Their training consisted in
rendering them familiar with, and attached to, the human race; in teaching
them to know and to keep the paths on all occasions, except such as called
for a higher exercise of their instinct, and to discover the position of
those who had been overwhelmed by the avalanches; and; to assist in
disinterring their bodies. In all these duties Uberto had been so long
exercised, that he was universally know to be the most sagacious and the
most trusty animal on the mountain. Pierre followed his steps with so much
greater-reliance on his intelligence, from being perfectly acquainted with
the character of the dog. When, therefore, he saw the mastiff turn at
right angles to the course he had just been taking, the guide, on reaching
the spot, imitated his example, and, first removing the snow to make sure
of the fact, he joyfully proclaimed to those who came after him that the
lost path was found. This intelligence sounded like a reprieve from death,
though the mountaineers well knew that more than an hour of painful and
increasing toil was still necessary to reach the hospice.
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