24 FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF 



afraid her father would come home uiiexjiectedly, and as 

 T dreaded to be found in her company (my fears were more 

 for her than myself), as I was apprehensive that he would 

 treat her badly, and that would be worse than any punish- 

 ment he could inflict on me. In order to be sure he was 

 not at home, I went to the back window and peeped in, 

 and saw the mother and family quietly sitting at work, 

 but no old man. Taking it for granted he was not there, 

 I was about to turn the corner to the door, when, to my 

 utter confusion, " Bow I wow ! wow I " barked a large 

 dog, and "Catch him, Prince 1" screamed the old man. 

 " Heaven and earth ! thunder and storm 1 " thought I to 

 myself, "what now?" As quick as thought could come, 

 I determined to keep the house between us, until I could 

 make a safe retreat. Behind the house I flew, and seeing 

 a flock of sheep lying at a short distance from me, and, 

 having light clothes on, I fell on my hands and feet, and 

 began to gallop as fast as I could into the flock of sheep, 

 hoping the old man would take me to be one of the flock 

 Otr went the sheep, the old man screaming at his dog to 

 catch what he took to be a prowling wolf — the sheep and 

 myself both galloping for good life, until I was completely 

 out of the old man's sight. When I found I had succeeded 

 so well, I said to myself, "Clear once more, by gracious, 

 and nothing to brag of 1 This shall be the last time I will 

 go behind any person's house to see what is in it. I had 

 better have gone in boldly, when I could have made 

 some excuse for being so late, and got ofl" like a man. 

 But if I had been discovered, Mary would never have 

 heard the last of it," These reflections past, I wiped the 

 sweat otf ray face, and fixed up my shirt, which had been 

 rearly all drawn up towards my head, by my shoulders 

 being so much lower than my hips in the galloping scrape ; 

 and in heaving and bounding forward to keeji up with the 

 'sheep, uiy lineu was all round the middle of my body. 



