272 OUR HUMBLE HELPERS 



staying its impatience on the way by browsing an 

 occasional twig in the hedgerow." 



"That 's the way the he-goats of the emigrating 

 flock go, the captains of the company/' put in Jules. 

 ' l The she-goats follow pell-mell with the kids. Left 

 to themselves, they would walk at the head and oc- 

 cupy the post of honor held by the donkeys and he- 

 goats. ' ' 



"Arrived at the pasture, the sheep begin peace- 

 fully cropping the grass without straying too far 

 from the spot chosen by the shepherd. Besides, the 

 dog is there to call to order any that might tend to 

 wander away.'' 



"But the goats don't listen to the dog's warning: 

 their wish is to go and flock apart, is it not?" asked 

 Emile. 



"Precisely. The turf is green, smooth as a car- 

 pet; the grass thick and tender. What more could 

 be desired? But no, the goats will have none of it. 

 The rich grass and the company of the timid sheep 

 are not what they are after. Away up yonder, on 

 the top of the hill, are some great rocks, cleft and 

 overturned in disorder. In the clefts, where a hand- 

 ful of earth has lodged, there are thin tufts of grass 

 half dried up by the sun ; between the fragments of 

 stone a few pitiful shrubs with scanty foliage man- 

 age to find room for their roots. Those are the 

 goat's haunts of delight. Nothing can keep it from 

 them ; away it goes. 



"Soon you will see it on the steep slope of the 

 rocks, moving about with ease where any other ani- 



