hepherd could hardly believe his eyes when he returned from seeking
the sheep and found that the kid had vanished. He was afraid to go home
and tell the same tale that he had told yesterday; so he searched the
wood through and through till night was nearly come. Then he felt that
there was no help for it, and he must go home and confess to his master.

Of course, the farmer was very angry at this second misfortune; but this
time he told him to drive one of the big bulls from the mountain, and
warned him that if he lost THAT he would lose his place also. Again the
Shifty Lad, who was on the watch, perceived him pass by, and when he saw
the man returning with the great bull he cried to the Black Rogue:

'Be quick and come into the wood, and we will try to get the bull also.'

'But how can we do that?' asked the Black Rogue.

'Oh, quite easily! You hide yourself out there and baa like a sheep, and
I will go in the other direction and bleat like a kid. It will be all
right, I assure you.'

The shepherd was walking slowly, driving the bull before him, when he
suddenly heard a loud baa amongst the bushes far away on one side of the
path, and a feeble bleat answering it from the other side.

'Why, it must be the sheep and the kid that I lost,' said he. 'Yes,
surely it must'; and tying the bull hastily to a tree, he went off
after the sheep and the kid, and searched the wood till he was tired. Of
course by the time he came back the two thieves had driven the bull home
and killed him for meat, so the man was obliged to go to his master and
confess that he had been tricked again.

After this the Black Rogue and the Shifty Lad grew bolder and bolder,
and stole great quantities of cattle and sold them and grew quite rich.
One day they were returning from the market with a large sum of money in
their pockets when they passed a gallows erected on the top of a hill.

'Let us stop and look at that gallows,' exclaimed the Shifty Lad. 'I
have never seen one so close before. Yet some say that it is the end of
all thieves.'

There was no one in sight, and they carefully examined every part of it.

'I wonder how it feels to be hanged,' said the Shifty Lad. 'I should
like to know, in case they ever catch me. I'll try first, and then you
can do so.'

As he spoke he fastened the loose cord about his neck, and when it was
quite secure he told the Black Rogue to take the other end of the rope
and draw him up from the ground.

'When