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T' lambs niver get over wet spring and t' ewes is poor. Then flock is weel under tally; I've lost two score Swinset Herdwicks, and the mak-up's next Thursday." "But how did you lose forty sheep?" Grace asked. "There was a hole in fell dyke and Swinset sheep are thief sheep, varra bad to hoad. I bowt ewes there and t' lambs followed when they wandert back to their heaf." Grace pondered.
"Kit's coming down the beck; he's brought the Herdwicks!" she cried. "Canny lad!" said Railton, and leaning back limply, wiped his face. His forehead was wet with sweat, for he was weak and the suspense had been keen. The sheep vanished behind a wall, and Lucy began to put fresh food on the table. Mrs.
He did not admit that he liked to take the leading place. His first annoyance came with the sheep-dog trials. He had not known Askew was a competitor and frowned as he saw Grace go up to him when a flock of Herdwicks entered the field. The girl ought to have seen that it was not the proper thing for his daughter to proclaim her acquaintance with the fellow.
The Herdwicks knew the weather and were heading for the sheltered dales. For all that, he pushed on, with a bitter wind in his face, and by and by cold rain began to fall. It changed to sleet and the night had got very dark when they crossed the shoulder of a stony fell.
For on the previous night Rob, who till then had escaped unscathed, had lost a sheep to the Killer: and far worse his flock of Herdwicks, heavy in lamb, had been galloped with disastrous consequences.
They were Herdwicks, a small, hardy breed that best withstands the rain and snow that sweep the high fells in the lambing season. When he had lighted his pipe, Kit thoughtfully looked about. On one side the barren moor, getting dim in the distance, rolled back to the edge of the low country.
The Herdwicks were coming down and presently broke out from the snow in a compact, struggling flock. Tom shouted and threw a hurdle across the entrance when the dogs had driven the sheep into the fold. "I dinna ken if snow'll tak' off or not, but it's early yet and we must have a rest before we try ghyll," he said. They went into the shaft-house and Kit struck a match.
It was obvious that they did not mean to go down the ghyll, and Herdwicks born among the crags can climb where no dog can follow. "The dogs canna turn them," gasped Tom. "They'll be away ower Eel Scar; they're brekkin' noo." The flock began to open out and three or four sheep straggled forward, but Kit's bob-tailed dog slid down a snowy slab and fell upon the first.
Askew had offered a hundred pounds, but this was not enough, and even if Kit arrived with the sheep from Swinset, Railton could not find the rest of the money. However, the arrival of the Herdwicks would make a difference, and he did not altogether give up hope. By and by he tried to get up, and sitting down again with a groan, beckoned his wife. "Martha, you might gan to door." Mrs.
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