“The horse did very well, although he had no path to follow.  If a precipice obstructed his way, he climbed it as nimbly as a goat, and later, when they had to descend, he bunched his hoofs and slid down the rocky inclines.

“‘May he only find his way home before church hour!’ thought the dean.  ’I wonder how the Delsbo folk would take it if I were not at my church on time?’

“He did not have to brood over this long, for soon he came to a place that was familiar to him.  It was a little creek where he had fished the summer before.  Now he saw it was as he had feared—­he was in the depths of the forest, and the horse was plodding along in a south-easterly direction.  He seemed determined to carry the dean as far from church and rectory as he could.

“The clergyman dismounted.  He could not let the horse carry him into the wilderness.  He must go home.  And, since the animal persisted in going in the wrong direction, he decided to walk and lead him until they came to more familiar roads.  The dean wound the reins around his arm and began to walk.  It was not an easy matter to tramp through the forest in a heavy fur coat; but the dean was strong and hardy and had little fear of overexertion.

“The horse, meanwhile, caused him fresh anxiety.  He would not follow but planted his hoofs firmly on the ground.

“At last the dean was angry.  He had never beaten that horse, nor did he wish to do so now.  Instead, he threw down the reins and walked away.

“‘We may as well part company here, since you want to go your own way,’ he said.

“He had not taken more than two steps before the horse came after him, took a cautious grip on his coat sleeve and stopped him.  The dean turned and looked the horse straight in the eyes, as if to search out why he behaved so strangely.

“Afterward the dean could not quite understand how this was possible, but it is certain that, dark as it was, he plainly saw the horse’s face and read it like that of a human being.  He realized that the animal was in a terrible state of apprehension and fear.  He gave his master a look that was both imploring and reproachful.

“‘I have served you day after day and done your bidding,’ he seemed to say.  ‘Will you not follow me this one night?’

“The dean was touched by the appeal in the animal’s eyes.  It was clear that the horse needed his help to-night, in one way or another.  Being a man through and through, the dean promptly determined to follow him.  Without further delay he sprang into the saddle.  ‘Go on!’ he said.  ’I will not desert you since you want me.  No one shall say of the dean in Delsbo that he refused to accompany any creature who was in trouble.’

“He let the horse go as he wished and thought only of keeping his seat.  It proved to be a hazardous and troublesome journey—­uphill most of the way.  The forest was so thick that he could not see two feet ahead, but it appeared to him that they were ascending a high mountain.  The horse climbed perilous steeps.  Had the dean been guiding, he should not have thought of riding over such ground.