when he suddenly heard a loud baa amongst the bushes far away on
one side of the path, and a feeble bleat answering it from the
other side.

'Why, it must be the sheep and the kid that I lost,' said he.
'Yes, surely it must'; and tying the bull hastily to a tree, he
went off after the sheep and the kid, and searched the wood till
he was tired. Of course by the time he came back the two thieves
had driven the bull home and killed him for meat, so the man was
obliged to go to his master and confess that he had been tricked
again.

After this the Black Rogue and the Shifty Lad grew bolder and
bolder, and stole great quantities of cattle and sold them and
grew quite rich. One day they were returning from the market with
a large sum of money in their pockets when they passed a gallows
erected on the top of a hill.

'Let us stop and look at that gallows,' exclaimed the Shifty Lad.
'I have never seen one so close before. Yet some say that it is
the end of all thieves.'

There was no one in sight, and they carefully examined every part
of it.

'I wonder how it feels to be hanged,' said the Shifty Lad. 'I
should like to know, in case they ever catch me. I'll try first,
and then you can do so.'

As he spoke he fastened the loose cord about his neck, and when