e white mountain, and
around it grouped peaks of dazzling snow, the first snow Jan had seen
since he was a puppy.

The doctor and the old man were watching him, but Jan did not see them.
He was remembering things he had almost forgotten. Slowly the mule
climbed, and the twisting trail turned and wound higher and higher. Jan
lifted his head and sniffed the air that was growing colder. Then as
they turned where the path seemed to end, the dog gave a loud bark and
dashed ahead of them where something white lay on the ground. Faster and
faster his feet flew until he stood in this white patch. His nose
touched it and tossed it in little white clouds, he threw himself down
and rolled over and over, then jumped to his feet and barked in sharp,
excited tones. Again he snapped at it, and then he raced along the
trail, frisking like a puppy, while the doctor and the captain kept
smiling at each other and nodding their heads.

But not until a tiny cabin was reached, where they all went inside to
rest a short time, did Prince Jan recognize the little Rest House and
knew that the white trail winding up the mountain side would end at the
door of the Hospice.

So, when the old man was perched again on the mule and the travellers
started toward the high white peak, Jan did not wait longer, but raced
ahead of them, barking as he ran. Up, up, faster and faster, he ran. His
heart pounded, his tongue hung far out of his mouth, he plunged his nose
into the soft, cold drifts, sometimes stopping to take a big bite, then
with yelps of joy he darted on.

And high above the steep trail rose the sharp peaks that shadowed the
hundreds of deep gullies: places where the snow never melted, even in
summer. And Prince Jan knew that he was following once more the path
that his forefathers had trodden.

He stopped quickly and lifted his nose high, then he sent forth the
great cry of the St. Bernard dogs. The deep tones echoed from crag to
crag, until it sounded as if all the dogs that had ever trodden that
trail were answering him.

Another twist of the pathway showed the jagged tips of the highest
peaks, and just back of that crest rose the roof of the Hospice. Jan
stood still for a second before he sent again that call of his people.
Again he heard the voices answering, but this time the answer came from
the dogs in the kennel-yards.

Jan trembled with excitement, then he shot forward and did not stop
until he had reached the worn stone steps