10 BIRDS AND MAN 



" Thus happily ended his adventures," concluded 

 the one-eyed cynic, and they all got up and resumed 

 their work of carrying sheep to the boat. 



It was one of the adventures met with by the man 

 of the tale in his travels that came into my mind 

 when I was in the Booth Museum, and caused me 

 to smile. In his wanderings in a thinly settled 

 district, he arrived at a village where, passing by 

 the church, his attention was attracted by a curious 

 spectacle. The church was a big building with a 

 rounded roof, and great blank windowless walls, and 

 the only door he could see was no larger than the 

 door of a cottage. From this door as he looked a 

 small old man came out with a large empty sack in 

 his hands. He was very old, bowed and bent with 

 infirmities, and his long hair and beard were white 

 as snow. Toddling out to the middle of the church- 

 yard he stood still, and grasping the empty sack by 

 its top, held it open between his outstretched arms 

 for a space of about five minutes ; then with a 

 sudden movement of his hands he closed the sack's 

 mouth, and still grasping it tightly, hurried back 

 to the church as fast as his stiff joints would let him, 

 and disappeared within the door. By and by he 

 came forth again and repeated the performance, 

 and then again, until the traveller approached and 



