhich the water rushed was terrific. Down the rugged and almostperpendicular descent, the dog, without any hesitation, began tomake his way. At last, he disappeared into a cave, the mouth ofwhich was almost on a level with the cataract.
The shepherd, with great difficulty, followed. What were hisemotions, who can tell his joy, when he beheld his little boyeating, with much satisfaction, the piece of cake which the faithfulanimal had just brought? The dog stood by, eying his young chargewith the utmost complacence.
The child had doubtless wandered from the place where he was left byhis father; had fallen over the precipice; had been caught by thebushes near the cave, and scrambled into it. The dog had eitherfollowed or found him by the scent, and had since prevented him fromstarving by giving to him every day his own food.
The faithful, loving creature had never left the child day or night,except to get the piece of oaten cake; and then the dog went at fullspeed, neither stopping by the way, or apparently reserving any ofthe cake for himself.
Shall we not, all of us, learn love, fidelity and self-forgetfulnessfrom such an affectionate and faithful creature?
“I don’t believe I could be as good as that dog,” said Frank.
“I know I could not,” said Harry. “How the shepherd and his wifemust have loved him! If I had been in their place, I should havetreated him like the little boy’s brother, and kept him always inthe parlor.”
“I dare say they did,” said Mrs. Chilton.
There is an anecdote I have lately read, which shows that dogs havecompassion for other dogs, and will help a fellow in distress.
When the ice suddenly melted on a river in Germany, a little dog wasseen on a small piece of ice in the middle of the river. It was notknown how he got into that situation. He set up the most piteouscries. A large dog who saw him dashed into the river, soon reachedthe poor spaniel, seized him by the neck, and brought him safe toshore, amidst the shouts and praises of the spectators.
Animals, when treated kindly, attach themselves to human beings.Birds build their nests near the habitations of men. In the wild,distant woods all is still. One hears no song of birds. In England,where the robin is courted and made much of, he comes into the houseand takes his food from the table.
In many parts of Europe storks build their nests on the roofs.Swallows, martins, sparrows and wrens often make their nests under