LAMB, SHEPHERD AND FOX 59 



They crossed the roads in arcs ; each separate drift made 

 miniature Alps, with a fine sharp ridge and occasional 

 peak and steep side flattening out to the foothills. Four 

 feet of depth gave you the model of a Swiss scene. The 

 matrix was the hollow of the roadway, and the gaps in 

 the hedge directing both the draught and the supply of 

 snow. A gap between two holly bushes made the finest 

 ridge. 



The scene was delightful, but you cannot walk far 

 through four feet of ridged snow, and it became 

 necessary to take to the field, as, indeed, may be the 

 better course after heavy rain. Ways are never so foul 

 as in these dug-out lanes and by-roads. As I walked 

 through a gap in the hedge I came face to face with 

 the most forlorn little creature that ever I saw, a very 

 young lamb, bleating almost inaudibly and standing 

 with its back legs wide apart, as if it feared to fall. 

 Where was the mother ? No sheep were in sight ; and 

 it is rare for a ewe to neglect her lamb. One thought of 

 Jan Ridd, who found the sheep buried in drifts, but 

 nevertheless comfortable enough in the snow house 

 hollowed out by their warm wool and warm breath. 

 Modern man could not carry a sheep under each arm 

 like the Devon Hercules ; but a lamb was not a difficult 

 matter, if one knew where to convey it. At this crisis a 

 small boy appeared. He was the son of the shepherd 

 sent forth on a roving expedition to see what the sheep 

 were doing. The flock had wandered far in search of 

 food. No hay enclosure suitably furnished with roots 

 had been provided, for the strange summer-like season 

 had encouraged such grazing as you do not find in one 

 January out of a score. The ewes, it seemed, were in the 

 next field but two ; and we went in search. The lamb 

 needed no help in spite of its feebleness. It followed the 



