running towards the wall he would try to turn his
steps in another direction.

No one said anything more about the matter. For somebody suddenly cried,
"_Baa! baa!_" and scrambled over the wall.

Of course the whole flock followed instantly, leaving Uncle Jerry Chuck
to creep out of his hole and watch the last tail of all bob out of
sight.

It was Aunt Nancy's.

"They're a queer lot," Uncle Jerry said aloud. He gave a long whistle.
"I'm glad I'm not one of 'em," he added.

XVI

AUNT NANCY'S PLAN

All was quiet once more, after the race from the ledge near Uncle Jerry
Chuck's home. The flock was feeding again. And if you hadn't noticed how
Aunt Nancy Ewe puffed from her fast running you wouldn't have supposed
there had just been a wild scramble over the stone wall and back.

Aunt Nancy was still feeling sorry for Uncle Jerry Chuck, whose rest had
been disturbed by the thud of hoofs above his head. "Remember!" she said
to Snowball sternly. "Don't go near Uncle Jerry's home again!"

"I won't!" he promised. "That is," he added, "I won't if I can help it.
If I find myself running that way I may not be able to stop myself."

Now, that sort of promise wasn't enough for Aunt Nancy.

"You must turn aside!" she told Snowball. "Just make believe that
there's a bear beyond the stone wall, instead of Uncle Jerry Chuck!
_Then_--" she said--"_then_ you'll turn quickly enough!"

"That's a good idea!" cried Snowball. "If only I don't forget it!"

Aunt Nancy's words never left his mind all the rest of the morning. Just
thinking about bears made Snowball frightfully uneasy. Whenever one of
the flock happened to stray up behind him Snowball jumped, fearing for a
moment that it was a bear.

If anybody said _baa_ in his ear he leaped to one side, expecting the
_baa_ to turn into a _woof!_

He began to wish that Aunt Nancy hadn't told him of her idea.

And all at once, when somebody came up behind him and gave him a nudge,
Snowball started to run.

"There's a bear behind me!" he thought.

Of course the rest of the flock thought he was only playing Follow My
Leader. So they followed him, every one of them.

Snowball went bounding across the pasture towards the stone wall, headed
straight for the spot where Uncle Jerry Chuck had his home. When he was
only a few jumps away from the wall he glanced back. He saw then that
there was no bear behind him. But he did notice Aunt Nancy Ewe, doing
her best to keep up with