y ought to have been scattered all over the hillside in
multitudinous fragments. On the contrary, it was up on the table,
imitating the click of the gun with a spoon. Not that the shepherd
missed. For the first time in its life the rusty lock had 'struck,' and
the dazed shepherd was more than ever confirmed in his belief that the
monkey was a witch.

'Won't shoot,' he muttered to himself, 'won't hang, won't drown. I have
tried the first; I'll prove the next.' So, as he was too superstitious
to try to shoot it again, he went out to hang the monkey.

But there was no tree on the island. All day the shepherd searched for a
place to hang Tricky, but in vain. That night he lay thinking, hour
after hour, where he would hang it, and in the early morning an
inspiration came to him--he would try the pump! So he rose softly and
fixed the handle of the pump high in the air, so that it stuck out like
a gallows, and tied a rope with a noose to the end of it. Then he got
Tricky to perch on the top of the pump, tied the rope round his neck,
and all was ready. The shepherd had heard that the object of hanging was
to break the neck of the criminal by a sudden 'drop,' but as he could
not give Tricky a long enough drop he determined to make up for it in
another way. So he gathered all his strength, and with a tremendous
sweep of his arms sent Tricky flying into space. Of course you know what
happened. The rope--it was quite rotten--broke, and Tricky landed on his
four paws, and stood grinning at his executioner, as if he would like it
all over again.

[Illustration: ALL WAS READY]

That whole day the sheep and lambs on the Island of ---- were neglected.
All day long you might have seen the shepherd sitting by the marsh-side
plaiting something with his fingers. Round him, the ground was strewn
with rushes, some loose, and some in bundles, but for every one the
workman chose he threw away a hundred, because it was not tough and
strong. And as he plaited, and twisted, and knotted, and tested, there
was fire in the shepherd's eye, and thunder all over his face.

At daybreak next morning the shepherd and the monkey once more formed in
procession and wended their way to the old pump. The new rope could hang
an elephant. It was thick as a boa-constrictor, and the shepherd took a
full hour to adjust the noose and get the gallows into working order.
Then the fatal moment came. With a mightier shove than before the monkey
was launched into the