A few weeks after that the Black Gallows Bird had news of a
wedding that was to be held near the town; and the bridegroom had
many friends and everybody sent him a present. Now a rich farmer
who lived up near the moor thought that nothing was so useful to
a young couple when they first began to keep house as a fine fat
sheep, so he bade his shepherd go off to the mountain where the
flock were feeding, and bring him back the best he could find.
And the shepherd chose out the largest and fattest of the sheep
and the one with the whitest fleece; then he tied its feet
together and put it across his shoulder, for he had a long way to
go.

That day, the Shifty Lad happened to be wandering over the moor,
when he saw the man with the sheep on his shoulder walking along
the road which led past the Black Rogue's house. The sheep was
heavy and the man was in no hurry, so he came slowly and the boy
knew that he himself could easily get back to his master before
the shepherd was even in sight.

'I will wager,' he cried, as he pushed quickly through the bushes
which hid the cabin--'I will wager that I will steal the sheep
from the man that is coming before he passes here.'

'Will you indeed?' said the Gallows Bird. 'I will wager you a
hundred silver pieces that you can do nothing of the sort.'

'Well, I will try it, anyway,' replied the boy, and disappeared
in the bushes. He ran fast till he entered a wood through which
the shepherd must go, and then he stopped, and taking off one of
his shoes smeared it with mud and set it in the path. When this