Each time the name
of the latter was pronounced, the animal would stop, wag his tail, or give
some other sign of recognition, as if to reassure his followers of his
intelligence and fidelity. After one of these short halts, old Uberto and
his companion unexpectedly refused to proceed. The guide, the two old
nobles, and at length the whole party, were around them, and no cry or
encouragement of the mountaineers could induce the dogs to quit their
tracks.
"Are we again lost?" asked the Baron de Willading, pressing Adelheid
closer to his beating heart, nearly ready to submit to their common fate
in despair. "Has God at length forsaken us?--my daughter--my beloved
child!"
This touching appeal was answered by a howl from Uberto, who leaped madly
away and disappeared. Nettuno followed, barking wildly and with a deep
throat. Pierre did not hesitate about following, and Sigismund, believing
that the movement of the guide was to arrest the flight of the dogs, was
quickly on his heels. Maso moved with greater deliberation.
"Nettuno is not apt to raise that bark with nothing but hail, and snow,
and wind in his nostrils," said the calculating Italian.
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