ere they to
subsist upon while acquiring this knowledge? They thought of this, and
saw at once the foolishness of the hope they had conceived.

The dog Fritz moved along, sometimes before, sometimes by their side,
and sometimes in the rear. He kept silent, seemingly as much frightened
as they. They could tell he was there, by hearing at intervals the
scratching of his claws upon the rocks, when some boulder lay in the
way, and compelled him to scramble over it. What could Fritz do more
than they? In such darkness he could not see his nose any more than
they? No--but he could make use of that nose to direct himself, which
was more than any of his masters could do.

"Ha!" shouted Caspar, as this idea passed through his mind. "Ha,
brother! Ossaroo! why might not Fritz guide us? Why might he not scent
his way out of this horrid dungeon? Surely he must be as tired of it as
we are!"

"Let us try what may be done," rejoined Karl, by his tone showing that
he had no great hope in the experiment. "Call him up, Caspar! He knows
you best."

Caspar addressed the dog by name, adding a few coaxing words, and in an
instant Fritz was by his side.

"How shall we manage? Leave him to himself?" inquired Caspar.

"I fear he will stand still, and not attempt to go ahead of us," replied
Karl.

"We can try him."

And as Caspar made this suggestion, all stood silent and listening.

They stood a long while to give the dog a fair trial, but he knew not
what they wanted, and he remained patiently beside them without
manifesting any disposition to leave. The experiment was a failure.

"Now," suggested Karl, "let us urge him forward and follow after--
perhaps he will lead us in that way."

Fritz was now commanded to advance, and obeyed the command--for they
could hear him start off with a slight whimper; but to their chagrin
they found that they could not tell in what direction he had gone. Had
he been running on the scent of some animal, his occasional baying would
have served to guide them, as it had done while they were chasing the
bear. Now, however, the dog ran without noise; and although they could
hear an occasional scrape of his claws, yet it was not sufficiently
frequent or continuous to guide them. The experiment again failed, and
Fritz was whistled back.

But it was not without result. Like many other failures, it led to
reflection and a rearrangement of the machinery. A better plan soon
offered itself t