on.

"Come away," she demanded, "and help to get the poor beasts from
the water."

"Get the sheep from the water yourself," returned Tom stubbornly;
and whistling to his dog he went homeward as though nothing unusual
had happened.

On looking over the brink of the cliff Jessie found that it would
be useless to attempt without assistance to recover any of the
sheep. Two of them she saw floating out to sea, several of them lay
apparently dead far down on the rocks. One had fallen on a
projecting part of the cliff, and others, instead of jumping over
the edge, had run down a narrow pathway, and, though not injured,
stood in danger from the fact that they could neither proceed nor
turn back without falling.

Near as she was to Crua Breck, however, Jessie would not go thither
to seek the help she needed. Hurrying towards the croft of
Mouseland she saw two men at work in one of the fields, and they
readily laid down their spades and, after procuring a long rope,
went back with her to the Lyre Geo. Before sunset they were able to
recover the bodies of the animals that had fallen among the rocks,
as well as to rescue the sheep that were still alive.

This had all taken place before Thora and I had come up from the
Gaulton Cave; and as we turned from the head of the cliff to go
home a cart was passing along the moor conveying the dead and
injured sheep to Lyndardy--the sheep which only a few hours before
we had all so hopefully counted upon selling at Martinmas.

Sadly did we contemplate the poor remnant of the flock, and guilty
did I feel for having left the sheep unattended. At first my mother
blamed me sorely for what I had done; but when we talked the matter
over it seemed not so much my own fault in leaving the sheep (for
that had been done many a time before), but Kinlay's neglect in
leaving open the gate of the clover field, and Tom's inhuman
conduct in driving the sheep over the cliff.

I do not know how it fared with Thora when she reached Crua Breck,
but I was not long in doubt as to the result of her immersion in
the underground stream. The next morning I heard by accident that
she was ill in bed. For many long weeks she lay weary and helpless,
and it took all the skill of Dr. Linklater of Stromness to bring
her round to health again. During this time I heard nothing of her,
and much did I fear that her illness was very serious. One thing
that consoled me, however, was the thought that she had the
viking's