ind him so sensible of his faults, and hoped he would be
equally ready to amend them.

Miss Simmons then continued her narrative.

"If Sophron ever permitted himself to shed the blood of living
creatures, it was those ferocious animals that wage continual war with
every other species. Amid the mountains which he inhabited, there were
rugged cliffs and inaccessible caverns, which afforded retreat to
wolves, and bears, and tigers. Sometimes, amid the storms and snows of
winter, they felt themselves pinched by hunger, and fell with
irresistible fury upon the nearest flocks and herds. Not only sheep and
oxen were slaughtered in these dreadful and unexpected attacks, but even
the shepherds themselves were frequently the victims of their rage. If
there was time to assemble for their defence, the boldest of the youth
would frequently seize their arms and give battle to the invaders. In
this warfare, which was equally just and honourable, Sophron was always
foremost; his unequalled strength and courage made all the youth adopt
him as their leader, and march with confidence under his command; and so
successful were his expeditions, that he always returned loaded with the
skins of vanquished enemies; and by his vigilance and intrepidity he at
length either killed or drove away most of the beasts from which any
danger was to be feared.

"It happened one day that Sophron had been chasing a wolf which had made
some depredations upon the flocks, and, in the ardour of his pursuits,
was separated from all his companions. He was too well acquainted with
the roughest parts of the neighbouring mountains, and too indifferent to
danger, to be disturbed at this circumstance; he therefore followed his
flying foe with so much impetuosity that he completely lost every track
and mark with which he was acquainted. As it is difficult, in a wild
and uncultivated district, to find the path again when once it is lost,
Sophron only wandered the farther from his home the more he endeavoured
to return. He found himself bewildered and entangled in a dreary
wilderness, where he was every instant stopped by torrents that tumbled
from the neighbouring cliffs, or in danger of slipping down the
precipices of an immense height. He was alone in the midst of a gloomy
forest, where human industry had never penetrated, nor the woodman's axe
been heard since the moment of its creation; to add to his distress, the
setting sun disappeared in the west, and the shade