e mother of the twins. "I may
forget how you look if you are away long."

"It seems to me," said the brother, "that we always have to stay close
to you. I never have a bit of fun!"

When they had cuddled down for the night, the twin Lambs slept soundly.
Their mother lay awake for a long, long time in the dark, and she was
not happy. A few careless words from a selfish little Lamb had made her
heart ache. They were not true words either, for during the daytime her
children ran with their playmates and had fine frolics. Still, we know
that when people are out of patience they often say things that are not
really so.

In the morning, men came into the barn, which opened off the
Sheep-shed. They had on coarse, old clothing, and carried queer-looking
shears in their hands. The Sheep could see them now and then when the
door was open. Once the farmer stood in the doorway and seemed to be
counting them. This made them huddle together more closely than ever.
They could see the men carrying clean yellow straw into the barn and
spreading it on the floor. On top of this was stretched a great sheet of
clean cloth.

Then the men began to come into the shed and catch the Sheep and carry
them into the barn. They were frightened and bleated a good deal, but
when one was caught and carried away, although he might struggle hard to
free himself, he did not open his mouth. The old Wether Sheep was the
first to be taken, and then the young ones who had been Lambs the year
before. For a long time not one of the mothers was chosen. Still, nobody
knew what would happen next, and so, the fewer Sheep there were left,
the more closely they huddled together.

At last, when the young Sheep had all been taken, one of the men caught
the mother of the twins and carried her away. She turned her face toward
her children, but the door swung shut after her, and they were left with
the other Lambs and their mothers. From the barn came the sound of
snip-snip-snipping and the murmur of men's voices. Once the twins
thought they saw their mother lying on the floor and a man kneeling
beside her, holding her head and forelegs under his arm, yet they were
not sure of this.

The brother ran to the corner of the shed and put his head against the
boards. He suddenly felt very young and helpless. "My dear woolly
mother!" he said to himself, over and over, and he wondered if he would
ever see her again. He remembered what he had said to her the night
before. I