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KEEPERS OF THE FLOCK
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fireside, smoking and nodding, or fill a warm chimney-corner at the Mug o' Cider Inn with the doddering old grandsires, whose children no longer needed them? That is the sharpest sting of the adder, old age — to be no longer needed. Yet Thomas — what of him — and Ellen? He was a thatcher by trade, but with brick nogging houses coming to be so common, with their slate roofs or tiled ones, there was little work for thatchers nowadays. No, he would give Thomas his flock. There was nothing else to be done; yet emptiness of heart filled him. His worn old hands .clutched his shepherd crook feverishly.
''Till day after tomorrow," he said aloud. ''I'll bide h e e r on 'e downs till then.''
The dreaded day daw-ned in happy shimmer of sunshine and dew. Ellen was radiant. Was not the blue chest in the corner full of fine, new linen
OLD LUKE GIVES HIS CONSENT
ous-eyed, as she stood a-tiptoe to kiss Old Luke's cheek, clean shaven in honor of the day. "It's a wonnerful, coorious world. Did 'e ever see aught like 'un? All fu' o' sunshine an' goodness, an' flam-new an' bright!"
"Aye, lass" — his lips smiled as he kist her, but his eyes brooded — "but 'tis time t' gaw t' the kirk naow; us '11 be late f'r all the doin's an' doggery. Heer, bide a wee ! ' ' He went across the room to the loft, climbed the ladder and disappeared. When he returned, he bore a tred handkerchief, tied by the corners and heavy with something that clanked and jingled. " 'Tis a bit o' siller I've saved f'r 'ee, lass," he whispered awkwardly. "It ban't as much as I'd wish for — s o m e hunnerd pun's or so, but 'twill be a start i' life f'r 'ee — Ess fay! a bit o' a "start. An' later on,
mayhap "
He stooped and kist her. She returned it, and the
jumps and nightrails enough to last for years, fashioned by herself, with many a girlish dream stitched into their seams, and many a happy, shy thought of this very day? Was not her gown beautiful, with its embroidered bodice and full skirt ? Was there not to be sherry wine and dancing on the common, and a feast with plum-cakes and a whole roast calf? Were there not at least five girls whose hearts would envy her as she and her tall, broad-shouldered Thomas stood, hand in hand, before the parson? The spice of their envy flavored her joy to perfection.
V*Ayej feyther!" she cried, lumi=
bright color warmed her cheeks
"Oh, feyther, feyther!" she whispered against his fustian sleeve.
True to his resolve, the old shepherd went, with his new son-in-law, to the master in the big house on the upland, the day after the wedding. Both men went reluctantly. Old Luke's feet dragged as tho weighed by his heaviness of heart; Thomas', from another cause. The prospect of long days on the downs, with only a pack of silly sheep for company, instead of his jolly companions of yore, was not one to lend speed to sluggish limbs. Yet Ellen's fond eyes were on him, glam