The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-08-03

they wu'c threp Al at,t thought thy
wrre entirely slonr. bot uow .E~ CLOSE
hehisd thsm ard gieelirs lheii coufs Nith
spsdr ,kili, dos. NJ h0msn bsius sss
pssF them
Soon culd count them There ~trt
tire. - leliues lies tiny sere mite.
NJ, h,aft,1ulled, TO piutei to sstch
ebb admlstinn the marvellous work ~
thlt spludid eullif,
The sleep were to d, for thy hsd tisv
,lld Tar. The uighi hsd been too short
for he lnfg trip. sud The dog vas plainly
worried. k,x,rly bat patiently be work
,d 80 M siptg, fol0siis what discover
pd 10 u~ No abAndoLed road,
Soon hes were opposite hsrssy TO one
al ~. pastures, hsrwty With a possible,
b ugh icul cpsbmge-doGbtloss made
30 irt, niipnAlly. Nv 4 series Of adroit
mtuwlverings the dog soon had the sheep
IN the pS,'ure, ard passed on over the hill
with than
You may be sure followed And WAS
not surprised to nnd still another pasture,
king In a basin between the hills entirely
cut OF sight. II had a n ,ck of thrifty-lo /.
+ sheen in It. soon discovered my other
four merinos.
The collie hft his charges here, and then
with proudly waving tall started for home,
A. 10 Ia Ia. 10. a
thing Ia all the world, his masters praise.
1t wss all plain enough now. Stories TO
which had listened, balf.incredulousN ,
when bay. stories of dogs possessir z
such inlellig, nee and skill that they could
be trained to cut out Indicated animals
from n ok, came back TO ms now. ! re-
member,d how the suavc old farmer bad
commented upon those merinos, pointing
out n few extra fine ones that first evening
yes, and the evening following, and the
alert collie watching his every movement
v IT'D those wonderful eyes.
The conduct Of the old farmer to whom
had spoken about strsys WAS also explain
ed Doubtless others knew or surmlscd
more than they chose to tell, thus account
ing for the rather disr, spectful nickname,
Old Man Christy.
But my resentment did rot cool bit and
am al aid that 1t was with rather scant
ceremony that, little later, entered the
farmhouse. WAS always a little hot
headed.
But the doughty old farmer never finch
cd He met my charges, first with fat
denial, then with straight bluff, and there
flashed ibto his deep-set eyes a CLEAN that
meant danger.
However, in those days IL took more than
one pair o; angry eyes to halt me II knew
was In the right. | was preparing to de-
liver my uliimstum, and | think he was
preparing to call ia his help to throw Inc
ou. Of the wintow, ghen suddenly ie
His face hushed. and his voice became
husky. He lifted his hand, as II begging
me TO deslst, and passed into another room,
a Kind Of library, motioning me to follow.
Turning abruptly, | saw the cause OF
bis change. In the doorway, flushed and
ANXIOUS, a curious. startled look Ia her b'g,
brown eyes, was hl. granddaughter.
didn't know what to say. and therefore
said nothing. Whether she had overheard
much or little 1 didn't know. Our voices
had been none too low. For a moment the
Girl looked a. me with an odd expression,
an expression That seemed to say that did
not seem to fully understand the case, and
10 implore me to be enient. Then she was
gone.
weat into the other room, and found
that was to have no more trouble with
Old Man Christy. IL was plain that be
would have given half Of his possessions
rsth than have the girl know the truth
Ana as sudden a change had come over me
| lelt the man presently with the under
siandlr that " those sewn merinos were
returned TO my drove In good condI
ditinp befor. rundown that day the matter
wruld probably be dfopp'd, and returning
TO Rob aid Bets, ! r, Joined Tim and tht
| drovt as sucn as soon as possible.
Bat my thoughts returned often tn TN
strange I'D man. tie wss not poor. why
should he do a. he had dones Was he subjec
TO mental lspse,s Or, ss ! believe mor'
| likely, did he have occasional msnla TO pi
his shrrudnoss and skill aud the wonderful
powers Of hi. dog sgsitst law and orde
and The pnwers that beY Something OF tn
Mud ! b leyet, and believe yet.
A gond two hours before rundown TN
gray horses came swinging over the rosd
attached 10 long spring wtgpn, 10 ~hci
vas roony crate Buf the striking Ok
fgu,e vih the gray hair ard white mus
tsche was not On the drivers seat. On
OF The hired mer, foreigner, held IN
reins He unloaded the sheep 10 stolit
silence,
In due time we delivered our drove with
out sifgle lJsf, and TO the mutual salts
faction of sll concerned.
Nearly scar later | received newspsp
er clipping ,-d,r cted 10 womsn's hand, =
containing an sccount OF the death OF HoI
man Christy. well-to do farmer and stool
raiser. He bad been found fesd 10 his pas
ture heart di.aa with hn favorit
dog, notle colIi' keeping faithful ystcl
beside him. Tbs tceuuut stirred ,ne dep
ly.
Some two w,els after - li the stage
driver ihformfd me one dsy thst o.
await d me ht biz bsrn-. sent lh on
iurprise TO Claim u. TIE box provd 10 b
crate cpntsiHihg II noble looking dok
glarcs stu~td ne Tba hrrtS collie. Thei'
was a tot. sisisd By Eta thiisty. ST.
r,feir,d bf, ~ ~ bei ,rsuofathtI's dea b
slstt q that The dog sa. rioing over hi
loss, ald ttki ,bs sent hin Ia NJ, sh9Siti
:, mtttiGg ~ ny ,siH vi b sbimsl't hb'
b. lie, hAt wi . care AID pstiei ce b