amous man.

But he tended his sheep faithfully until the time came. For he was
growing and learning all the while. In his happy outdoor life he became
wise in many things which other people never know. He found the secret
of the whispering wind, and the song of the brook. He knew what the
chatter of the squirrels meant, and the caw of the crows. He learned the
ways of all the little bright-eyed animals whom he met in his walks over
the hills of heather; and he grew to love every creature which has fur
or feathers and goes upon four legs or on two. Especially he loved the
birds. He used to watch them for hours together, the little larks
gurgling up and trilling down again; the great gulls swooping and
curling and sailing like white ships in the blue sea of sky. And he
longed, oh! how he longed to have wings and to flutter and float away
like the birds.

One night while he lay watching his sheep upon the pink heather which
bears you up like a springy cushion, he saw a strange thing in the sky.
There seemed a great pathway of light, and down it a band of angels came
from heaven, clothed all in rainbow glory. And in a little while he saw
them mounting back again, bearing a beautiful blossom among them. And he
guessed that it was the soul of some holy man, being carried to
Paradise.

[Illustration: SAINT CUTHBERT'S VISION]

Sure enough, the next day the news went abroad that Aidan, the holy
Bishop of Lindisfarne, had died that very night. Then Cuthbert knew
that he, a little shepherd boy, had been blessed to see a holy vision.
He wondered why; but he felt sure that it meant some special grace to
him. Day after day, night after night, he thought about it, wondering
and wondering. And at last he made up his mind that he, too, would
become a holy man, and then perhaps he should find out all about it.

He was fifteen years old when he came to Melrose Abbey to be made a
monk. And there he lived and grew rich with the wisdom of books; which,
added to the wisdom of the woods and hills and streams which he already
possessed, made him a very wise man indeed.

He had not been there long before every one, even the Abbot himself, saw
that this glorious young monk was the most powerful of them all. Every
one obeyed and reverenced him. Every one came to ask his advice and
help. Every one sent for him in time of trouble. With his beautiful face
and strong body, his kind eyes and great hands tender as a woman's to
touch a little sick