F.Z.S., A.L.S.

[Illustration: "'Some one is lost in the snow, and Lassie knows it.'"]

THE LITTLE OLD WOMAN.

It was a bitter evening in mid-winter, the fire burned cheerily on the
hearth, the great logs crackling and flaring up the wide chimney of a
comfortable cottage home in one of the wildest parts of the
Inverness-shire highlands. It was a shepherd's hut, and, as the storm
continued the owner of the cottage rose and looked out of the window
over the desolate expanse of moorland.

'Is it snowing still?' asked his wife, from her snug corner by the
fire.

'Thick and fast,' replied he. 'Heaven help any poor creature on the moor
to-night. Many a one has been frozen to death hereabouts before now.'

Presently, however, it ceased snowing, and, through a rift in the
clouds, a star appeared, while at the same moment a whining and
scratching noise was heard at the door. The shepherd opened it and
whistled to his dog, but, inviting as the ruddy glow must have been to
her doggish heart, 'Lassie' would not enter. Standing just on the
threshold she whined once more, looking up in her master's face with
dumb entreaty, then running off a few steps and looking back as though
inviting him to follow.

The shepherd watched her curiously. 'All the sheep are in their folds,'
he said, 'and Lassie knows that as well as I do, but something is amiss
with the creature to-night. What is it, Lassie?'

But the intelligent creature only whined again and moved still further
away from the door.

'Give me my plaid, good wife,' said the shepherd, now fully persuaded
that serious work lay before him. 'Give me my plaid, and warm your
blankets, and you may as well brew a kettle of tea. Some one is lost in
the snow, and Lassie knows it.'

As soon as the dog saw that her master was really following, she sprang
forward with a joyous bark, then, settling down into a swinging trot,
she led the way straight across the loneliest part of the bleak moor. It
was a walk both difficult and dangerous, but the experienced shepherd
followed steadily after his guide until, having come to a certain spot
by no means differing in appearance from the rest of the dismal
landscape, she suddenly stopped and began to dig wildly in the snow with
her paws. The shepherd stooped down and pushed aside the dog, who was
now quite contented to stand aside and watch, while her master took the
case in hand. Very soon he extricated from the snow what seemed to be a