"But _where_ are the sheep?" asked Eric, "and how can I count them with
my eyes shut?"

Every one suddenly looked puzzled. The Forest Children's eyes grew wide
with wondering. The Bird Fairies fluttered uneasily. The Tree Girl
seemed dazed. Wild Star said, "Why, we never thought of that,--where
_are_ they?"

But Ivra laughed and ran to Eric. She took his hand and said, "The sheep
are inside your own head. Just shut your eyes and try to see them. It is
very easy. The wall is low, and there's a place where the stones are
beginning to roll down. The sheep go over there, one by one."

Eric shut his eyes and put his head down on the Tree Man's knee. And it
began to happen just as Ivra had said. There was a green hill-pasture, a
little gray stone wall slanting across it, and sheep, one by one,
jumping where the wall was broken down, following their leader. He
counted one hundred of them and then stopped although a dear little lamb
was trotting down the hill, trailing the procession. He wanted to see if
the lamb would be able to jump the wall too. But the Tree Man had said
one hundred, so he stopped and opened his eyes.

Things were strange. The Tree Man was nothing but an old stump. The room
felt very cold and it was bare. The fire in the boulder had gone out.
But he heard a soft fluttering somewhere and took heart. The Bird
Fairies! They might be hiding high, having wings. He went all around the
room, looking up into the dusk. At last, there they were in row on a
beam, their wings spread over their eyes.