voice echoed amongst the hills, joined with the troubled baaing of the
sheep. Stafford stopped and watched her: there was evidently something
wrong; for the dogs had become excited, the sheep were running wildly;
but the girl's exquisite voice was as clear and calm as ever, and the
big horse cantered over the broken ground, taking a big boulder now and
again with lilting jump, as if he were going by his own volition and
was well up in all the points of the game. After a time the dogs got
the sheep into a heap, and the young girl rode round them; but
something still seemed to be wrong, for she got down, and, leaving the
horse quite free, made her way into the flock.

At that moment Stafford saw a sheep and a lamb break from the mob and
make for the stream; the sheep jumped to a boulder with the agility of
a goat, the lamb attempted to follow, but missed the boulder and fell
into the stream. The water was wild here and the pools deep; and as the
lamb was swept down toward Stafford he saw that it was struggling in an
ineffectual way, and that it looked like a case of drowning.

Of course he went for it at once, and wading in made a grab at it; he
got hold of it easily enough, but the lamb--a good sized
one--struggled, and in the effort to retain his hold Stafford's feet
slipped and he went headfirst into a deep pool. He was submerged for a
second only, and when he came up he had the satisfaction of feeling
that he had still got the lamb; and gripping the struggling thing
tightly in his arms, he made for the opposite bank. And looking up, saw
the girl standing waiting for him, her face alive, alight, dancing with
delight and amusement! The laughter shone in her eyes like dazzling
sunlight and quivered on the firm but delicate lips. But it was only
for a moment; before Stafford had fully taken it in and had responded
to it with one of his own short laughs, her face was grave and calm