fter
supper? It was too far for the old man to go to the distant village,
and no one was likely to come in to see them. No doubt, too, he was
very tired, and ready to go to bed very early. You know how sleepy you
are after you have been out in the fields all day long. But first he
read a little in his Bible; and when the dog saw his master take up
the book and put on his spectacles, he probably stretched out on the
floor and kept very still.

As time went on, the old man became more feeble and the dog worked all
the harder to save his master's strength. It may be that toward the
last the dog did almost all the work of caring for the sheep. Then,
one morning, the old shepherd did not wake up. Even the tugging and
sharp barks of his faithful friend failed to arouse him. It may be
that the dog's barks brought some passing drovers to the door.

In the picture the dog presses close to the coffin. His clinging paws
have dragged the blanket to the floor. His eyes seem full of tears of
hopeless grief, as if he understood his master could not come back. He
must have kept that same rigid and sorrowful position since the men
left. Some green branches placed upon the coffin have fallen to the
floor because of the dog's first frantic tugging at the blanket. The
shepherd must have led a lonely life indeed to have no one but his
faithful dog to watch beside him. His hat and cane lie where he left
them, and all is very quiet.

In another picture Landseer painted a dog lying on the ground over the
grave where his master lies buried. We can easily imagine that this
dog will follow his master to his last resting place and that he, too,
will act as sentinel over the grave of the one he loves so dearly.
Landseer wanted to make us feel how good and faithful a friend a dog is.

=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= Whose home was
this? In what country did he live? Tell about his life among the
hills. Who helped him care for the sheep? Why must they be cared for?
Where did they stay at night? What could the old man do in the
evening? When he became feeble, who did nearly all the work of caring
for the sheep? When the master did not wake up what did the dog
probably do? Why have the branches fallen from the coffin? Why do you
suppose there is no one else in the room?

=The story of the artist.= Sir Edwin Landseer's grandfather was a
jeweler and his father also learned that trade. The jewelers of that
day were very ofte