Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1877-10-08
stloMth's Column.
AMONG THE SCOTTISH HILLS.
In some parts Of Scotland There are

crowded together. only divided from
each other by deep valleys. They all
grow out of one root-that is, the earth.
The tops of these hills are high up and
lonely, with the stars above them; and
the wind roaring and raving among
them makes such a noise against the
hard rocks, running into the holes in
them and out again, that their steep
sides are sometimes very awful places.
But in the sunshine, although they do
look lonely, they are so bright and
beautiful, that all the boys and girls
fancy the way to heaven lies up those
hills.
In the winter, on the other hand,
they are such wild, bowling places,
with the hard hailstones beating upon
them, and the soft, smothering snow
fakes heaping up dreadful wastes of
whiteness upon them, that if ever there
was child out on them he would die
with fear, if he did not die with cold.
But there are only sheep there, and as
soon as the winter comes over the tops
of the hills the sheep come down their
sides, because it Is warmer the lower
down you come; even foot thick of
wool on their backs and sides could not
keep out the terrible cold up there.
But the sheep are not very knowing
creatures, so they are something better
instead. They are wise-that is, they
are Observation-Disclosures, obedience often
being the very best wisdom. Because
they are not very knowing, they have
man to take care of them, who knows
where to take them, especially when a
storm comes on. Not that the sheep
are so very silly as not to know where
to 60 to get out of the wind, but they
don't and can't think that some ways
of getting out of danger are more dan
gerous still. They would lie down in
quiet place, and stay there till the snow
settled down over them and smotEered
them. Or they would tumble down
steep places and be killed, or carried
away by the stream at the bottom. So,
] though they know little, they don't
know enough, and therefore need a
shepherd to take care of them.
Now the shepherd, though he is wise,
is not quite clever enough for all that is
wanted of him up in these strange, ter.
rible hills, and he needs his dog to helE
him.
Well, the shepherd tells the dog what
he wants done, and off the dog runs tc
do it; for he can run three times a.
fast as the shepherd, and can get up anC
down places much better. [ am no
sure that he can see better than tn,
shepherd, but know he can smell bet
ter. So that he is just four legs and
long nose to the shepherd, besides thu
love he gives him, which would comfor
any good man, even if it we're offeret
him by hedgehog or hen.
One evening, in the beginning O
April, the weakly sun of the season ha
gonn- down with -palo faoo behind til
shoulder of hill in the background Q
my story. And because he was gon
down, the peat fires upon the hearths @
the cottages all began to glow NOR
brightly, as if they were glad he ha
gone at last and had left them thei
work to door, rather, as if they wan
ed to do all they could to make up fc
his absence. And on one hearth in PAL
ticular the peat-fre glowed very bright
: ly. There was pot hanging over
with supper in it and there was littl
girl sitting by it, with a sweet though
full face. Her hair was done up in
3 sllken net, for it was the custom wit
, Scotch girls to have their hair SO a.
ranged, many years before it became
fashion in other lands. She was bus
with blue-ribbed stocking. which 81
Z. was knitting for her rather.
He was out on the hills. He ha
l that morning taken his sheep higher U
E before, and Ellen knew this but
: could not be long now before she woul
i hear his footsteps, and measure the lor
n stride between which brought him an
= : happiness home together.
But hadn't she any mother?
e Oh yes, she had. If you had bet
n in the cottage that night you wou
i have heard cough every now and the
and would have found that Ellen
mother was lying in bed in the ROOF
y not a bed with curtains, but b,
r with doors like press. This does n
= seem nice way of having a bed b
We should all be glad of the wood,
:. curtains about US at night, if we liv,
e in such cottage, on the side of hi
: along which the wind swept like wi
river, only ten times faster than al
Z river would run. even down a hillsid
sr Through the cottage it would be spot
1t ing, and streaming, and eddying, al
= fighting, all night long; and pc