The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1906-03-30
A Merry Shepherd Boy
and q QudrrelSCmp Ram

In the mountainous districts of Nor
way the farmers usually in the spring
send their dairy maids, hired men
and shepherd boys with their cat
tie = cows, oxen, horses, pigs,
sheep and goats-up ON the
mountains to keep saeters, where
they keep them in pasture during
The summer. A saeter is a col
lection of houses, surrounded by
green fields inclosed with fence, and
outside OF this are stretched the great
grazing grounds, over mountains and
valleys, through woods, along rivers,
brooks and lakes. When everything
has been put in readiness and the
weather has become more like sum-
mer the housewives come and take
the places of the dairy maids, and
these and the hired men are sent
home.
/ will not describe TO you the many
dangers 10 which herd and shepherd
boys were formerly exposed, when
wolves and bears were hunting around
for lambs, sheep. calves and other
animals for their breakfast or dinner;
but will tell you about the bright side
of those boys life to show that they
can also play their little tricks and
manage to get a good deal of fun out
o. their daily work, lonesome though
they are in those lofty regions.
One summer my father and mother
living in Col, Hallingdal, a noun
famous district in the southern part of
the country-had in their herd a big
ram with large horns bent backward
into spirals. For some reason or
| other, this ram could not stand to see
the shepherd boy having on his rain
shawl-a large shawl that the boys
put on TO cover the head and Shout
ders on rainy days. AS soon as he
caught sight of the shepherd boy with
| the shawl on. he would look at him a
moment, his eyes would suddenly fash
! FIRE, he would back up few feet, and
then with all his strength he would
leap forward and butt the boy, so that
Le would tumble heels over head
| along the ground. This was quite
| dangerous, as the ram had great bod.
| lily strength, so the boy had to look
ont for him every time he wore his
| shawl.
One day the boy made up his mind
be would play trick on the ram.
The herd was grazing through the
woods. at the foot of high mountain,
toward the shore of Tisleia Fjord. At
this point the bank Of the lake is very
high, and 1t runs up nearly perpendic-
ularly from the water. A few feet
from the edge OF the bank the boy
found stub OF tree. The stub was
/ just of the same size as the boy, and
it was so decayed that only a small
kick would send it crumbling over the
ground. over this stub the boy hung
his shawl, on its top he placed his cap,
and in other ways made it look like
himself. Then he hid himself behind
some trees, watching the herd, that
now was coming grazing toward the
| bank.
All of a sudden the ram caught sight
of the stub-boy and the shawl! He
threw up his head, looked at the figure
a moment, the old fire came into his
eyes again, he backed up a few feet,
put his neck into a stiff curve, and laid
his ears fiat back on his woolly neck.
You could read anger all over his
face. Calculating only the distance to
the stub-boy, he uttered a harsh baa,
and then suddenly, with all his
strength, threw himself forward into
4 run and rushed toward what he sup.
posed was the boy. The stub with a
loud crack few into a thousand rotten
pieces that, together with a cloud of
dust from decayed wood, completely
covered the rams face and the front
of his body, the shawl covering his
head binding him-and bump! with a
tremendous force out over the bank
flew the ram, still covered with the
shawl-and with a great splash fell
into the lake!
In a moment he came to the sur
face again, managed to get the shawl
from his head, and swan ashore.
With dropping ears and water stream.
ing down from all over his body, he
crawled out and up the bank. every
now and then shaking himself violent
ly to get rid OF the water. Having
reached the top of the bank. he slowly
rejoined the grazing herd.
But you should have seen the boy
when the big ram started on that ex-
petition of his through air and water
AS soon as the ram butted the stub.
with that great crack" and plunged
out into the water, he jumped out
from behind the trees, doubled up with
side-splitting laughter.
And when the poor ram crawled up
on the bank, drenched to the very
skin and looking very "sheepish." tho
boy ran over to him and greeted him
with peals of laughter again and again.
20. Billy" he said derisively;
where have you been, Billy? How
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