AUNT ESTHER S STORIES. 165 



Poor little Pero, however, set her ignorant dog s heart on 

 her drinking master, and used to patter faithfully after him, 

 and lick his hand respectfully, when nobody else thought 

 he was in a condition to be treated with respect. 



One bitter cold winter day, Pero s master went to a gro 

 cery, at some distance from home, on pretence of getting 

 groceries, but in reality to fill a very dreadful bottle, that 

 was the cause of all his misery ; and little Pero padded 

 after him through the whirling snow, although she left 

 three poor little pups of her own in the barn. Was it that 

 she was anxious for the poor man who was going the bad 

 road, or was there some secret thing in her dog s heart 

 that warned her that her master was in danger ? We know 

 not, but the sad fact is, that at the grocery the poor man 

 took enough to make his brain dizzy, and coming home he 

 lost his way in a whirling snow-storm, and fell down stupid 

 and drunk, not far from his own barn, in a lonesome place, 

 with the cold winter s wind sweeping the snow-drift over 

 him. Poor little Pero cuddled close to her master and 

 nestled in his bosom, as if trying to keep the warm life 

 in him. 



Two or three days passed, and nothing was seen or 

 heard of the poor man. The snow had drifted over him 

 in a long white winding-sheet, when a neighbor one day 

 heard a dog in the barn crying to get out. It was poor 

 Pero, that had come back and slipped in to nurse her 



