38 Modern Dogs. 



in the Alps, where the monks had bred and reared 

 the intelligent creature, and had trained him to go 

 out in the snowstorms and seek for and find any 

 poor traveller whose strength had failed him, and 

 who might lay beneath a snow wreath midway 

 between life and death. What schoolboy has not 

 heard of Barry, the wonderful dog of St. Bernard, 

 who in his time had been the means of saving the 

 lives of some fifteen persons, though the number 

 varies according to the imagination of the narrator, 

 and thus is generally, but incorrectly, given as about 

 forty. However, Barry was the most celebrated 

 dog these monks ever possessed, and during four- 

 teen years (he was fifteen when he died) went out 

 on to the mountains and sought for the stricken- 

 down wayfarer. It has been said that the poor dog 

 met his end by one whom he sought to rescue, 

 taking him for a wolf and killing him. Another 

 story is as follows : 



In the winter of 1816, we are told that a Pied- 

 montese courier arrived at the Hospice on a very 

 stormy day, intent on proceeding on his journey to 

 the village of St. Pierre, in the vale below, and 

 where his family were. The monks attempted to 

 dissuade him from leaving until the storm had 

 abated, but he preferred going forward, so, with two 

 guides and a couple of dogs, he set out down the 



