1. I pointed¹ out to the dog the way I wished to go, and with a wag of his tail, the wise creature trotted² on slowly in[Pg 41] front. He seemed to feel that he had the charge of me and had been trusted.  
 
2. We had not gone far before he gave a whine⁴, and coming quite close to me, stared in my face, and changed his course. He seemed to beg me to turn aside to the right.
 
3. I went as he asked me, and as I[Pg 42] was going, I tried with my stick to poke⁵ the ground from which the dog had wished to turn. I wanted to know why he was not willing to let me tread just there.
 
4. I found that a deep pond, over which a slight cover of ice and snow were spread, was close beside us. It was an old pit in which water had frozen.
 
5. Had I set my foot on it I must have sunk down and I never could have risen. "A few inches closer to the edge and I must have been drowned!" cried I aloud, and did not forget to thank God for the escape.
 
6. The dog now stopped a few feet off as if to watch whether I was coming, and again trotted forward as I praised him and began to follow.
 
7. Soon he gave a second whine, and again seemed to wish me to turn aside. I trod in his footprints, and again was safe. I was now nearly ready to faint from cold.
 
8. "Go on, good dog," said I to my faithful guide, "lead me home quickly, or I shall die." He gave a hoarse⁶ bark in reply, as if to bid me keep a good heart.[Pg 43]
 
9. I was just falling down, for I could walk no further, when he gave a short, eager bark of joy; at least it seemed like joy, I thought, but my ears were deaf, and my eyes dim.
 
10. I gave one last hopeless glance ar............