The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1888-05-05
THE TABLES TURNED.
How a Sheep Really and Truly Chased n
VOLTA Funny Sight.


VOLTA Funny Sight.
Did you ever hear of asleep chasing
a wolf? No. don mean wolf chas-
ing sheep. OF course you have heard
of that; but did you ever hear of a
sheep which really and truly chased a
wolf?
No. it isn't an allogory, nor a fairy
story, and it hasn't any special moral
Tho only moral is that it is true.
Well, l went one fall to stay with a
friend in Canada. My friend had farm
called Swamscot, near Collingwood. q
little town at the head of Lake Super
ior. the station whence the steamers
start for their trip through the Lake
and to the far Northwest.
There was quite a number of wolves
in that region when my friend first
went there to live; but he had Il num-
Der of dogs on the farm, and some of
them were very fierce and strong; so,
after q few years, during which the
dogs and the wolves often met, the
wolves found it was hardly worth their
was the owner of Swampscot Farm
because one of those dogs would I'M
doubtedly be disagreeablc enough to
bark at them, and then in "a moment
the whole pack would come tumbling
out and the boys would run helter-
SHELTER to see the fun, and away would
go Me- Wolf, with such shouting and
hallooing and barking at his heels that
he would think the end of the world
was at hand. And very often indeed
it was, SO far as he was concerned, and
he might consider himself lucky if he
could reach the safe shelter of the big
woods which came down to the edge of
Mr.. Mobiles clearing. For more than
once it happened that old Jowler came
sauntering back to the house with q
grim look. which said just as plainly as
if he could talk, There's another of
those rascals out of the way" And
soon the boys would come running in,
with the VOLTS head to nail up on the
barn-door; and that was the conclusion
OF his little visit to Swampscot.
So you see. it didn't pay the wolves
to come and see us on ordinary occa-
sions. Only when the little newborn
lambs were out in the fields with their
mothers, would wolf now and then
find an opportunity to snap up one of
the babies and carry it off to his family
in the forest
Oh, you thought l was only in fun,
did you. and that | meant to tell you
about a wolf chasing sheep, after all?
just wait moment till tell my story.
SO far | have written only what the
story-book people call an Introductory
chapter.
Now. the year was at Swampscot,
it happened that Mr.. Mobiles little
daughter Annie, dear little girl with
rosy checks and curly yellow locks,
took great fancy to have one of the
lambs for pet. So her father had one
of tho little, white. fluffy baby-lambs
Drought into the house, and Annie
used to feed it and carry it about in
her arms as if it were little toy-ani-
mail.
However. the lamb soon grew too
heavy to be carried around
w so small girl, and before summer
had well begun it was trotting about
everywhere after Annie, like Mary's
little lamb in that poem which some of
you may have heard.
All the dogs were pets
of Annie's, as indeed were all
the animals in the farm-yard;
and at first, when she took her baby
sheep out in the yard, the dogs did not
know what to make of it. They wag-
god their tails and barked ''how-do-
you-do" to Annie's new friend; but
tho poor little lambkin did not under
stand the dog-language at all, and ran
frightened to Annie, and hid its little
head in her dress.
1t was not long, however, before the
dogs and tho lamb were on excellent
terms. They seemed all at once to be-
conc great friends, and when the lamb
was almost full-grown sheep it often
forsook even Annie for the company of
it's new companions, and ran about
everywhere with the dogs. Mr.. Noble
declared that he once heard the sheep
trying to bark, but / am inclined to
think he was making fun of u.s. can't
believe the lamb went so far as that,