Plot

The shepherd's home. Children leaving cabin with father's dinner. The shepherd and his flock. The day meal. Children leaving for home. The storm. Lost in the mountains. Struggling through snow. Buried in the snow. The frantic mother at home. The shepherd's return. Off to the monastery. Dogs and searching party to the rescue. Desperate search through the mountains. St. Bernard dogs on the trail. St. Bernard dogs' wonderful sagacity. Discovcry and rescue by the dogs. Home at last. Tableau.—Edison advertisement

A dreary place to live must be the Alps Mountains. This is the first impression judging from the lone cabin and desolate surroundings of this home of the Alpine Shepherd and his family. Two children, a boy and a girl, the former about ten and the latter perhaps twelve years of age, emerge from the house ready for an errand of some sort. They are joined on the outside by their mother who, after kissing them good-bye, starts them on their way. The object of this errand is soon revealed, a quiet grazing spot comes to view, upon which is feeding a flock of sheep attended by the Alpine Shepherd and his sheep dogs. He sees his two children approaching with his mid-day meal The little girl stops long enough to coax a pet from the flock, pats its head and then hurries on with the dinner to her hungry father. The children play around until the father has eaten his meal and then start homeward. Storms gather quickly in the Alps. A blinding snowstorm sets in, changing the character of the surroundings, and the children lose their way. They wander on through the mountains, over rocks and ledges, the snow becoming so deep that they can hardly wade through. The little fellow becomes exhausted and falls. His sister lifts him to his feet, but he is unable to stand. In desperation she endeavors to carry him, but the burden is too heavy and she becomes exhausted and falls in the snow. Young though she is, she knows they both will be frozen to death, and vainly struggles to her feet, but her strength is gone and she sinks unconscious beside her brother. The children's long absence has alarmed their mother. Time after time she looks out into the raging storm in hope of seeing them returning. She sinks down into a chair in despair. Becoming frantic, she jumps up, throws on a cloak and starts out in the blizzard in search of them, but returns without any trace. Shortly the shepherd reaches home, evidently glad to be in out of the storm, but is horrified when his wife tells him the children have not yet returned. He rushes out and makes his way to a Monastery and hurriedly explains the situation to an Abbot, who disappears, but soon returns with two large St Bernard dogs. The dogs are let loose and the search begins. The trail leads through deep snow, over hills, through forests and across streams. The dogs suddenly come to a halt, poke their noses around in the snow, evidently being satisfied the object of their search lies beneath. One stands sentinel, as if to mark the spot, while the other hurries back to meet the searchers, returning with them. The men begin to dig away the snow, and soon come upon the two unconscious children. They wrap them in the blankets which had been strapped to the backs of the dogs, and carry them home. The mother is anxiously waiting the return of the searching party when the door opens and they walk in with their unconscious burdens. The blankets are taken off and under the influence of a warm room and a vigorous rubbing they regain consciousness. The subject closes with a close-view head picture of a St. Bernard dog. -- The Moving Picture World, May 25, 1907