The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-10-05

rocks standing close together, which he
knew he had not seen on the way up /;
and presently he came upon broken,
ridgy bit of ground, cut up by deep hol-
lows, which was perfectly new to him.
He was just about to halt, when all at
once he came out upon steep incline of
smooth turf, leading easily downward
Rather too easily, indeed for the short
dry grass was almost as slippery as ice,
and more than once he only saved him
self from falling headlong by digging the
iron-shod heels of his shoes firmly into
the ground.
Suddenly the lamb stopped short, and
tugged violently at the cord, uttering a
shrill, terrified cry. At the same moment
Paul's right foot dislodged large stone
which was lying just in front of them
The stone bounded twice, and then
came long silence, followed by faint
plunge far away. In a moment the boy
knew tnat he was standing upon the
brink of fathomless precipice.
Strong as Pauls nerves were, this dis
covery almost paralyzed him for an in
slant and still worse was the thought of
having to retrace his steps up that steep
slippery incline, with this hideous gulf
yawning for him in the darkness. But
there was nothing else to be done so up
he went, picking his way as cautiously as
if treading upon ice, till at length he
reached small patch of tolerably good
ground.
Here, feeling about with his spiked
staff (for by this time all was dark as
midnight), he found two huge boulders
close together, and crept in between
them. Then blocking up the two ends
of the narrow hollow with loose stones,
to keep off the cold high wind, he lay
down, and drawing the lamb close to
him for warmths sake, was fast asleep in
a moment.
Day was just breaking, when he was
aroused by the bleating Of his little COM
panion. A chill white mist overhung
the whole mountain, and the air was so
cold that Pauls teeth ratified like casta-
nets; but there was at least enough day
light to see his way by, and on he went
again. 1t was not long before he caught
sight of a spear-pointed crag that had
served him as land mark the day before,
and whose position now showed him that
he must have wandered completely
around the elbow of the mountain, and
passed the night on the very brink of the
most dangerous precipice in the whole
neighborhood But the mist was now
beginning to clear of, and having once
ascertained his whereabouts, he was not
long in finding his way down to the pas
ture where he left his flock, the lamb
trotting briskly beside him.
He got there not minute too soon.
Hardly had he unpenned the sheep, when
he caught sight of figure advancing
toward him from below, in which, as it
approached. he recognized his father.
"Ha, PAUL. astir already? Come,
that's right; see you're in the way to
make frst-rate shepherd. Here's some
hot coffee for you lat least it was hot
when | started with it) just the thing
for this cold morning"
But Paul was thinking of something
very different. The undeserved praise
seemed to choke him, and without at
tempting to excuse himself he blurted
out the whole story of his carelessness and
it's results.
well, well, my boy" said the old
shepherd, clapping him kindly on the
shoulder, :" if you've made slip, you We
mended it again, so we'll say no more
about that Sit down now, and drink
your coffee; but never forget that if it's
good to correct a mistake, it's much bet
ter to have none to correct
And Paul never did forget.