Episode 15 - Beautiful Joe - Marshall Saunders

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter twenty nine, a talk aboutsheep. Miss Laura was very much interested
in the sheep on Dingley Farm.There was a flock in the orchard near
the house that she often went tosee. She always carried roots and vegetables
to them, turnips particularly, forthey were very fond of them. But

(00:25):
they would not come to her andget them, for they did not know
her voice. They only lifted theirheads and stared at her when she called
them. But when they heard misterWood's voice, they ran to the fence,
bleeding with pleasure and trying to pushtheir noses through to get the carrot

(00:47):
or turnip or whatever he was handingthem. He called them his little south
Downs, and he said he lovedhis sheep, for they were the most
gentle and inoffensive creatures that he hadon his farm. One day, when
he came into the kitchen inquiring forsalt, Miss Laura said, is it

(01:11):
for the sheep? Yes, hereplied, I'm going up to the woods
pasture to examine my shropeshures you wouldlike to go to, Laura said,
Miss Wood, take your hands rightaway from that cake. I'll finish frosting
it for you. Run along andget your broad brimmed hat. It's very

(01:33):
hot. Miss Laura danced out intothe hall and back again, and soon
we were walking up back of theholes along a path that led us through
the fields to the pasture. Whatare you going to do, uncle,
she said? And what are thosefunny things in your hands? Toe clippers,

(01:57):
he replied, And I'm going toex am in the sheep's hoops.
You know, we've had warm,moist weather all through July, and I'm
afraid of footrot. And then there'ssometimes trouble with overgrown hoops. What do
you do if they get footrot,asked Miss Laura. I've various cures,

(02:19):
he said, pairing and clipping anddipping the hoof and blue vitriol and vinegar,
or rubbing it on as the Englishshepherds do. It destroys the diseased
part but doesn't affect the sound.Do sheep have many diseases? Asked Miss
Laura. I know one of themmyself. That is the scab, A

(02:44):
nasty thing, that, said misterWood vigorously. And a man that builds
up a flock from a stockyard oftenfinds it out to his cost. What
is it like, asked Miss Laura. Sheep gets scabbed from a microbe under
the skin, which causes them toitch fearfully, and they lose their wool.

(03:07):
And can't it be cured? Oh? Yes, with time and detention.
There are different remedies. I believepetroleum is the best. By this
time we had got to a widegate that opened into the pasture. As
mister Wood let Miss Laura go throughand then closed it behind her, he

(03:30):
said, you are looking at thatgate. Do you want to know why
it so long? Don't you?Yes, uncle, she said, But
I can't bear to ask so manyquestions. Ask as many as you like,
He said, good naturedly. Idon't mind answering them. Have you

(03:50):
ever seen sheep passed through a gateor door? Oh? Yes, often?
And how do they act? Ohso chilly, uncle, They hang
back, and one waits for another, and finally they all try to go
at once. Precisely, when onegoes, they all want to go.

(04:12):
If it was to jump into abottomless pit. Many sheep are injured by
overcrowding. So I have my gatesand doors very wide. Now let us
call them up. There wasn't onein sight, but when mister Wood lifted
his voice up and cried. Conanblack faces began to peer out from among

(04:35):
the bushes, and little black legscarrying white bodies came hurrying up to the
stony paths from the cooler parts ofthe pasture. Oh, how glad they
were to get the salt. MisterWood. Let Miss Laura spread it on
some flat rocks. Then they satdown on the log under or a tree

(05:00):
and watched them eating it and lickingthe rocks. When it was all gone,
Miss Laura sat fanning herself with herhat and smiling at them. Hew
funny wooly things. She said,You're not so stupid as some people think
you are. Life still, Joe. If you show yourself, they may

(05:21):
run away. I crouched behind thelog and only lifted my head occasionally to
see what the sheep were doing.Some of them went back into the woods,
for it was very hot in thisbare part of the pasture, but
most of them would not leave misterWood and stood staring at him. That's

(05:46):
a fine sheep, isn't it,said Miss Laura, pointing to the one
with the blackest face and the blackestlegs and the largest body of those near
us. Yes, that's old Jessica, Do you notice how she's holding her
head close to the ground. Yes, is there any reason for it?

(06:09):
There is. She's afraid of thegrub fly. You often see sheep holding
their noses in that way in thesummertime. It is to prevent the fly
from going into the nostrils and depositingan egg, which will turn into a
grub and annoy and worry them.When the fly comes near, they give

(06:29):
a sniff and run as if theywere crazy, still holding their noses close
to the ground. When I wasa boy and sheep did that, we
thought that they had colds in theheads and used to rub tar on their
noses. We knew nothing about thefly then, but the tar cured them,
and that is just what I usenow. Two or three times a

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month they're in hot weather, weput a few drops of it on the
nose of every sheep in the flock. I sup Those farmers are like other
people, and they're always finding betterways of doing their work, aren't they,
uncle, said Miss Laura, Yes, my child, the older I
grow, the more I find out, and the better kill I take of

(07:14):
my stock. My grandfather would openhis eyes in amazement and ask me if
I was an old woman petting ofcats. If he was alive and he
could know the kill I give mysheep. He used to let his flock
run till the fields were covered withsnow, and bite as close as they
liked, till there wasn't a scrapof feed left. Then he would give

(07:36):
them an open shed to run underand throw down their hay outside grain.
They scarcely knew the taste of that. They would fall off in flesh,
and half of them lose their limbsin the spring. Wasn't expected thing.
He would say, I had themkindled. If he could see my big

(07:57):
closed sheds with the sunny window thatmy flocks spend the winter in. I
even house them during the bad fallstorms they can run out again. Indeed,
I like to get them in andhave a snack of dry food to
break them into it. They arein and out of those sheds all winter.

(08:18):
You must go in, Laura andsee the self feeding racks. On
bright winter days they get a runin the corn fields. Cold doesn't hut
sheep. It's the heavy rain thatsoaks their fleeces. With my way,
I seldom lose a sheep, andthey're the most profitable stock I have.

(08:39):
If I could not keep them,I think I'd give up farming. Last
year, my lambs netted me eightdollars each. The fleeces of the US
average eight pounds and sell for twodollars each. That's something to brag of
in these days when so many aregiving up the sheep industry. How many

(09:01):
sheep have you, uncle, askedMiss Laura. Only fifty now, twenty
five here and twenty five down belowin the orchard. I've been selling a
good many this spring. These sheepare larger than those in the orchard,
aren't they, said Miss Laura.Yeah. I keep a few Southdowns for

(09:24):
their fine quality. I don't makeas much on them as I do on
these Shropshires. For an all aroundsheep, I like the Shropshire. It's
good for mutton, for wool andfor rearing lambs. There's a great demand
for mutton nowadays all through our easterncities. People want more and more of
it, and it has to betender and juicy and finely flavored. So

(09:48):
a person has to be particular aboutthe feed the sheep get. Don't you
hate to have these creatures killed thatyou have raised and tended so care fully,
said miss Laura, with a littleshudder. I do, said her
uncle. But never an animal goesoff my place that I don't know just

(10:11):
how it's going to be put todeath. None of you will sending sheep
to market with their legs tied togetherand jammed in a cart and sweating and
suffering from me. They've got togo standing comfortably on their legs, or
go not at all. And I'mgoing to know the butcher that kills my
animals that have been petted like children. I said to Davidson over there in

(10:35):
Hoytville. If I thought you wouldherd my sheep and lambs and calves together
and take them one by one insideof the rest and stick your knife into
them, or stun them, andhave the others lowing and bleeding and crying
in their misery, this is thelast consignment you would ever get from me,

(10:56):
he said. Would I don't likemy business, but on the word
of an honest man, my butcheringis done as well as it can be.
Come and see for yourself. Hetook me to a slaughter a house,
and no I didn't stay long.I saw enough to convince me that
he spoke the truth. He hasdifferent pens and sheds, and the killing

(11:20):
is done as quietly as possible.The animals are taken in one by one,
and though the others suspect what isgoing on, they can't see it.
These sheep are a long way fromthe house, said Miss Laura.
Don't the dogs that you were tellingme about attack them? No, For

(11:41):
since I had that brush with Wyndham'sdog, I've trained them to go and
come with the cows. It's aqueer thing. But cows that will run
from a dog when they are alonewill fight him if he meddles with their
colves or the sheep. There isnot a dog around that were dare to
come into this pasture, for heknows the cows would be after him with

(12:01):
lowered horns and a business look intheir eyes. The sheep and the orchard
are safe enough, for they're nearthe house, and if a strange dog
came around, Joe would settle him. Wanting you. Joe and mister Rud
looked behind the log at me.I got up and put my head on

(12:22):
his arm, and he went onbuying. By the southdowns will be changed
up here, and the shrope showswill go down to the orchard. I
like to keep one flock under myfruit trees. You know there's an old
proverb, the sheep has a goldenhoof. They save me the trouble of

(12:43):
plowing. I haven't plowed my orchardin ten years, and don't expect to
plow it for ten years more.Then your Aunt Hattie's hens are so obliging
that they keep me from the worryof finding ticks at sharing time. All
the year round. I let themrun among the sheep, and they nab

(13:03):
every tick they see how closely sheepbite, exclaimed Miss Laura, pointing to
one that was nibbling almost at hismaster's feet, very close. And they
eat a good many things that cowsdon't relish, bitter weeds and briars and
shrubs, and the young ferns thatcome up in the spring. I wish

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I could get ahold of one ofthose dear little lambs, said Miss Laura.
See that sweet little blackie back inthe alders. Could you not coax
him up? He wouldn't come uphere, said her uncle kindly. But
I'll try to get him for you. He rose, and, after several

(13:50):
efforts succeeded in capturing the black facedcreature and bringing him up to the log.
He was very shy of miss Laura, but mister Wood held him firmly
and let her stroke his head asmuch as she liked. You call him
little, said mister Wood. Ifyou put your arm around him, you'll

(14:13):
find he's a pretty substantial lamb.He was born in March. This is
the last of July. He'll beshore in the middle of next month,
and think he's quite grown up.Poor little animal. He had quite a
struggle for life. The sheep wereturned out to pasture in April. They
can't bear confinement as well as thecows, and as they bit closer,

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they can be turned out earlier andget old well by having good rations of
corn in addition to the grass,which is thin and poor. So early
in the spring, this young creaturewas running by his mother's side, rather
a weak legged, poor specimen ofa lamb. Every night the flock was

(14:58):
put under shelter, for the groundwas cold, and though the sheep might
not suffer from lying outdoors, thelambs would get chilled. One night,
this fella's mother got astray, andas Ben neglected to make the count.
She wasn't missed. I'm always anxiousabout my lambs in the spring, and
often get up in the night tolook after them. That night I went

(15:22):
out about two o'clock. I tookit into my head for some reason or
other, to count them. Ifound a sheep and a lamb missing.
I took my lansing and Bruno,who was some good at tracking sheep,
and started out. Bruno barked andI called, and the foolish creature came
to me, the little lamb staggeringafter her. I wrapped the lamb in

(15:46):
my coat, took it to thehouse, made a fire and heated some
milk. Your aunt Hattie hugged meand got up. She won't let me
give brandy even to a dumb beast. So I put some ground ginger and
which is just as good, inthe milk, and forced it down the
lamb's throat. Then we wrapped anold blanket round him and put him near

(16:08):
the stove, and the next eveninghe was ready to go back to his
mother. I petted him all throughApril and gave him extras different kinds of
meal till I found out what suitedhim best. Now he does me the
credit. Dear little lamb, saidMiss Laura, patting him. How can

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you tell him from the other's?Uncle? I know all the faces,
Laura. A flock of sheep isjust like a crowd of people. They
all have different expressions, and theyall have different dispositions. They all look
alike to me, said Miss Laura. I dare say you are not accustomed

(16:51):
to them. Do you know howto tell a sheep's age? No,
uncle, here, open your mouth, coss it, he said to the
lamb that he still held. Atone year, they have two teeth in
the center of the jow. Theyget two teeth more every year up to

(17:11):
five years. Then we say theyhave a full mouth. After that,
you can't tell their age exactly bythe teeth. Now run back to your
mother and he let the lamb go. Do they always know their own mothers,
asked Miss Laura. Usually sometimes ayear will not own her lamb.

(17:34):
In that case we tie them upin a separate stall till she recognizes it.
Do you see that sheep over thereby the blueberry bushes, the one
with the very point? It is, yes, uncle, said Miss Laura.
That lamb by her side is nother own. Hers died, and

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we took its fleece and wrapped itaround a twin lamb that we took from
another ue and gave it to her. She soon adopted it. Now,
come this way and i'll show youour movable feeding troughs. He got up
from the log, and Miss Laurafollowed him to the fenians. These big
troughs are for the sheep, saidmister Wood, And those shallow ones in

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the enclosure are for the lambs.See there's just enough room for them to
get under the fence. You shouldsee the small creatures rush to them whenever
we appear with their oats and wheator bran or whatever we are going to
give them. If we are goingto the butcher, they get cornmeal and
oil meal, whatever it is,they eat it up clean. I don't

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believe in cramming animals. I feedthem as much as is good for them,
and not any more. Now yougo sit down over there behind those
bushes with joke, and I'll attendto business, Miss Laura. I found
a shady place and I curled myselfup beside her. We sat there a

(19:06):
long time, but we did notget tired, for it was amusing to
watch the sheep and the lambs.After a while, mister Wood came and
sat down beside us. He talkedsome more about sheep raising, and then
said, you may stay here longerif you like, but I must get

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down to the house. The workmust be done if the weather is hot.
What are you going to do now, asked Miss Laura, jumping up.
Oh more sheep business. I've setout some young trees in the orchard,
and unless I get chicken wire aroundthem, my sheep will be barking

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them for me. I've seen them, said Miss Laura, standing up on
their hind legs and nibbling at thetrees, taking off every shoot can reach.
They don't hurt the old trees,said mister Wood, but the young
ones have to be protected. Itpays me to take care of my fruit

(20:10):
trees, for I get a splendidcrop from them thanks to the sheep.
Goodbye, little lambs, said dearold Chep, said Miss Laura, as
her uncle opened the gate for herto leave the pasture. I'll come and
see you again sometime. Now,you had better go down to the brook
and the dingle and have a drink. You look hot in your warm coats.

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You mastered one detail of sheep keeping, said mister Wood as he slowly
walked along beside his niece Terrey's healthysheep. One must have pure water where
they can get to it whenever theylike. Give them good water, good
food, and a variety of it. Good quarters, cool in the summer,

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comfortable in the winter, and keepthem quiet, and you'll make them
happy and make money on them.I think i'd like sheep raising, said
Miss Laura. Won't you have mefor your flock mistress? Uncle? He
laughed and said he thought not,for she would cry every time any of

(21:18):
her charge were sent to the butcher. After this, Miss Laura and I
often went up to the pasture tosee the sheaf and the lambs. We
used to get into a shady placewhere they could not see us and watch
them. One day I got agreat surprise about the sheep. I had
heard so much about their meekness thatI never dreamed that they would fight,

(21:44):
But it turned out that they did, and they went about it in such
a business like way that I couldnot help smiling at them. I suppose
that, like most other animals,they had a spice of wickedness in them.
On this day, a quarrel arosebetween two sheep, but instead of

(22:06):
running at each other like two dogs, they went a long distance apart,
and then came rushing at each otherwith lowered heads. Their object seemed to
be to break each other's skull,but Miss Laura soon stopped them by calling
out and frightening them apart. Ithought that the lambs were more interesting than

(22:30):
the sheep. Sometimes they fed quietlyby their mother's side, and at other
times they all huddled together on thetop of some flat rock or in a
fair place, and seemed to betalking to each other with their heads close
together. Suddenly one would jump downand start for the bushes or the other

(22:52):
side of the pasture. They wouldall follow pale mail. Then in a
few minute they would come rushing backagain. It was pretty to see them
playing together and having a good timebefore the sorrowful day of their death came.

(23:12):
End of Chapter twenty nine, Chapterthirty a jealous ox. Mister Wood
had a dozen calves that he wasraising, and Miss Laura sometimes went up
to the stable to see them.Each calf was in a crib and it

(23:34):
was fed with milk. They hadgentle, patient faces in beautiful eyes and
looked very meek as they stood quietlygazing about them or sucking away at their
milk. They reminded me of big, gentle dogs. I never got a

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very good look at them in theircribs, but one day, when they
were old enough to be let out, I went up with Miss Laura to
the yard where they were kept.Such queer, ungainly, large boned creatures
they were, and such a goodtime they were having, running and jumping

(24:17):
and throwing up their heels. MissusWood was with us, and she said
that it was not good for calvesto be closely pinned. After they got
to be a few weeks old,they were better for getting out and having
a frolic. She stood beside MissLaura for a long time, watching the

(24:38):
calves and laughing a great deal attheir awkward gambles. They wanted to play,
but they did not seem to knowhow to use their limbs. They
were laying calves, and Miss Lauraasked her aunt why all the nice milk
they had taken had not made themfat. The fat will come all in

(25:03):
good time, said missus Wood.A fat calf makes a poor cow,
and a fat small calf isn't profitableto fit for sending to the butcher.
It's better to have a bony oneand fatten it. If you come here
next summer, you'll see a fineshow of young cattle with fat sides and

(25:26):
big open horns and a good coatof hair. Can you imagine? She
went on indignantly, that anyone couldbe cruel enough to torture a harmless creature
as a calf. No, indeed, replied miss Laura. Who's been doing
it? Who has been doing it? Repeated missus Wood bitterly. They're doing

(25:52):
it all the time. Do youknow what makes the nice white view one
get? Some big cities the calvesare bled to death. They linger for
hours and moan their lives away.The first time I heard it, I
was so angry that I cried fora day and made John promise that he'd
never send another animal of his toa big city to be killed. That's

(26:18):
why all of our stock goes toWaiteville and small country places. Oh,
those big cities or awful places,Laura, it seems to me that it
makes people wicked to huddle them together. I'd rather live in a desert than
a city. There's Cho, andevery night since I've been there, I
pray to the Lord either to changethe hearts of some of the wicked people

(26:42):
in it, or to destroy themoff the face of the earth. You
know, three years ago I gotrun down, and your uncle said,
I've got to have a change,so he sent me off to my brothers
in Cho. I stayed and enjoyedmyself pretty well, for it is a
wonderful city. Till one day someWestern men came in who had been visiting

(27:07):
these slaughterhouses outside the city. Isat and listened to their talk, and
it seemed to me that I washearing the description of a great battle.
These men were cattle dealers and hadbeen sending stock to Cho, and they
were furious that men, in theirrage for wealth would so utterly ignore and

(27:27):
trample on all decent and humane feelingsas to torture animals as the Chomen were
doing. It is too dreadful torepeat the sights they saw. I listened
till they were describing techs and steerskicking in agony under the torture that was
practiced, and then I gave aloud scream and fainted dead. Away.

(27:51):
They had to send for your uncle, and he brought me home. And
for days and days I heard nothingbut shouting and swearing, and saw animals
dripping with blood and crying and moaningin their anguish. And now, Laura,
if you'd lay down a bit ofcho meat and cover it with gold,
ights burn it from me. Butwhat am I saying? You're as

(28:15):
white as a sheet. Come andsee the cow stable. John's just had
it whitewashed. Miss Laura took heraunt's arm, and I walked slowly behind
them. The cow stable was along building, well built and with no
chinks in the walls, as JinkinStable had. There were large windows where

(28:41):
the afternoon sun came streaming in,and a number of ventilators, and a
great many stalls. A pipe ofwater ran through the stalls from one end
of the stable to the other.The floor was covered with sawdust and leaves,
and the ceiling and tops of thewalls were whitewashed. Missus Wood said

(29:03):
that her husband would not have thewalls a glare of white right down to
the floor, because he thought itinjured the animal's eyes. So the lower
parts of the walls were stained adark brown color. There were doors at
each end of the stable, andjust now they stood open, and the

(29:26):
gentle breeze was blowing through. ButMissus Wood said that when the cattle stood
in the stalls, both doors werenever allowed to be opened. At the
same time. Mister Wood was mostparticular to have no drafts blowing upon his
cattle. He would not have themhield, and he would not have them

(29:51):
overheated. One thing was as badas the other. And during the winter
they were never allowed to drink icywater. He took the chill off the
water for his cows, just asMissus Wood did for her hands, you
know, Laura. Missus Wood wenton that when cows are kept dry and

(30:15):
warm, they eat less than whenthey are cold and wet. They are
so warm blooded that if they arecold, they have to eat a great
deal to keep up the heat oftheir bodies. So it pays better to
howls and feed them well. Theylike quiet too. I never knew that
till I married your uncle. Onour farm, the boys always shouted and

(30:37):
screamed at the cows when they weredriving them, and sometimes they made them
run. They're never allowed to dothat here. I have noticed how quiet
this farm seems, said miss Laura, you have so many men about,
and yet there is so little noise. Your uncle whistles a great deal,

(31:00):
said missus Wood. Have you noticedthat he whistles when he's out about his
work, and then he has acalling whistle that nearly all of the animals
know, and the men run whenthey hear it. You would see every
cow in this stable turn its headif he whistled in a certain way outside.
He says that he got into theway of doing it when he was

(31:23):
a boy and went for his father'scows. He trained them so that he'd
just stand in the pasture and whistle, and they'd come to him. I
believe the first thing that inclined meto him was his clear, happy whistle.
I'd hear him from our house awaydown on the road, jogging along

(31:44):
with his cart or driving in hisbuggy. He says, there is no
need of screaming at any animal.It only frightens and angers them. They
will mind much better if you speakclearly and distinctly. He says. There
is only one thing an animal hatesmore than to be shouted at, and

(32:06):
that's to be crept on. Tohave a persons sneak up and to startle
it. John says, many aman is kicked because he comes up to
his horse like a thief. Astartled animal's first instinct is to defend itself.
A dog will spring at you,and a horse will let his heels
fly. John always speaks or whistlesto let the stock know when he's approaching.

(32:32):
Where is Uncle this afternoon, askmiss Laura. Ho up to his
eyes in hay. He's even gotone of the oxen harnessed to a hay
cart. I wonder whether it's Duke, said Miss Laura. Yes it is.
I saw the star on his forehead, replied missus Wood. I don't

(32:55):
know when I have laughed at anythingas much as I did at him the
other day, said Miss Laura.Uncle asked me if I had ever heard
of such a thing as a jealousox and I said no. He said,
come to the barnyard and i'll showyou one. The oxen were both
there. Duke with his broad faceand bright so much sharper and more intelligent

(33:22):
looking Duke was drinking at the troughthere, and Uncle said, just look
at him. Isn't he a great, fat self satisfied creature? And doesn't
he look as if he thought theworld owed him a living and he ought
to get it. Then he gotthe card and went up to Bright and

(33:43):
began scratching him. Duke lifted hishead from the trough and stared at Uncle,
who paid no attention to him,but went right on carding Bright and
stroking and petting him. Duke lookedso angry he left the trough and,
with the water dripping from his lips, went up to Uncle and gave him

(34:06):
a push with his horns. Still, Uncle took no notice, and Duke
almost pushed him over. Then Uncleleft off petting Bright and turned to him.
He said, Duke would have treatedhim roughly if he hadn't. I
never saw a creature look as satisfiedas Duke did when Uncle began to card

(34:28):
him. Bright didn't seem to careand only gazed calmly at them. I've
seen Duke do that again and again, said missus Wood. He's the most
jealous animal that we have, andit makes him perfectly miserable to have your
uncle pay attention to any animal buthim. What queer creatures these dumb brutes

(34:51):
are. They're pretty much like usin most ways. They're jealous and resentful,
and they can love or hate equallywell, and forgive too, for
that matter, and suffer, howthey can suffer, and so patiently too?
Where is the human being that wouldput up with the tortures that animals
endure and yet come out so patient? Nowhere, said Miss Laura in a

(35:16):
low voice. We couldn't do it, and there doesn't seem to be an
animal, missus Wood went on,No matter how ugly and repulsive it is,
but what has some lovable qualities?I have just been reading about some
sewer rats, Louise Michelle's rats.Who is she asked Miss Laura, a

(35:42):
celebrated frenchwoman, My dear child,the priestess of pity and vengeance. Mister
Steed calls her. You were tooyoung to know about her, but I
remember reading of her in eighteen seventytwo during the Commune troubles in France.
She is an anarchist, and sheused to wear a uniform and shoulder a

(36:04):
rifle and helped to build barricades.She was arrested and sent as a convict
to one of the French penal colonies. She has a most wonderful love for
animals in her heart, and whenshe went home, she took four cats
with her. She was put intoprison again in France and took the cats
with her. Rats came about hercell, and she petted them and taught

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her cats to be kind to them. Before she got the cats thoroughly drilled
one of them bit a rat's paw. Louise nursed the rat till it got
well, then let it down byeSTREAM from her window. It went back
to its sewer, and I supposetold the other rats how kind Louise had

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been to it. For after thatthey came to her cell without fear.
Mother rats brought their young ones andplaced them at her eat, as if
to ask her for protection for them. The most remarkable thing about them was
their affection for each other. Youngrats would chew the crusts thrown to an

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old, toothless rat, so thatthey might more easily eat them, And
if a young rat dared help itselfbefore an old one, the others punished
it. That sounds very interesting,Auntie, saying miss Laura, where did
you read it? I have justgot the magazine, said missus Wood,

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you shall have it as soon asyou come into the house. I love
to be with you dear Auntie,said Miss Laura, putting her arm affectionately
around her as they stood in thedoorway. Because you understand me when I
talk about animals, I can't explainit went on, my dear young mistress,

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laying her hand on her heart,the feeling I have here for them.
I just love a dumb creature,and I want to stop and talk
to everyone I see. Sometimes Iworry poor Bessie Dreary, and I'm so
sorry, but I can't help it. She says, what makes you so
silly, Laura. Miss Laura wasstanding just where the sunlight shone through her

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light brown hair and made her faceall in a glow. I thought she
looked more beautiful than I had everseen her before, and I think Miss
Wood thought the same thing. Sheturned around and put both hands on Miss
Laura's shoulders. Laura, she said, earnestly, there are enough cold hearts

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in the world. Don't you everstifle a warm or tender feeling toward a
dumb creature. That is your chiefattraction, my child, your love for
everything that breathes and moves. Tearout the selfishness from your heart if there
is any there, But let thelove and pity. Stay and now let
me talk a little more to youabout the cows. I want to interest

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you in dairy matters. This stableis new since you were here, and
we've made a number of improvements.Do you see those bits of rock salt
in each stall? They are forthe cows to lick whenever they want to.
Now, come here and i'll showyou what we call the black hole.
It was a tiny stable off themain one, and it was very

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dark and cool. Is this aplace of punishment? Asked Miss Laura In
surprise, missus Wood laughed heartily.No, No, a place of pleasure.
Sometimes, when the flies are verybad, and the cows were brought
into the yard to be milked anda fresh swarm se kettles on them,

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they are nearly frantic, and thoughthey are the best cows in New Hampshire,
they will kick a little when theydo. Those that are the worst
are brought in here to be milkedwhere there are no flies. The others
have big strips of cotton laid overtheir backs and tied under them, and

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the men brush their legs with tansytea or water with a little carbolic acid
in it. That keeps the fliesaway. And the cows know just as
well that it is done for theircomfort, and stand quietly till the milking
is over. I must ask Johnto have their night dresses put on sometimes
for you to see. Harry callsthem sheeted ghosts, and they do look

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queer enough, standing all round thebarnyard robed in white. End of Chapter thirty