coverts of oak, and occasional habitations for the deer.

This spectacle, through a grey veil of fine rain, Phoebe noted at
mid-afternoon of a day in early August; and, as she watched, there
widened a rift under the sun's hidden throne, and a mighty, fan-shaped
pencil of brightness straggled downwards, proceeded in solemn sweep
across the valley, and lighted the depths of the gorge beyond with a
radiance of misty silver. The music of jackdaws welcomed this first
indication of improved weather; then Phoebe's sharp eyes beheld a
phenomenon afar off through the momentary cessation of the rain. Three
parts of a mile away, on a distant hillside, like the successive
discharges of a dozen fowling-pieces, little blotches of smoke or mist
suddenly appeared. Rapidly they followed each other, and sometimes the
puffs of vapour were exploded together, sometimes separately. For a
moment the girl felt puzzled; then she comprehended and laughed.

"'Tis the silly auld sheep!" she said to herself. "They 'm shakin 'theer
fleeces 'cause they knaw the rain's over-past. Bellwether did begin, I
warrant, then all the rest done the same."

Each remote member of the flock thus freed its coat from the accumulated
moisture of a long rainfall; then the huddled heap, in which they had
combined to withstand the weather and show tail to the western storm,
began to scatter. With coughs and sneezes the beasts wandered forward
again, and pursued their business of grazing.

Steadily the promises of the sky multiplied and Phoebe's impatience
increased. Her position did not, however, depend for comfort upon the
return of sunshine, for she stood out of the weather, where sundry giant
rocks to the number of five arose in a fantastic pile. Nature's primal