THE RED COW 



sheep into the pen we finally decided to corner them 

 and catch them one by one. This was done, and the 

 perspiring family was presently in a position to take 

 a good look at the little flock in their pen. Far be 

 it from me to dash the optimism of the youthful 

 shepherds, but I could not bring myself to verify 

 the belief that triplets are almost as frequent as 

 twins among lambs. Still, wool promises to be a 

 good price and the speculators stand a good chance 

 of realising on their venture. Best of all, they will 

 be helping the work of food production, which is 

 now so urgent. 



The human inhabitants of the farm were not the 

 only ones that were interested in the advent of the 

 sheep. The young cattle ran for their lives when 

 they saw them, and you could hear the colts snort for 

 at least a mile. The Red Cow did not get excited but 

 she bestowed a disdainful glance on them that re- 

 minded me of the lady in Tennyson, who 



"Stretched a vulture neck 

 And shot from crooked lips a haggard smile." 



She is too blase to get excited about anything ex- 

 cept another cow, with whom she might have to fight 



86 



