One night a farmer was riding home along a lane which had walls on both sides. Suddenly he heard his dog barking on the farther side of the wall.
The man stopped his horse and started to see what was the matter.
The night was very cold. Snow lay on the ground. Sitting on a large stone was the farmer’s little daughter.
The child had left the house and had wandered out into the meadow.
The dog had followed her, keeping close at her heels. Now he was barking for some one to come and take the little girl home. She had lost her way, and was crying.
The father looked at the footprints in the snow. He saw that his little daughter had walked close beside a deep hole.
She had walked all the way round the hole. But the wise dog had gone, all the time, between the little girl and the great hole.
Was he not a wise dog?—Adapted