ed through the shepherd country in my
youth and seen how hard it is to choose the right path for the
sheep; one leads to a precipice, another to a place where the sheep
cannot find the way back; and the shepherd was always going ahead,
'leading' them in the right paths, proud of his good name as a
shepherd.

"Some paths that are right paths still lead through places that
have deadly perils. '_Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death_,' is the way the psalm touches this fact in
shepherd life. This way of naming the valley is very true to our
country. I remember one near my home called 'the valley of
robbers,' and another, 'the ravine of the raven.' You see 'the
valley of the shadow of death' is a name drawn from my country's
old custom.

"'For thou art with me.' Ah, how could more be put into few words!
With the sheep, it matters not what the surroundings are, nor how
great the perils and hardships; if only the shepherd is with them,
they are content. There is no finer picture of the way of peace
for the troubled in all the world.

"To show how much the presence of the shepherd counts for the
welfare of the sheep I can think of nothing better than the strange
thing I now tell you. It is quite beyond the usual, daily care on
which the flock depends so fondly. But I have seen it more than
once.

"Sometimes, in spite of all the care of the shepherd and his dogs,
a wolf will get into the very midst of the flock. The sheep are
wild with fright. They run and leap and make it impossible to get
at the foe in their midst, who at that very moment may be fastening
his teeth in the throat of a helpless member of the flock. But the
shepherd is with them. He knows what to do even at such a time.
He leaps to a rock or hillock that he may be seen and heard. Then
he lifts his voice in a long call, something like a wolf's cry:
'Ooh! ooh!'

"On hearing this, the sheep remember the shepherd; they heed his
voice; and, strange to tell, the poor, timid creatures, which were
helpless with terror before, instantly rush with all their strength
into a solid mass. The pressure is irresistible; the wolf is
overcome; frequently he is crushed to death, while the shepherd
stands there on a rock crying, 'Ooh! ooh!' '_I will fear no evil:
for art with me_.'"

He paused, looking questioningly at one and another.

"Yes," I said at last, "'in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved