THE STORY OF SCOTCH

SCOTCH AND HIS MASTER

PREFACE

Scotch and I were companions through eight years. Winter and summer we explored the rugged mountains of the Continental Divide. Often we were cold; more often we were hungry. Together we fought our way through blizzards and forest fires. Never did he complain and at all times he showed remarkable intelligence and absolute fidelity. The thousands who have watched him play football by my cabin on the slope of Long's Peak and the other thousands who have read of his unusual experiences will be interested, I am sure, in this complete story of his life.

I gave an account of Scotch in my Wild Life on the Rockies, and in The Spell of the Rockies I related one of our winter experiences. These chapters and an article on him which I wrote for Country Life in America are, together with additional matter, embodied in this little book.

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE STORY OF SCOTCH

I

A famous collie and her five little puppies came into the possession of a Swedish farmer of my acquaintance. For an unimportant and forgotten kindness which I had shown his children, he decided that I should have one of these promising puppies. To his delight I chose the "wisest one," wee "Scotch," who afterwards gave pleasure to hundreds of people and who for eight years was a factor in my life.

I carried little Scotch all day long in my overcoat pocket as I rode through the mountains on the way to my cabin. His cheerful little face, his good behavior, and the bright way in which he poked his head out of my