The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-06

and suddenly stopped in front of me. For
a moment l WIS startled. The dog passed,
eyed me lceeally, them, coming slowly up,
walked around me, and ct last approached
and lackesl my hand, which l had held out
to him. He then ram away.
81 have never seen a. dog act in SO SIN
gular a. manner and was WONDERING, what
1T could mean. wGlen q, sharp, joyful bark
warned me THAT he waS returning and,
sure enough, he had come back, wa gglnS
MS tain, and followed by the gaunt figure
of a man tlhoiliy clad, barefooted and with
a. wlde-br-4mmed, frayed straw hiatt on his
head. He was about 30 years OF age, and
as he removed his hat and slade well-
though he was undoubtedly a shepherd,
he had once been a gentleman.
LONELINESS OF THE SHEPHERDS
LIFE.
LAS he stood bareheaded before me the
wind blew his long. thin, sandy hair
about his brow and he regarded ME with
strange, far-off look in his eyes. met
several shepherds after this and noticed
so much alone-som etimes even three or
four months without seeing q human be
ing--tL1at they form this hit Of looking
over the plains, hoping that they may
catch slant of someone to relieve the aw
full monotony of their lives.
THE man sat down quietly beside me
and ate sparngly, and rather mecna NJ
cally of the lunch. always sharing ms
morsel with Jack, his dog. took out
flask of whisky, and. pouring out some
of it into a cup, offered my guest
ne saw the liquor, and, turning on me a
| strange, frightened look said: No; none
of that Put it away, please L don't
like the sight of st.
said: You won't go tonight, VIII you!
It's too late. [ wish you'd stay In my
hut tonight. It's SO long since have seen
a human face-over three months. A
man only comes once in great while to
bring provisions, and that is all we see
of humanity from one years end to the
ether. Do stay itcrnislht, WON'T you"
YIELDED TO THE MAS ENTREATY.
cid like to oblige you,' 1 replied. but
they will be uneasy about me at the home
station.
. But are you sure you know the way?
You might get lost.
On no, replied.
1.-The roor fellow hung his head ana
looked the picture of despair.
How far is the hutt ! asked.
" Only a mile or so. assure you.
81 agreed to go to it, so he started off
at a good pace, fearing L might cnanSe
my mind, 1 suppose. The dog ran ahead,
barking, and l followed on horseback,
We soon came upon his hut 1t was built
for floor. The. shepherd prepared cup
of tea-the usual beverage of the bush
THE sun had gone down behind the low
| horizon with the same erect that IL doeS
at sea- AS we sat outside on couple of
rude blocks OF wood, drinking our re
freshing tea, the moon rose, shedding its
soft light over this mysterious scene
there was no sound but the distant tinkle
of a Sleeps bell and the cracking Of
the little fire that was boiling the tea
! The smoke went I'D straight and silently
into the still air. The loneliness was bad
enough with two men; what must II nave
been with one?
STORY OF THE MANS DOWNFALL.
81 questioned Glim about his past life.
! It seems ne had been educated at E'tcn
! tIlen became a fast youth in DondGC,
whara he stUdaa1 for the law, and in a
! short time rose TO be a, successful harris
ter. He had married early, and had one
| child. daughter born to hiun After two
years of welded life HE lost his wife and
/ child DespaLTingly he took to drink and
being weak and desperate, went down hill
and lest his position.
''T'hais once los. in London is seldom re-
covered Nit 50 i'm America. Here, when
/ q man fails. if he has the strength 10
! brace up again, he goes 10 the west and,
/ rubbing up against new society, abs0rbS
/ fresh magnetism and recuper-2teS at nG1ce.
| No one need despair in this Land of the
! free. But LCnd0n is compact. The Eng
/ liEfln7an hates TO leave mis- home. His fail
/ ings are known and if ne remains they
! ere flung in his face. There is no escape
/ fc.: him. and as his ftTjands shIIn him he
| falls deeper IN disgrace.
! "Iihis was the trouble that had beseJt tGhe
! shepherd, who, having a sensitive and,
perhaps, weak mind, succumbed to THE
pressure tina. surrounded him and, after
| a time With a broken spirit, ne left Eng
| l2rl1 oCl1 Went to the colonies. He pTac-
! ticed law fer some TIME IN Melbourne sue
| ce9sfully, but the old habit came back on
him and as he could NOT resist tempta-
! ton, ne buried himself in that sheep sta
! tion.
PASSED A SLEEPLEsS NIGHT.
''rlhis was the story he told me, and
There was no doubt of its truth.
1T was now glaetjlg late and the sdlep-
! herd insisted ON my taking his couch-am
] old canvas cot, with a plain gray Blanket
| spread upon it. 3d. as / was tired, L ac-
ce-ted the offer and hay down for a
tail figure 1n the grass outside. Jack lay
| between us.
the strangeness of the situation to-
gether with the strong tea seemed to
I Danish sleep from me, and [ must have
! been lying there for an hour with my
+ eyes closed but quite awake. when pres
entity l heard something stirring. Open
ing my eyes [ saw the shepherd sitting
up in the doorwaW. with his head rest
ing on his hand. He seemed uneasy and
/ began restlessly to pass up and down in
but 1 felt that he was awake and watch
/ ing his master as he walked nervously
/ backward and forward in the moonlight
Presently the shepherd stopped in front
and came with a hesitating step toward
! the door. He entered slowly and, stoop-
! ing down upon his hands and knees.
/ craWied Stealtnlly TO the chair on which
/ my coat was hanging. He put his hand
/ in the breast pocket and drew forth the
/ flask of liquor.
CONQUERED HIS CRAVING FOR
GOOD
''And now he seemed bewildered, as if
| some strange emotion had seized upon
/ him, and then fell upon his knees as if
in prayer.
Suddenly he seemed to rise, and, in
stead of drinking the liquor placed the
| flask untouched back into THE pocket of
/ the coat. Then stretching himself on the
floor, with an apparent air of comfort
and satisfaction, he went off to sleep
THE whole proceeding so haunted me
! that 1t was broad daylight before l closed
my eyes. When | awoke the sun was
! high in the heavens. My host had pre-
| pared breakfast After our meal he spoke
| freely of the nights proceedings to me-
I told him L had seen all that had taken
place.
60 thought it might be So he said.
| The old craving came upon me, so strong,
| too; but if l ever prayed for strength it
| was then. Wen, at that moment there
/ was q hand laid on my head, a calnness
came over me that l had not felt for
years, and when l returned the flask to
your pocket. | knew then, as l know
| now, that another drop of LIQUOR will
never pass my lips. AS God is my judge,
l believe it was the angel hand of my
dead wife that rested on my faverish
head, 1t is all over now. thank heaven!
and l can leave this lonely place and re-
| turn to the world again With safety -
| After the story of the shepherd. Mr.
Jefferson pointed out a moral from the
| DlaV of Rim Van Wiuk1e.'' TT cIiIror1