xt71vh5cc81s https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt71vh5cc81s/data/mets.xml Johnston, Annie F. (Annie Fellows), 1863-1931. 1918  books b92-237-31299408 English Page Co., : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Story of the Red Cross as told to the Little Colonel  / by Annie Fellows Johnston ... ; illustrated by John Goss. text Story of the Red Cross as told to the Little Colonel  / by Annie Fellows Johnston ... ; illustrated by John Goss. 1918 2002 true xt71vh5cc81s section xt71vh5cc81s 















THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS
         AS TOLD TO
   THE LITTLE COLONEL

 






                     Works of
         ANNIE FELLOWS JOHNSTON
             The Little Colonel Series
           (Trade Mark, Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.)
      Each one vol., large 12mo, cloth, illustrated
The Little Colonel Stories                       1.50
  (Containing in one volume the three stories
    " The Little Colonel," " The Giant Scissors,'
    and "Two Little Knights of Kentucky.")
The Little Colonel's House Party                   1.50
The Little Colonel's Holidays.                    1.50
The Little Colonel's Hero                 .       1.50
The Little Colonel at Boarding-School             1.50
The Little Colonel in Arizona       .     .       1.50
The Little Colonel's Christmas Vacation           1.50
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor             .   1.50
The Little Colonel's Knight Comes Riding          1.50
The Little Colonel's Chum: Mary Ware              1.50
Mary Ware in Texas    ..                          1.50
Mary Ware's Promised Land             .    .      1.50
The above 12 vols., bored, as a set.   .    .    18.00
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The Little Colonel Doll Book-Second Series    .   1.50
           Illustrated Holiday Editions
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                       in color
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The Giant Scissors.                               1.35
Two Little Knights of Kentucky                     1.35
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                Cosy Corner Series
      Each one vol., thin 12mo, cloth, illustrated
The Little Colonel               .60
The Giant Scissors                  ...60
Two Little Knights of Kentucky   .   .             .60
Big Brother           .         .      ..60
Ole Mammy's Torment            .     .     .       .60
The Story of Dago      ..                 .        .60
Cicely        ..                      .            .60
Aunt 'Liza's Hero            .     .      .        .60
The Quilt that Jack Built                          .60
Flip's " Islands of Providence'                    .60
Mildred's Inheritance      .    .     .    .       .60
The Little Man in Motley     .    .    .    .      .60
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In the Desert of Waiting.   .    .    .    .       .60
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The Legend of the Bleeding Heart                   .60
The Rescue of the Princess Winsome                 .60
The Jester's Sword     ..                 .        .60
Asa Holmes .    .   ..       ..      .    .   ,   1.25
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             THE PAGE COMPANY
53 Beacon Street                      Boston, Mass.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

































" ' Do you suppose that I could train my
   dogs to do that ' " (See page 39)

 




T HE   ST O RY OF

THE RED CROSS
        JS TOLD TO
THE LITTLE COLONEL



By -Annie Fellows Johnston
AUTHOR OF "THE LITrLE COLONEL SERIES,"
"ASA HOLMES," "THE JEWEL SERIES," ETC.
Illustrated by John  Goss



.I THE    PAGE    COMPANY
   BOSTON  le  v  MDCCCCXVIII

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      Copyright, 190,
   BY THE PAGE COMPANY

      Copyright, 19i8,
   BY THE PAGE COMPANY

     All rights reserved









First Impression, October, 19i8



      THE COLONIAL PRESS
C. H, SIjfoNr; (0.. BOSTON, U. S. A.

 

                ltubtihser'5 Note


      This story in its original form appeared in
              The Little Colonel's Hero,
           the fourth volume in the famous
                 Little Colonel Series.


The publishers would have appropriately used on the
    cover of this book the Red Cross on a white field,
    adopted as its emblem by the Red Cross Society, but
    any use of that emblem for purposes other than those
    of this society has been prohibited by law.

The Red Cross Society adopted its emblem in honor of
    Switzerland, where the society originated, but re-
    versed the colors of the Swiss flag, which are a White
    Cross on a red field. It is consequently, under the
    circumstances, appropriate that the cover design
    should show the White Cross of Switzerland, where
    the Red Cross Society originated, and where its story
    was told to The Little Colonel.

 

















LITTLE

 





CONTNTS

    l           L  j



CIHAPTER
I Lloyd Meets Hero
II Hero's Story
III The Red Cross of Geneva



IV Homeward Bound
V In After Years



PAGE
1
24
44



69
82



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         -1  I

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                                       PAGE
"'Do you suppose that I could train my
   dogs to do that '"(See page 39)
                                Frontispiece
" He stepped aside to let the great creature
   past him "                           8
"But it did not stop their mad flight"  16
"He plunged out alone into the deep
   snow "                               30
"The two were wandering along beside the
   water together "                     62
 He fastened the medal to Hero 's collar "  67

 
















:-                   I

   HEkO
             i
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           i4i

 
The Story of the Red Cross
             as Told lo
      The Little Colonel


           CHAPTER I

        LLOYD MEETS HERO

I T was in Switzerland in the old
   town of Geneva. The windows
of the big hotel dining-room looked
out on the lake, and the Little Colo-
nel, sitting at breakfast the morning
after their arrival, could scarcely eat
for watching the scene outside.
  Gay little pleasure boats flashed
back and forth on the sparkling
water. The quay and bridge were
thronged with people. From open
windows down the street came the
                1

 
2    The Story of the Red Cross



tinkle of pianos, and out on the pier,
where a party of tourists were crowd-
ing on to one of the excursion steam-
ers, a band was playing its merriest
holiday music.
  Far away in the distance she could
see the shining snow crown of Mont
Blanc, and it gave her an odd feeling,
as if she were living in a geography
lesson, to know that she was bounded
on one side by the famous Alpine
mountain, and on the other by the
River Rh6ne, whose source she had
often traced on the map. The sun-
shine, the music, and the gay crowds
made it seem to Lloyd as if the whole
world were out for a holiday, and she
ate her melon and listened to the
plans for the day with the sensation
that something very delightful was
about to happen.

 

Lloyd Meets Hero3



  " We'll go shopping this morning,"
said Mrs. Sherman. " I want Lloyd
to see some of those wonderful music
boxes they make here; the dancing
bears, and the musical hand-mirrors;
the chairs that play when you sit
down in them, and the beer-mugs
that begin a tune when you lift them
up."
  Lloyd's face dimpled with pleas-
ure, and she began to ask eager
questions. "Could we take one to
Mom Beck, mothah A lookin'-
glass that would play 'Kingdom
Comin',' when she picked it up It
would surprise her so she would
think it was bewitched, and she'd
shriek the way she does when a cat-
tapillah gets on her."
  Lloyd laughed so heartily at the
recollection, that an old gentleman



Lloyd Meets Hero



3

 
4    The Story of the Red Cross



sitting at an opposite table smiled
in sympathy. He had been watching
the child ever since she came into the
dining-room, interested in every look
and gesture. He was a dignified old
soldier, tall and broad-shouldered,
with gray hair and a fierce-looking
gray moustache drooping heavily
over his mouth. But the eyes under
his shaggy brows were so kind and
gentle that the shyest child or the
sorriest waif of a stray dog would
claim him for a friend at first glance.
  The Little Colonel was so busy
watching the scene from the window
that she did not see him until he had
finished his breakfast and rose from
the table. As he came toward them
on his way to the door, she whispered,
"Look, mothah! He has only one
arm, like grandfathah. I wondah if

 
         Lloyd Meets Hero      5

he was a soldiah, too. Why is he
bowing to Papa Jack"
  "I met him last night in the
office," explained -her father, when
the old gentleman had passed out of
hearing. " We got into conversation
over the dog he had with him -a
magnificent St. Bernard, that had
been trained as a war dog, to go out
with the ambulances to hunt for
dead and wounded soldiers. Major
Pierre de Vaux is the old man's
name. The clerk told me that when
the Major lost his arm, he was dec-
orated for some act of bravery. He
is well known here in Geneva, where
he comes every summer for a few
weeks."
  " Oh, I hope I'll see the war dog!"
cried the Little Colonel. "What do
you suppose his name is"

 
6    The Story of the Red Cross



  The waiter, who was changing
their plates, could not resist this
temptation to show off the little Eng-
lish he knew. " Hes name is He o,
mademoiselle," he answered. " He
vair smart dog. He know evair sing
somebody say to him, same as a
person."
  " You'll probably see him as we go
out to the carriage," said Mr. Sher-
man. " He follows the Major con-
stantly."
  As soon as breakfast was over, Mrs.
Sherman went up to her room for her
hat. Lloyd, who had worn hers down
to breakfast, wandered out into the
hall to wait for her. There was a
tall, carved chair standing near the
elevator, and Lloyd climbed into it.
To her great confusion, something
inside of it gave a loud click as she

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



seated herself, and began to play.
It played so loudly that Lloyd was
both startled and embarrassed. It
seemed to her that every one in the
hotel must hear the noise, and know
that she had started it.
  "Silly old thing!" she muttered,
as with a very red face she slipped
down and walked hurriedly away.
She intended to go into the reading-
room, but in her confusion turned to
the left instead of the right, and ran
against some one coming out of the
hotel office. It was the Major.
  " Oh, I beg your pahdon!" she
cried, blushing still more. From the
twinkle in his eye she was sure that
he had witnessed her mortifying
encounter with the musical chair.
But his first words made her forget
her embarrassment. He spoke in



7

 
8    The Story of the Red Cross



the best of English, but with a slight
accent that Lloyd thought very odd
and charming.
  "Ah, it is Mr. Sherman's little
daughter. He told me last night
that you had come to Switzerland
because it was a land of heroes, and
he was sure that you would be es-
pecially interested  in mine.  So
come, Hero, my brave fellow, and be
presented to the little American lady.
Give her your paw, sir!"
  He stepped aside to let the great
creature past him, and Lloyd uttered
an exclamation of delight, he was
so unusually large and beautiful.
His curly coat of tawny yellow was
as soft as silk, and a great ruff of
white circled his neck like a collar.
His breast was white, too, and his
paws, and his eyes had a wistful,

 































































''LIE STEPPED ASIDE TO LET TIIE GREAT CREATITRE PAST HIM.

 This page in the original text is blank.

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



human look that went straight to
Lloyd's heart. She shook the offered
paw, and then impulsively threw her
arms around his neck, exclaiming,
" Oh, you deah old fellow! I can't
help lovin' you. You're the beauti-
fulest dog I evah saw!"
  He understood the caress, if not
the words, for he reached up to
touch her cheek with his tongue, and
wagged his tail as if he were welcom-
ing a long-lost friend. Just then
Mrs. Sherman stepped out of the
elevator. " Good-bye, Hero," said
the Little Colonel. "I must go now,
but I hope I'll see you when I come
back." Nodding good-bye to the
Major, she followed her mother out
to the street, where her father stood
waiting beside an open carriage.
  Lloyd enjoyed the drive that morn-



9

 
10     The Story of the Red Cross



ing as they spun along beside the
river, up and down the strange
streets with the queer foreign signs
over the shop doors. Once, as they
drove along the quay, they met the
Major and the dog, and in response
to a courtly bow, the Little Colonel
waved her hand and smiled. The
empty sleeve recalled her grand-
father, and gave her a friendly feel-
ing for the old soldier. She looked
back at Hero as long as she could
see a glimpse of his white and yellow
curls.
  It was nearly noon when they
stopped at a place where Mrs. Sher-
man wanted to leave an enamelled
belt-buckle to be repaired. Lloyd
was not interested in the show-cases,
and could not understand the con-
versation her father and mother

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



were having with the shopkeeper
about enamelling. So, saying that
she would go out and sit in the car-
riage until they were ready to come,
she slipped away.
  She liked to watch the stir of the
streets. It was interesting to guess
what the foreign signs meant, and to
listen to the strange speech around
her. Besides, there was a band play-
ing somewhere down the street, and
children were tugging at their
nurses' hands to hurry them along.
Some carried dolls dressed in the
quaint costumes of Swiss peasants,
and some had balloons. A man with
a bunch of them like a cluster of
great red bubbles had just sold out
on the corner.
  So she sat in the sunshine, looking
around her with eager, interested



11

 
12     The Story of the Red Cross



eyes. The coachman, high up on his
box, seemed as interested as herself;
at least, he sat up very straight and
stiff. But it was only his back that
Lloyd saw. He had been at a fete
the night before. There seems to be
always a holiday in Geneva. He had
stayed long at the merrymaking and
had taken many mugs of beer. They
made him drowsy and stupid. The
American gentleman and his wife
stayed long in the enameller's shop.
He could scarcely keep his eyes open.
Presently, although he never moved
a muscle of his back and sat up stiff
and straight as a poker, he was sound
asleep, and the reins in his grasp
slipped lower and lower and lower.
  The horse was an old one, stiffened
and jaded by much hard travel, but
it had been a mettlesome one in its

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



younger days, with the recollection
of many exciting adventures. Now,
although it seemed half asleep,
dreaming, maybe, of the many jaunts
it had taken with other American
tourists, or wondering if it were not
time for it to have its noonday nose-
bag, it was really keeping one eye
open, nervously watching some
painters on the sidewalk. They were
putting up a scaffold against a build-
ing, in order that they might paint
the cornice.
  Presently the very thing happened
that the old horse had been expect-
ing. A heavy board fell from the
scaffold with a crash, knocking over
a ladder, which fell into the street
in front of the frightened animal.
Now the old horse had been in sev-
eral runaways. Once it had been



13

 
14     The Story of the Red Cross



hurt by a falling ladder, and it had
never recovered from its fear of one.
As this one fell just under its nose,
all the old fright and pain that
caused its first runaway seemed to
come back to its memory.    In a
frenzy of terror it reared, plunged
forward, then suddenly turned and
dashed down the street.
  The plunge and sudden turn threw
the sleeping coachman from the box
to the street. With the lines drag-
ging at its heels, the frightened
horse sped on. The Little Colonel,
clutching frantically at the seat in
front of her, screamed at the horse
to stop. She had been used to driv-
ing ever since she was big enough
to grasp the reins, and she felt that
if she could only reach the dragging
lines, she could control the horse.

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



But that was impossible. All she
could do was to cling to the seat as
the carriage whirled dizzily around
corners, and wonder how many more
frightful turns it would make before
she should be thrown out.
  The white houses on either side
seemed racing past them. Nurses
ran, screaming, to the pavements,
dragging the baby-carriages out of
the way. Dogs barked and teams
were jerked hastily aside. Some one
dashed out of a shop and threw his
arms up in front of the horse to stop
it, but, veering to one side, it only
plunged on the faster.
  Lloyd's hat blew off. Her face
turned white with a sickening dread,
and her breath began to come in
frightened sobs. On and on they
went, and, as the scenes of a lifetime



15

 
16     The Story of the Red Cross



will be crowded into a moment in the
memory of a drowning man, so a
thousand things came flashing into
Lloyd's mind. She saw the locust
avenue all white and sweet in blos-
som time, and thought, with a
strange thrill of self-pity, that she
would never ride under its white
arch again. Then came her mother's
face, and Papa Jack's. In a few
moments, she told herself, they
would be picking up her poor, broken,
lifeless little body from the street.
How horribly they would feel. And
then -she screamed and shut her
eyes. The carriage had dashed into
something that tore off a wheel.
There was a crash - a sound as of
splintering wood. But it did not
stop their mad flight. With a hor-
rible bumping motion that nearly

 




























































'' BUT IT DII) NOT STOP T1ELIR MAD) FIAGIIT

 This page in the original text is blank.

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



threw her from the carriage at every
jolt, they still kept on.
  They were on the quay now. The
noon sun on the water flashed into
her eyes like the blinding light
thrown back from a looking-glass.
Then something white and yellow
darted from the crowd on the pave-
ment, and catching the horse by the
bit, swung on heavily. The horse
dragged along for a few paces, and
came to a halt, trembling like a leaf.
  A wild hurrah went up from both
sides of the street, and the Little
Colonel, as she was lifted out white
and trembling, saw that it was a
huge St. Bernard that the crowd was
cheering.
  " Oh, it's H-Hero!" she cried, with
chattering teeth. " How did he get
here" But no one understood her



17

 
18     The Story of the Red Cross



question. The faces she looked into,
while beaming with friendly interest,
were all foreign. The eager excla-
mations on all sides were uttered in
a foreign tongue. There was no one
to take her home, and in her fright
she could not remember the name of
their hotel. But in the midst of her
confusion a hearty sentence in Eng-
lish sounded in her ear, and a strong
arm caught her up in a fatherly em-
brace. It was the Major who came
pushing through the crowd to reach
her. Her grandfather himself could
not have been more welcome just at
that time, and her tears came fast
when she found herself in his friendly
shelter. The shock had been a ter-
rible one.
  " Come, dear child!" he exclaimed,
gently,  patting   her   shoulder.

 
Lloyd Meets Hero



" Courage! We are almost at the
hotel. See, it is on the corner, there.
Your father and mother will soon be
here."
  Wiping her eyes, he led her across
the street, explaining as he went how
it happened that he and the dog were
on the street when she passed. They
had been in the gardens all morning
and were going home to lunch, when
they heard the clatter of the run-
away far down the street.   The
Major could not see who was in the
carriage, only that it appeared to
be a child. He was too old a man,
and with his one arm too helpless
to attempt to stop it, but he remem-
bered that Hero had once shared the
training of some collies for police
service, before it had been decided
to use him as an ambulance dog.



19

 
20     The Story of the Red Cross



They were taught to spring at the
bridles of escaping horses.
  "I was doubtful if Hero remem-
bered those early lessons," said the
Major, "but I called out to him
sharply, for the love of heaven to
stop it if he could, and that instant
he was at the horse's head, hanging
on with all his might. Bravo, old
fellow!" he continued, turning to the
dog as he spoke. " We are proud of
you this day!"
  They were in the corridor of the
hotel now, and the Little Colonel,
kneeling beside Hero and putting
her arms around his neck, finished
her sobbing with her fair little face
laid fondly against his silky coat.
  "Oh, you deah, deah old Hero,"
she said. " You saved me, and I'll
love you fo' evah and evah! "

 
Loy Met Heo2



  The crowd was still in front of the
hotel, and the corridor full of excited
servants and guests, when Mr. and
Mrs. Sherman hurried in. They had
taken the first carriage they could
hail and driven as fast as possible in
the wake of the runaway. Mrs.
Sherman was trembling so violently
that she could scarcely stand, when
they reached the hotel. The clerk
who ran out to assure them of the
Little Colonel's safety was loud in his
praises of the faithful St. Bernard.
  Hero had known many masters.
He had been taught to obey many
voices. Many hands had fed and
fondled him, but no hand had ever
lain quite so tenderly on his head, as
the Little Colonel's. No one had ever
looked into his eyes so gratefully as
she, and no voice had ever thrilled



Idoyd Meets Hero



21

 
22     The Story of the Red Cross



him with as loving tones as hers, as
she knelt there beside him, calling
him all the fond endearing names she
knew. He understood far better
than if he had been human, that she
loved him.   Eagerly licking her
hands and wagging his tail, he told
her as plainly as a dog can talk that
henceforth he would be one of her
best and most faithful of friends.
  If petting and praise and devoted
attention could spoil a dog, Hero's
head would certainly have been
turned that day, for friends and
strangers alike made much of him.
A photographer came to take his
picture for the leading daily paper.
Before nightfall his story was re-
peated in every home in Geneva. No
servant in the hotel but took a per-
sonal pride in him or watched his

 
         Lloyd Meets Hero      23

chance to give him a sly sweetmeat
or a caress. But being a dog instead
of a human, the attention only made
him the more lovable, for it made
him feel that it was a kind world he
lived in and everybody was his
friend.

 
CHAPTER II



          HERO 'S STORY

L ATE that afternoon the Major
     sat out in the shady courtyard
of the hotel, where vines, potted
plants, and a fountain made a cool
green garden spot. He was thinking
of his little daughter, who had been
dead many long years. The Ameri-
can child, whom his dog had rescued
from the runaway in the morning,
was wonderfully like her. She had
the same fair hair, he thought, that
had been his little Christine's great
beauty; the same delicate, wild-rose
pink in her cheeks, the same mis-
chievous smile dimpling her laugh-
               24

 
Hero's Story



ing face. But Christine's eyes had
not been a starry hazel like the Little
Colonel's. They were blue as the
flax-flowers she used to gather -
thirty, was it No, forty years ago.
  As he counted the years, the
thought came to him like a pain that
he was an old, old man now, all alone
in the world, save for a dog, and a
niece whom he scarcely knew and
seldom saw.
  As he sat there with his head
bowed down, dreaming over his past,
the Little Colonel came out into the
courtyard. She had dressed early
and gone down to the reading-room
to wait until her mother was ready
for dinner, but catching sight of the
Major through the long glass doors,
she laid down her book. The lonely
expression of his furrowed face, the



25

 
26     The Story of the Red Cross



bowed head, and the empty sleeve
appealed to her strongly.
  " I believe I'll go out and talk to
him," she thought.   " If grand-
fathah were away off in a strange
land by himself like that, I'd want
somebody to cheer him up."
  It is always good to feel that one is
welcome, and Lloyd was glad that
she had ventured into the courtyard,
when she saw the smile that lighted
the Major's face at sight of her, and
when the dog, rising at her approach,
came forward joyfully wagging his
tail.
  The conversation was easy to begin,
with Hero for a subject. There were
many things she wanted to know
about him: how he happened to be-
long to the Major; what country he
came from; why he was called a St.

 
Hero's Story



Bernard, and if the Major had ever
owned any other dogs.
  After a few questions it all came
about as she had hoped it would.
The old man settled himself back in
his chair, thought a moment, and
then began at the first of his ac-
quaintance with St. Bernard dogs,
as if he were reading a story from
a book.
  "Away up in the Alpine Moun-
tains, too high for trees to grow,
where there is only bare rock and
snow and cutting winds, climbs the
road that is known as the Great St.
Bernard Pass. It is an old, old road.
The Celts crossed it when they in-
vaded Italy. The Roman legions
crossed it when they marched out to
subdue Gaul and Germany. Ten
hundred years ago the Saracen rob-



27

 
28   The Story of the Red Cross



bers hid among its rocks to waylay
unfortunate travellers.  You will
read about all that in your history
sometime, and about the famous
march Napoleon made across it on his
way to Marengo. But the most in-
teresting fact about the road to me,
is that for over seven hundred years
there has been a monastery high up
on the bleak mountain-top, called the
monastery of St. Bernard.
  " Once, when I was travelling
through the Alps, I stopped there
one cold night, almost frozen. The
good monks welcomed me to their
hospice, as they do all strangers who
stop for food and shelter, and treated
me as kindly as if I had been a
brother. In the morning one of them
took me out to the kennels, and
showed me the dogs that are trained

 
Hero's Story



to look for travellers in the snow.
You may imagine with what pleasure
I followed him, and listened to the
tales he told me.
  "He said there is not as much
work for the dogs now as there used
to be years ago. Since the hospice
has been connected with the valley
towns by telephone, travellers can
inquire about the state of the
weather and the paths, before ven-
turing up the dangerous mountain
passes. Still, the storms begin with
little warning sometimes, and way-
farers are overtaken by them and
lost in the blinding snowfall. The
paths fill suddenly, and but for the
dogs many would perish."
  " Oh, I know," interrupted Lloyd,
eagerly. " There is a story about
them in my old third readah, and a



29

 
30     The Story of the Red Cross



pictuah of a big St. Bernard dog with
a flask tied around his neck, and a
child on his back."
  " Yes," answered the Major, " it is
quite probable that that was a pic-
ture of the dog they call Barry. He
was with the good monks for twelve
years, and in that time saved the
lives of forty travellers. There is a
monument erected to him in Paris in
the cemetery for dogs. The sculptor
carved that picture into the stone,
the noble animal with a child on his
back, as if he were in the act of
carrying it to the hospice. Twelve
years is a long time for a dog to
suffer such hardship and exposure.
Night after night he plunged out
alone into the deep snow and the
darkness, barking at the top of his
voice to attract the attention of lost

 

























































' IHE PLUNGED OUT ALONE INTO TIiE DEEP XsNOW -

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Hero's Story        31



travellers. Many a time he dropped
into the drifts exhausted; with
scarcely enough strength left to drag
himself back to the hospice.
  "Forty lives saved is a good
record. You may be sure that in his
old age Barry was tenderly cared for.
The monks gave him a pension and
sent him to Berne, where the climate
is much warmer. When he died, a
taxidermist preserved his skin, and
he was placed in the museum at
Berne, where he stands to this day,
I am told, with the little flask around
his neck. I saw him there one time,
and although Barry was only a dog,
I stood with uncovered head before
him. For he was as truly a hero and
served human kind as nobly as if he
had fallen on the field of battle.
  " He had been trained like a sol-



Hero's Story



31

 
32     The Story of the Red Cross



dier to his duty, and no matter how
the storms raged on the mountains.
how dark the night, or how danger-
ous the paths that led along the
slippery precipices, at the word of
command he sprang to obey. Only
a dumb beast, some people would
call him, guided only by brute in-
stinct, but in his shaggy old body
beat a loving heart, loyal to his mas-
ter's command, and faithful to his
duty.
  "As I stood there gazing into
the kind old face, I thought of the
time when I lay wounded on the field
of battle. How glad I would have
been to have seen some dog like
Barry come bounding to my aid! I
had fallen in a thicket, where the
ambulance corps did not discover me
until next day. I lay there all that

 
Hero's Story



black night, wild with pain, groaning
for water. I could see the lanterns
of the ambulances as they moved
about searching for the wounded
among the many dead, but was too
faint from loss of blood to raise my
head and shout for help. They told
me afterward that, if my wound
could have received immediate at-
tention, perhaps my arm might have
been saved.
  " But only a keen sense of smell
could have traced me in the dense
thicket where I lay. No one had
thought of training dogs for ambu-
lance service then. The men did
their best, but they were only men,
and I was overlooked until it was too
late to save my arm.
  " Well, as I said, I stood and looked
at Barry, wondering if it were not



33

 
34     The Story of the Red Cross



possible to train dogs for rescue work
on battle-fields as well as in moun-
tain passes. The more I thought of
it, the more my longing grew to
make such an attempt. I read every-
thing I could find about trained dogs,
visited kennels where collies and
other intelligent sheep-dogs were
kept, and corresponded with many
people about it. Finally I went to
Coblenz, and there found a man who
was as much interested in the sub-
ject as I. Herr Bungartz is his
name. He is now at the head of
a society to which I belong, called
the German Society for Ambulance
Dogs. It has over a thousand mem-
bers, including many princes and
generals.
  " We furnish the money that sup-
ports the kennels, and the dogs are

 
Hero's Story



bred and trained free for the army.
Now for the last eight years it has
been my greatest pleasure to visit
the kennels, where as many as fifty
dogs are kept constantly in training.
It was on my last visit that I got
Hero. His leg had been hurt in some
accident on the training field. It was
thought that he was too much dis-
abled to ever do good service again,
so they allowed me to take him.
Two old cripples, I suppose they
thought we were, comrades in mis-
fortune.
  " That was nearly a year ago. I
took him to an eminent surgeon,
told him his history, and interested
him in his case. He treated him so
successfully, that now, as you see,
the leg is entirely well. Sometimes
I feel that it is my duty to give him



35

 
36     The Story of the Red Cross



back to the service, although I paid
for the rearing of a fine Scotch collie
in his stead. He is so unusually in-
telligent and well trained. But it
would be hard to part with such a
good friend. Although I have had
him less than a year, he seems very
much attached to me, and I have
grown more fond of him than I would
have believed possible. I am an old
man now, and I think he understands
that he is all I have. Good Hero!
He knows he is a comfort to his old
master!"
  At the sound of his name, uttered
in a sad voice, the great dog got up
and laid his head on the Major's
knee, looking wistfully into his face.
  " Of co'se you oughtn't to give
him back!" cried the Little Colonel.
" If he were mine, I wouldn't give