e had nothing for it,"
says the shepherd, "but to return to our master and tell him that we had
lost his whole flock of lambs. On our way home, however, we came
suddenly upon a body of lambs at the bottom of a deep ravine, and in
front of them was sitting Sirrah, who was looking around for help. We
decided that here was at least one of the divisions which Sirrah had
managed to collect; but what was our astonishment when we discovered
that not one of the whole flock was missing. How he had got all the
divisions together in the dark is beyond my comprehension. I never felt
so grateful to any creature under the sun as I did to my honest Sirrah
that morning."

[Illustration]

XVII

TRAVELLERS

An innkeeper once sent, as a present to a friend, a dog and cat that had
been companions for more than ten months. The carrier took them, tied up
in a bag. A short time after the dog and cat set out together, and
returned to their old home, a distance of thirteen miles. They jogged
along the road side by side, and on one occasion the dog gallantly
defended his fellow-traveller from the attack of another dog they met.

[Illustration]

XVIII

FILIAL DUTY

A surgeon's mate on board a ship relates that while he was lying awake
one evening, he saw a rat come into his berth, and after looking
carefully about the place, go away with the greatest care and silence.
Soon after it returned, leading by the ear another rat, which it left at
a small distance from the hole by which they had entered. A third rat
joined this kind conductor; they then foraged about, and picked up all
the small scraps of biscuit; these they carried to the second rat, which
seemed blind, and staid right on the spot where they had left it,
nibbling such food as its faithful friends, whom the story-teller thinks
were its children, brought to it from the more remote parts of the
room.

[Illustration]

XIX

A DOG SHEEP-STEALER

A shepherd, who was hung for sheep-stealing, used to commit the
robberies by means of his dog. Whenever he wished to steal any sheep, he
sent the dog to do the business. He would visit a flock of sheep,
looking them over, as if he intended buying some. The dog was always by
his side, and to him he gave a signal secretly, whenever he saw any
particular sheep he wanted. Sometimes he would pick out ten or twelve
from a flock of some hundreds. Dog and man then went away, and from a
distance of several miles, the