r together as they reached the beginning
of the sheep-path; and now the man's face may be said to have taken on
two coats of expression--a stern judicial look with a smile underneath.
The thought that he was about to execute Justice occupied his mind
wholly as the old wether led them into the strait and narrow way. With
the object of catching the ewe, he ran on ahead toward the path, beside
which he stationed himself, halfway up the hillock, just as the head of
the column was coming; and when the misbehaved mother came trotting
along he laid hands upon her and pulled her out of the procession. At
this, the lamb, which had become a very warm spot on his breast, said
something which sounded very much like _Ma-a-a_; whereupon he decided
that it might as well have supper at once, after which it could follow
afoot. The lamb, having been carried so far through life, came down
rather carelessly on its newly unfolded legs and stumbled; but it soon
picked up what it had learned of the laws of mechanics and fell to
supper forthwith. The man held the ewe as before, and when he judged
the lamb held a sufficiency, he hauled her away toward prison, pulling
her unceremoniously out of the lamb's mouth. And then the lamb,
instead of following, stood braced on the spot as if unable to
comprehend that such a thing was possible. It let out a quavering
complaint, a melting infant cry, at which the man stopped and turned
his head, and, seeing it standing there and looking ahead in a wooden
sort of way, he returned to get it, marching the ewe down the hill
again.

"I hope I'll have five hundred like you," he said, scooping it up under
his arm. "Yes, I do. You'll have me talking to myself yet. Yes, you
will."

For a sheep-man to talk to himself is considered a bad sign; but the
present hermit had no chance to go farther in this course. The dog,
dashing suddenly ahead, stopped at the corner of the shack and growled.
So occupied had the herder been with his distracting duties that he had
not taken much notice of the shack as he drew nearer to it; but now
that the dog raised the alarm he looked and saw a blue wraith of smoke
hovering over the roof. His fire-hole, it seemed, was lit. This was
not unwelcome news, as any one may imagine who has lived even a few
days so utterly alone. But whether the visitor was a stranger or a
friend was made a matter of doubt by the conduct of the dog, who was
barking and growling and wagging his tai