1. i knew nothing more about myself until i slowly waked in a warm room, and saw many strange faces round me.

"oh, thank god!" cried a voice near me, "the poor man is getting better."

2. "what is the matter?" said i, for i seemed not to know what all the fuss was about.

"here, my dear sir, drink this," said a voice, and a cup of steaming hot coffee was placed at my lips.

3. i drank it slowly, and then all that[pg 46] i had gone through rushed into my mind. "what is the time?" i asked of the person 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."[pg 47]

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.[pg 48]

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.

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,[pg 49] 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.

17. i often look back with a most thankful heart to the day that i met him at the inn-door, and my wife has always a pat, a loving word, and a treat in the shape of some nice bone, for our trusty.

write: when the poor man waked from his sleep he found himself in a room. the dog had been tied up in a stable, but was soon let loose.

questions: 1. where did the poor man find himself when he woke? 2. where had the dog been tied up? 3. what did the man say when he heard the dog howling? 4. what did the doctor tell him about the dog? 5. when was the birthday feast held, and who enjoyed a taste of each dish? 6. what did the dog become, and what was he named?