Minnie's Pet Lamb, Page 3

  CHAPTER III.

  THE SHEEP AND THE SCAVENGER.

  "Why, Minnie," said Mrs. Lee, one morning a few weeks later, "here is astory very much like that of our pony and lamb. If Poll will stopchattering, I will read it to you."

  "In December, 1825, Thomas Rae, a blacksmith in Hardhills, purchased abeautiful lamb, of the black-faced breed, from an individual passingwith a large flock. It was so extremely wild that it was with greatdifficulty separated from its companions. He put it in a field incompany with a cow and a little white pony. It never seemed to mind thecow, but soon manifested fondness for the pony, who showed thefriendship to be reciprocated.

  "They soon became so attached that they were constantly to be seen incompany, whether the pony was used for the saddle or its small carriage,exciting a smile from those who witnessed the unusual spectacle. Whenthe lamb was approached, she would run under the pony for protection,when she would gaze around with looks of conscious security. At night,the lamb always repaired to the stable, and reposed under the manger,where it felt the pony's breath.

  "When separate, which only happened as it was effected by force, thelittle creature would raise the most plaintive bleatings, and the pony aresponsive neighing.

  "On one occasion, they both strayed into an adjoining field, in whichwas a flock of sheep. The lamb joined the flock at a short distance fromthe pony; but as their owner removed him, it immediately followed,without the least regard to its own species.

  "Another time, when passing through a large flock, it followed itsfavorite without showing any signs of a desire to remain with itsnatural companions."

  "Somebody must have known about Nannie, and put it in a book," criedMinnie, greatly excited. "I wonder who it was."

  "I presume there are many such cases," answered the lady, smiling; "butyou will be pleased to know that Mr. Sullivan will probably be here thisevening; and you can ask him as many questions as you wish."

  The little girl clapped her hands, and then ran out to the kitchen, totell Anne the good news.

  When her father returned, she looked anxiously into the carriage, to seewhether he had any one with him, and was pleased to find that adark-complexioned, black-whiskered man occupied the other seat.

  "I have prepared Mr. Sullivan for a regular catechising," exclaimed Mr.Lee, springing from the carriage, and kissing Minnie's glowing cheek."You may show him Nannie, too; and he will tell you how to manage her."

  They were soon seated in the parlor, when Mr. Lee said,--

  "I have often thought of that beautiful passage in which our Saviourdescribes the Jewish shepherd: 'The sheep hear his voice, and he callethhis own sheep by name, and leadeth them out; and he goeth before them,and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.'"

  "It is astonishing," remarked the visitor, "what power a humane shepherdhas over his flock, when he has once acquired their confidence. Thismethod of giving names to the sheep, as well as to the leaders, is veryimportant. They soon learn the name given them, and will readily come atthe familiar call.

  "I read lately an account given by a gentleman who had been travellingin Greece, and he asked if it was customary there to give sheep names.'Yes,' was the answer; and soon after he had an opportunity of seeingfor himself. Passing a flock, he asked the shepherd to call one. He didso; and it instantly left its pasture and its companions, and ran up tothe shepherd with signs of pleasure, and with a prompt obedience which Ihad never seen excelled in any other animal.

  "I have heard, too, that an English shepherd knows every sheep in hisflock. By feeding the lambs from the hand, and other kind treatment, heaccustoms them to come at his call, and gradually to understand andfollow his directions, when the rest of the flock will immediatelyfollow.

  "In France, the shepherd selects certain sheep from the flock, givesthem names, and teaches them to come by offering them a piece of bread.When he wishes to lead his flock through a defile, or to make themchange the direction in which they are proceeding, he calls one ofthese selected sheep. Those that are nearest follow immediately, and theothers are not very far behind; and so, by degrees, the whole flock isdisposed to obey the call of the shepherd."

  "Since you were here last," rejoined Mr. Lee, "I have been readingYouatt's admirable treatise on sheep. He has an instance very similarconcerning the flock of Messrs. Nowlan, Kilkenny. In 1820, they had sixhundred pure Merinos, all under the charge of one man. Not even a dogwas permitted; the whole care devolved on the shepherd.

  "At the sound of his horn, all the sheep flocked around him if hestopped, and followed him if he moved forward.

  "Salt was the means by which this docility was acquired, a smallquantity of which he carried about with him, distributing a little as areward for their obedience to his call.

  "The Kilkenny farm is divided by the King's River, which at times is sorapid and impetuous as not to be fordable by the strongest horse. Aplank bridge, eighteen inches wide, and one hundred and ten feet long,with a rail on one side, is thrown across for the convenience of thosewho may be desirous of crossing the stream.

  "When it is necessary to remove the sheep from one side of the river tothe other, the shepherd crosses the plank, sounding his horn, and eachindividual of the flock passes regularly after him in single file. Evenin the highest floods, there has never occurred one single casualty."

  "That reminds me," said Mr. Sullivan, "of the flocks in the Island ofCyrnon, which, on the landing of a stranger, always flee away into theinterior of the country; but as soon as the shepherd blows his horn,they scamper around him, and forget every fear.

  "But all this time I am quite unmindful of my young friend, who has notyet asked one question."

  "I want to know whether it's easy to be a shepherdess," said Minnie,blushing; "because I should like to be one; only I should want the kindof sheep that would own their lambs, and love them."

  Both Mr. Lee and his visitor laughed heartily.

  "Sheep have one trait, and a very marked one," said Mr. Sullivan, "whichmakes it difficult to keep them in order. That is, their habit ofimitation. On my farm, the boundary one side is a stone wall, and itseems almost impossible to keep them from going over it. There is nobetter feed in my neighbor's pasture; but for some reason the leaderruns over, and then the whole flock follow. They know better, and theyseldom attempt it when Moses, the dog, is in sight; for sheep soon learnthe exact boundaries of their enclosure: from being driven back sooften, they find how far they can roam, and remain in peace.

  "So, Miss Minnie, unless you can run very fast, and like to keep on thechase pretty much all day, I think you would find it easier to take careof your pets at home than to be a shepherdess."

  "Will you please tell me a story about sheep?" said the little girl.

  "If you like a laughable story, I can tell you one which I was thinkingof not a minute since. It illustrates their habit of imitation. It isoften exceedingly difficult to drive a flock of sheep through a narrowpassage to which they are unaccustomed; but if one of them can be gotthrough, the rest follow without the slightest trouble.

  "A butcher's boy was driving some fat sheep through Liverpool; but theyran down a street where he did not wish them to go. The boy saw a manbefore him sweeping the street, and called loudly to him,--

  "'Stop them! Turn them about!'

  "The man began to run from one side of the street to the other, alwaysopposing himself and his broom to them when they tried to force apassage through; but the sheep became more and more excited, andpressed forward with increasing impetuosity.

  "At last, one of them came right up to the man, who was stooping down,as if he were going to jump over him, which so frightened the fellowthat, instead of rising, he seized the short broomstick, with one handon either end, and held it over his head. He remained a few seconds inthis position, when the sheep made a spring, and jumped fairly overhim, without touching the broom.

  "The first had no sooner done this, than another followed, and thenanother, in quick succession, so that th
e man, perfectly confounded,seemed to lose all recollection, and remained in the same attitude untilthe whole flock had jumped over him, not one of them attempting to passon either side, though the street was quite clear.

  "All this took place just after a wet day, so that the man was entirelybespattered with mud and dirt before they had all passed; and it wouldbe impossible to conceive a more ludicrous appearance than the poorfellow made on that occasion."