The story
“Nello lived with his aged grandfather near Antwerp. They were very poor, and the grandfather limped about with a cart in which he carried milk to the city. A poor dog, beaten and misused by a cruel tinker, was left by the roadside to die. Little Nello found him and adopted him. Soon the animal was able to get around again upon his stout legs and was ever after the faithful friend and servant of the household. He drew the milk wagon to town for the grandfather, trotting along cheerfully between the shafts, and when the old man became too weak to keep up his route, Nello, now quite a lad, took his place. The boy’s ambition was to become a great artist, and on his visits to Antwerp he would steal into the cathedral to stand spellbound before the wonderful Rubens.
“Near Nello’s cottage lived a rich miller whose little daughter had been his playmate in childhood. But the miller had refused to let the poor boy visit Alois as they grew older. He feared that his daughter might get romantic notions in her head about this penniless lad. Nello worked all the harder at his sketching, resolved to become famous and win the miller’s regard. A competition was held in Antwerp, open to all untrained artists under 18 years of age, and Nello submitted a drawing. But the prize and the art scholarship he so coveted were awarded to the son of an influential citizen, though the rich boy’s work had shown far less talent than his.
“Brokenhearted, Nello went home, to find that his grandfather had died and that the cottage had been confiscated. All that he had left in the world was his dog, and the two of them went sadly forth to shift for themselves. Struggling through a heavy snowstorm one day, Nello came upon a wallet. Something told him that it belonged to the rich miller. He took it to the miller’s house, giving it to his wife. Begging her to take care of his dog in its old age, Nello turned away again into the storm. The miller wished to make amends to the boy. But when, after long seeking him, he found Nello, it was too late. His faithful dog had made his escape from the miller’s house and had gone to share his master’s fate. The miller found them together, dead in the snow.”
Summary from Reel Life · 16 May 1914
