It was strange, too, was it not, that the hunter himself, who was already almost exhausted by the cold and exposure that he had suffered during the day, should be willing to go forth again into the storm, for a child that had never done any thing for him, and was utterly unable to do any thing for him now? Besides, by saving the childs life, he was only compelling himself to work the harder, to procure food and clothing for him while he was growing up to be a man.
What was the babys name?
His name was Jooly.
At least they called him Jooly. His real name was Julien.
The hunter bids little Jooly good-by.
When the hunter was all ready to go, he came to the cradle, and, putting his great rough and shaggy hand upon the babys wrist, he said,
Poor little Jooly! I will get the doctor himself to come and see you, if I can.
So he opened the door and went out, leaving Joolys grandmother rocking the cradle, and his mother at work about the room as before.
When the hunter had gone out and shut the door, he went along the side of the house till he came to a small door leading to his cow-house, which was a sort of small barn.
He calls Bruno.
He opened the door of the cow-house and called out
Bruno!
Bruno, who was asleep at this time in his bed, in a box half filled with straw, started up on hearing his masters voice, and, leaping over the side of the box, came to his master in the storm.
Brunos bed.
Bruno was glad to be called. And yet it was a dark and stormy night. The wind was blowing, and the snow was driving terribly. On the other hand, the bed where he had been lying was warm and comfortable. The cow was near him for company. He was enjoying, too, a very refreshing sleep, dreaming of races and frolics with other dogs on a pretty green. All this repose and comfort were disturbed. Still, Bruno was glad. He perceived at once that an unexpected emergency had occurred, and that some important duty was to be performed. Bruno had no desire to lead a useless life. He was always proud and happy when he had any duty to perform, and the more important and responsible the duty was, the more proud and happy it made him. He cared nothing at all for any discomfort, fatigue, or exposure that it might bring upon him.
A comparison.
Some boys are very different from Bruno in this respect. They do not share his noble nature. They never like duty. All they like is ease, comfort, and pleasure. When any unexpected emergency occurs, and they are called to duty, they go to their work with great reluctance, and with many murmurings and repinings, as if to do duty were an irksome task. I would give a great deal more for a dog like Bruno than for such a boy.
The hunter and Bruno in the snow.
Bruno and his master took the road which led to the village. The hunter led the way, and Bruno followed. The road was steep and narrow, and in many places the ground was so buried in snow that the way was very difficult to find. Sometimes the snow was very soft and deep, and the hunter would sink into it so far that he could scarcely advance at all. At such times Bruno, being lighter and stronger, would wallow on through the drift, and then look back to his master, and wait for him to come, and then go back to him again, looking all the time at the hunter with an expression of animation and hope upon his countenance, and wagging his tail, as if he were endeavoring to cheer and encourage him. This action had the effect, at any rate, of encouragement. It cheered the hunter on; and so, in due time, they both arrived safely at the village.
The doctor concluded, after hearing all about the case, that it would not be best for him to go up the mountain; but he gave the hunter some medicine for the baby.
The hunter attempts to return to the cottage.
The medicine was put in a phial, and the hunter put the phial in his pocket. When all was ready, the hunter set out again on his return home.
Difficulties in the way.
It was much harder going up than it had been to come down. The road was very steep. The snow, too, was getting deeper every hour. Besides, it was now dark, and it was more difficult than ever to find the way.
At last, when the hunter had got pretty near his own cottage again, his strength began to fail. He staggered on a little farther, and then he sank down exhausted into the snow. Bruno leaped about him, and rubbed his head against his masters cheek, and barked, and wagged his tail, and did every thing in his power to encourage his master to rise and make another effort. At length he succeeded.
Yes, said the hunter, Ill get up, and try again.
Getting lost.
So he rose and staggered feebly on a little farther. He looked about him, but he could not tell where he was. He began to feel that he was lost. Now, whenever a man gets really lost, either in the woods or in the snow, a feeling of great perplexity and bewilderment generally comes over his mind, which almost wholly deprives him of the use of his faculties. The feeling is very much like that which one experiences when half awake. You do not know where you are, or what you want, or where you want to go. Sometimes you scarcely seem to know who you are. The hunter began to be thus bewildered. Then it was bitter cold, and he began to be benumbed and stupefied.
Intense cold almost always produces a stupefying effect, when one has been long exposed to it. The hunter knew very well that he must not yield to such a feeling as this, and so he forced himself to make a new effort. But the snow seemed to grow deeper and deeper, and it was very hard for him to make his way through it. It was freshly fallen, and, consequently, it was very light and soft, and the hunter sank down in it very far. If he had had snow shoes, he could have walked upon the top of it; but he had no snow shoes.
At last he became very tired.
Bruno, said he, I must lie down here and rest a little, before I can go on any further.
Bruno tries to encourage and save his master.
But Bruno, when he saw his master preparing to lie down, jumped about him, and barked, and seemed very uneasy. Just then the hunter saw before him a deep black hole. He looked down, and saw that it was water. Instead of being in the road, he was going over some deep pit filled with water, covered, except in one place, with ice and snow. He perceived that he had had a very narrow escape from falling into this water, and he now felt more bewildered and lost than ever. He contrived to get by the dangerous hole, feeling his way with a stick, and then he sank down in the snow among the rocks, and gave up in despair.
The hunter comes very near perishing in the snow.
And yet the house was very near. The chimney and the gable end of it could just be distinguished in the distance through the falling snow. Bruno knew this, and he was extremely distressed that his master should give up when so near reaching home. He lay down in the snow by the side of his master, and putting his paw over his arm, to encourage him and keep him from absolute despair, he turned his head toward the house, and barked loud and long, again and again, in hopes of bringing somebody to the rescue.
In the picture you can see the hunter lying in the snow, with Bruno over him. His cap has fallen off, and is half buried. His stick, too, lies on the snow near his cap. That was a stick that he got to feel down into the hole in the ice with, in order to ascertain how deep the water was, and to find his way around it. The rocks around the place are covered with snow, and the branches of the trees are white with it.
Danger of going to sleep when out in a storm.
It is extremely dangerous to lie down to sleep in the snow in a storm like this. People that do so usually never wake again. They think, always, that they only wish to rest themselves, and sleep a few minutes, and that then they will be refreshed, and be ready to proceed on their journey. But they are deceived. The drowsiness is produced, not by the fatigue, but by the cold. They are beginning to freeze, and the freezing benumbs all their sensations. The drowsiness is the effect of the benumbing of the brain.
Sometimes, when several persons are traveling together in cold and storms, one of their number, who may perhaps be more delicate than the rest, and who feels the cold more sensibly, wishes very much to stop a few minutes to lie down and rest, and he begs his companions to allow him to do so. But they, if they are wise, will not consent. Then he sometimes declares that he will stop, at any rate, even if they do not consent. Then they declare that he shall not, and they take hold of his shoulders and arms to pull him along. Then he gets angry, and attempts to resist them. The excitement of this quarrel warms him a little, and restores in some degree his sensibility, and so he goes on, and his life is saved. Then he is very grateful to them for having disregarded his remonstrances and resistance, and for compelling him to proceed.2
But now we must return to the story.
Alarm in the cottage. They open the door.
The hunters family heard the barking in the house. They all immediately went to the door. One of the children opened the door. The gusts of wind blew the snow in her face, and blinded her. She leaned back against the door, and wiped the snow from her face and eyes with her apron. Her grandmother came to the door with a light, but the wind blew it out in an instant. Her mother came too, and for a moment little Jooly was left alone.
It is my husband! she exclaimed. He is dying in the snow! Mercy upon us! What will become of us?
Give me the cordial, said she. Quick!
So saying, she turned to the shelves which you see in the picture near where she is standing, and hastily taking down a bottle containing a cordial, which was always kept there ready to be used on such occasions, she rushed out of the house. She shut the door after her as she went, charging the rest, with her last words, to take good care of little Jooly.
The puss. Little Jooly sleeps undisturbed.
Of course, those that were left in the cottage were all in a state of great distress and anxiety while she was gone all except two, Jooly and the puss. Jooly was asleep in the cradle. The puss was not asleep, but was crouched very quietly before the fire in a warm and bright place near the grandmothers chair. She was looking at the fire, and at the kettle which was boiling upon it, and wondering whether they would give her a piece of the meat by-and-by that was boiling in the kettle for the hunters supper.
The hunter and Jooly are both saved.
When the hunter felt the mouth of the cordial bottle pressed gently to his lips, and heard his wifes voice calling to him, he opened his eyes and revived a little. The taste of the cordial revived him still more. He was now able to rise, and when he was told how near home he was, he felt so cheered and encouraged by the intelligence that he became quite strong. The company in the house were soon overjoyed at hearing voices at the door, and on opening it, the hunter, his wife, and Bruno all came safely in.
Jooly took the medicine which his father brought him, and soon got well.
Here is a picture of Bruno lying on the wolf-skin, and resting from his toils.
THE EMIGRANTS
The hunter, Brunos master, emigrated to America, and when he went, he sold Bruno to another man. A great many people from Europe emigrate to America.
Emigrants. The way they cross the Atlantic.
To emigrate means to move from one country to another. The people in Europe come from all parts of the interior down to the sea-shore, and there embark in great ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean. A great many come in the same ship. While they are at sea, if the weather is pleasant, these passengers come up upon the deck, and have a very comfortable time. But when it is cold and stormy, they have to stay below, and they become sick, and are very miserable. They can not stay on deck at such times on account of the sea, which washes over the ships, and often keeps the decks wet from stem to stern.
When the emigrants land in America, some of them remain in the cities, and get work there if they can. Others go to the West to buy land.
The English family.
Opposite you see a farmers family in England setting out for America. The young girl who stands with her hands joined together is named Esther. That is her father who is standing behind her. Her mother and her grandmother are in the wagon. Esthers mother has an infant in her arms, and her grandmother is holding a young child. Both these children are Esthers brothers. Their names are George and Benny. The babys name is Benny.
Esther has two aunts both very kind to her. One of her aunts is going to America, but the other her aunt Lucy is to remain behind. They are bidding each other good-by. The one who has a bonnet on her head is the one that is going. We can tell who are going on the journey by their having hats or bonnets on. Esthers aunt Lucy, who has no bonnet on, is to remain. When the wagon goes away, she will go into the house again, very sorrowful.
The journey in the covered wagon.
The farmer has provided a covered wagon for the journey, so as to protect his wife, and his mother, and his sister, and his children from the cold wind and from the rain. But they will not go all the way in this wagon. They will go to the sea-shore in the wagon, and then they will embark on board a ship, to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
We can see the ship, all ready and waiting, in the background of the picture, on the right. There will be a great many other families on board the ship, all going to America. There will be sailors, too, to navigate the ship and to manage the sails.
THE VOYAGE
The voyage in the ship.
The voyage which the emigrants have to take is very long. It is three thousand miles from England to America, and it takes oftentimes many weeks to accomplish the transit. Sometimes during the voyage the breeze is light, and the water is smooth, and the ship glides very pleasantly and prosperously on its way. Then the emigrants pass their time very agreeably. They come up upon the decks, they look out upon the water, they talk, they sew, they play with the children they enjoy, in fact, almost as many comforts and pleasures as if they were at home on land.
Opposite is a picture of the ship sailing along very smoothly, in pleasant weather, at the commencement of the voyage. The cliff in the background, on the right, is part of the English shore, which the ship is just leaving. There is a light-house upon the cliff, and a town on the shore below.
The wind is fair, and the water is smooth. The emigrants are out upon the decks. We can see their heads above the bulwarks.
The buoy.
The object in the foreground, floating in the water, is a buoy. It is placed there to mark a rock or a shoal. It is secured by an anchor.
Thus, when the weather is fair, the emigrants pass their time very pleasantly. They amuse themselves on the decks by day, and at night they go down into the cabins, which are below the deck of the ship, and there they sleep.