The Mountain Sheep 221 



down the slope to it. What was said between 

 them I don't know; but the child came no far- 

 ther in my suspicious direction ; it stayed be- 

 hind among some little bushes, and the mother 

 returned to scrutinize my hiding-place. She 

 looked straight at me, straight into my eyes it 

 seemed, and her curiosity and indecision again 

 choked me with laughter. She came even 

 nearer than she had come before. How much 

 of me she saw I cannot tell, but probably my 

 hair and forehead; she at any rate concluded 

 that this was no suitable place. She turned as 

 I have seen ladies turn from a smoking-car, and 

 with no haste sought her child again. How she 

 managed their next move passes my comprehen- 

 sion ; I imagined that every foot of the moun- 

 tain ascent near me was in my full view. But 

 it was not. Quite unexpectedly I now became 

 aware of the two, trotting over the shoulder of 

 the ridge above me, with already two or three 

 times the distance between us that had been just 

 now. If I had wished to follow them, it would 

 have been useless, and I had seen enough. 

 When I was ready, I made for the summit my- 

 self. The side which I had so far come up was 

 the south side, and a little further climbing took 



