Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-01-14
HERDING GOATS
BY John Brock


the goatherd. 1 have not been under
studying him with a view to adopting
his job, for I would need two men and a
dog before [ would undertake to manage a
band of the most capricous creatures that
wear fur. [ would soon herd humming-
birds with a butterfly net. For that very
term, capricious was coined by the Latins
to cover not only their whimsical mode of
feeding, but the utter intractability of their
whole behavior. 1t is not an intractability
based on any continuity of purpose, but on
the unthinkable changeableness of their
vagaries.
The moment he opens the corral gates
they set off in small contingents. This bunch
remembers some acorns which were not
cleaned up the day before yesterday; that
one, for the time being, waits upon his call;
the other strikes out for nowhere in partic
ular across the untracked Wilderness simply
last is the one to chase, but he merely
gathers up the acorn-hunters and wends his
placid way.
Far out on the mountainside you hear the
strays; he squints curiously at them, weigh
ing in his mind the possibility of their hav-
ing any definite object in view. Meanwhile
he leads the others to a lush feeding ground,
for full goat is a good goat, until she has
dozed off her plethora in the shade of the
live oaks by the spring.
An hour passes; you cannot even hear the
bells of the strays. want 'em paged?" you
ask obligingly, as you pick out the sparsest
chaparral between you and the peak behind
which they disappeared.
Nope" answers the laconic herder out
of the side of his mouth not preempted by
his pipe. Presently he removes the obstruc-
ton to explain. "Old Susie was cockin' her
ear to be sure which way we went. She's
pretty responsible, and she's got her kids
along. She'll get religion all right after a
WHILE
Sure enough By the time they are full
they want to doze a bit. But they are in a
strange land. The older ones begin to peek
and peer, their imaginations awake to the
perils of solitude. Presently old Susie Wis
ualizes a coyote out of the futter of a bird
behind a bush, and down they come, their
bells changing as they run.
Sounds like a hardware store fallin
down HILL he grins as they pour in upon
his placid flock, drink deep, and then flop
themselves in the sum- lifting an occasional
eyelid to be treasured of his presence. Susie
edges around within reach of the forgive
ness of his hand, and a small, brown-spotted
kid snuggles close, laying her head on his
knee.
By now another group have slept off their
first fullness and are edging cautiously be-
yond his sight. This time he leaps to his
feet. Its that dam Blucher,' he exclaims
"He amt got bit O. sense, but he's got
just enough of a takin' way with him to
make fools of them that has!'
We trail the recaIcitrant Butcher for half
a mile to the steepest rocks he could find
There he is perched, hundreds of feet above
the trail, nonchalantly nbbling the sparse
grass which sprouts from the moss beneath
an Overhanging stone A whistle brings the
others to attention; they turn back. One
little rascal reaches the very furthest ledge
on a huge steep, slippery crag, and COM
plains that there is nothing below.
You can make it!' shouts her master
She slips down to where only her hind feet
hold, and catches sight of fOurteen-inch
ledge at the end of a six-foot drop. Perilous?
For anything but goat, yes! But she does
it neatly enough, and the whole string of
them follow her graceful leap, like waves
breaking over a bar. Butcher, still pretend
ing to be wild, but unwilling to be left
alone. takes roundabout route Of his own.
You see,' the herder expounds, they're
just like folks. They like to feel they're
somebody. They kind of want to be a little
different from the rest. If they really know
what they're going after, hell and high water
can't stop them, because there's real goat
sense behind it. If they're foolin', you let
them get into a bit of scare and they'll
decide that what's real comfortably safe for
You perceive that the man has the tact
which leadership requires.