APRIL 145 



April 12. Hood, who has been suffering from a cold upon his 

 chest, is this morning absolutely set fast with lumbago, so that he 

 can scarcely stir hand or foot, the result of neglecting his first 

 ailment. Luckily he has a most worthy and capable wife, for he 

 is not a man who takes care of himself. 



Our watch for the dog last night proved unavailing. Just as 

 the darkness was finally closing in, Fairhead declares that he saw 

 it a long, dark-coloured animal, which came through the iron 

 gates of the right-of-way, and advanced towards the fold. On 

 winding him, however, for it could not have seen him where he 

 stood in the doorway of the shepherd's hut, it turned and fled, 

 thereby showing how guilty was its conscience. Unfortunately, at 

 the time he had not the gun with him, and the dog put in no 

 further appearance that night, or, if he did, it was too dark to 

 see him. 



Towards daybreak the mare Scot foaled, a * fine upstanding 

 foal,' as they say here. This morning I found Fairhead rolling 

 the new pasture, No. 10, in the heavy rain. One of the oldest 

 and quietest horses on the farm was dragging the wooden roller, 

 but when it saw me advancing upon it beneath an umbrella it took 

 fright, and nearly precipitated itself and the roller into the ditch. 

 Sensible as they are, farm-horses draw the line at umbrellas, to 

 which they are unaccustomed. When he had finished the rolling, 

 I went with Fairhead to see the foal. Undoing the door of the 

 box, he entered it, still wearing his wet military greatcoat ; where- 

 upon the mare, although he called out at her, laid back her ears 

 and drew up her lips. Indeed, she looked very nasty, and I 

 thought that she meant to attack him, an opinion which Fairhead 

 shared, for he got out of the box as quickly as he could. Remark- 

 ing that he had never known her behave like this before, he tried 

 to re-enter, with the same result. Then the solution of the mystery 

 struck him. 



'She don't know me in this here coat,' he said, 'and can't 

 smell me through it ' ; and, pulling it off, he went into the box 



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