Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-10-24

fSiioWiGg him, he tumDi uUuu nil,
when he saw nothing unusual in the
looks of the ground, and up hill again
under similar circumstances. In this
frame of mind he comes to a shadow
cast by neighboring hill. This is the
most appalling thing he has yet seen
In lie. lie stands in the bright sun
shine; twelve inches ahead of him all
the world is black. How shall he get
over that terrible linep 1t must be
worse than going down hill. or up hill,
or running after dog that prowls or
a man that kicks. 1t surely looks much
more frightful than any of these things.
His mother is in the shadow and coaxes
him to come along, but he will not risk
lt-he stands on the edge and bawls at
the top OF his powers. The shepherd
with his big foot comes to the rescue.
and our poor lamb is lifted from sun
light to shadow at the end of No. 9
boot.
He trots along after his mother for a
few yards and meets new difficulty.
This time tits from shadow to sunlight.
1t looks rough; the situation seems to
present no end of difficulties. He
walks across the line with fear and
trembling, only to find it very simple
and easy, and concludes that things are
not so bad as they look. He has already
begun to find that things which
seem easy in life lead often to disaster,
and forbidding things often present no
real danger.
At this time he is about one hour
old; for whole hour he has been run
ming his respirative, circulative and
locomotive powers as an independent
being, and has become quite a lamb.
just at that instant a carriage drives
rapidly along the road. His quick eve
sees 1t; he thinks, perhaps, it is his
mother, and that she is running from
danger. He strikes out after it. 1t is
wonderful what an hour has done for
him in the way of developments; he
runs faster than the shepherd, faster
than his mother, and is in imminent
danger of getting under the horses
feet or the wheels of the carriage.
1t is here that the dog comes in play,
if he understands his business. He
runs up alongside of the lamb, pushes
it over with his nose, jumps upon it
and holds it down upon the ground
with his nose until the shepherd comes
up. The shepherd takes the lamb and
stands it upon its feet so that it can see
its mother, who has come up to within
few feet. He holds it until it sees
its mother on a move, and then lets it
go. The old eve ticks off the face of
sadder and wiser lamb, lets him have
another dose of liquid nourishment and
together they get home.
There is only one thing that is 500
times as funny and provoking by turns
as lamb, and that is 500 lambs to-
gether when they are about a month
old. The shepherd sits down and
watches the 500 lambs all in a bunch
by themselves, playing, running and
frolickiug, and he laughs. When he
has tried, and tried in vain, to get the
same 500 across bridge or into COR
raj he sits down again, but he does not
laugh this time.
A young lamb has no way of telling
which eve is its mother, and the
mother only knows which lamb is her
own by the scent Hence, while very
young it is bad plan to have too
many together, for the eve may be
confused by so many lambs, or become
partially Indifferent, and the lamb per-
ish for want of care. When a few
weeks old, however. they know each
other by the sound of the voice. In a
band of 1000 or 5000 ewes eve may
call her lamb, and the lamb will answer
from the other side of the flock. They
will 90 as straight to each other, right
through the whole band, as they would
if they were the only two animals for
a mile around.