d the nails and give them to
you."

"That's true for you, miss," answered the girl; "and it's a much better
way than kapeing them in my mouth."

"And you can talk better," urged Minnie, with a roguish look.

Anne laughed outright. "Ah, it's the story ye're after, I see; and sure
ye're welcome to all I can tell you.

"You know my mother was English, and my father Irish. I was born in the
great city o' Dublin; but after my father died, which was long enough
before I could tell my right hand from my left, I went with my mother to
her home in England. Of coorse, I knew nothing of that except by
hearsay, which is no evidence at all; but well I can remember, when I
was old enough, I was sent out on my grandfather's farm, to mind the
sheep; I had a dog, Rover, to go with me, and a little crook, because
I was a shepherdess, you know; and I used to carry dinner enough in my
pail for Rover too, for he had to work hard, poor fellow!

[Illustration: THE YOUNG SHEPHERDESS.]

"I liked it very well at first, for the lambs looked so pretty, skipping
around the dams; and the air was so fresh and bright; but I was a very
little girl; so I soon grew tired, and left all the care of the sheep to
Rover. He flew from one end of the field to the other, chasing them
away from the hill where they used to wander and get lost.

"When I saw the lambs drinking their mother's milk, I thought it must be
very nice; and so I lay down on the grass, and drank some too; and I
liked it so well that I used to drink every day, until grandfather found
it out, and forbid me, because the lambs would not have enough.

"By and by I grew up to be a big girl, and then, what with tending the
sick sheep, and bringing up the cossets, I had plenty to do. Grandfather
had five hundred ewes. He was a rich man, and every body thought well of
him. When the lambs began to come, there were some of the ewes that
would not own them."

"I know about that, Anne," said Minnie; "mamma told me."

"Well, when there are two, this is often the case; or sometimes the
shepherd finds the mother has not milk enough for two, even if she would
like them. Did your mamma tell you that some kinds of sheep are much
better nurses than others?"

"No, I think she did not know that. She says she don't know much about
sheep."

"Very likely, as she was not brought up with them. There is a kind
called Merinos, which are very bad nurses. Grandfather wouldn't have
them on that account, thou