if the voice is raised? The position
forms as fine a period of probation in its way as any that wilful man
could desire; and at that the matter may be left.

The philosopher tells us that we advance more surely by making mistakes
than we do by lines more usually held to be right. Murphy took the former
and apparently correct course, like others before him. The first real
stride he made was thus in connection with an error, and it did him a
world of good. It came about like this.

By way of preface--what can possibly be more irritating to a dog than
sheep? Master and dog were coming home together, and were persistently
mobbed by a party of a dozen. Both agreed that if any real pluck lay at
the back of the attentions so freely bestowed, the view entertained of
the proceedings might be somewhat modified. But both were well aware that
there was nothing of the kind; that the bold front was a sham, that
inquisitiveness was the origin of it all, and that funk in reality filled
every one of those dozen hearts, however much their owners hustled
forward or lifted up their heads and stamped.

How long would Murphy stand such gross effrontery? That was the question
of the moment. So far, he had followed close to heel, with his tail
down--though it is fair to him to say that latterly he had come to carry
it erect. Possibly the sheep approached closer than any dog of spirit
could endure, or one frightened the others and they began to run away. In
a moment it was all over; the sheep had turned tail, and Murphy was after
them, and had even found his voice.

The field was one of five-and-thirty acres, so there was plenty of room
for him to turn them this way and that. To continue calling was, of
course, useless. Time was better employed in taking a grip of the
feelings and deciding on what was to be done. To make matters worse, the
farmer himself was seen to be viewing the proceedings from a distant
gateway. He would undoubtedly expect the law to be carried out, and dogs
that ran sheep to be either broken to better ways or shot. It made no
difference that the sheep were not his but "on tack" in his fields. What
was the lot of these might be the lot of his another day. A thrashing
was, therefore, now imperative. But how was this to be administered, when
the only weapon was a shooting-stick, and the site was the middle of a
large grass field? The best thing to do was to sit down, and be patient.

A part of the dog's education had alr