The History of David Grieve, Vol. 1 of 3 (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The History of David Grieve, Vol. 1 of 3 The children went their way through the yard. In front of them a flock of some forty sheep and lambs pushed along, guarded by two black short-haired col lies. The boy, brandishing a long stick, opened a gate deplorably in want of mending, and the sheep crowded through, keenly looked after by the dogs, who waited meanwhile on their flanks with heads up, ears cooked, and that air of self-restrained energy which often makes a sheep-dog more human than his master. The field beyond led to a little larch plantation, where a few primroses showed among the tufts Of long, rich grass, and the drifts of last year's leaves. Here the flock scattered a little, but David and the dogs were after them in a twinkling, and the plantation gate was soon closed on the last bleating mother. Then there was nothing more for the boy to do than to go up to the top of the green rising ground on which the farm stood and see if the gate leading to the moor was safely shut. For the sheep he had been driving were not meant for the Open moorland. Their feeding grounds lay in the stone-walled fields round the home stead, and had they strayed on to the mountain beyond, which was reserved for a hardier Scotch breed, David would have been answerable. SO he strode, whistling, up the hill to have a look at that top gate, while Louie sauntered down to the stream which ran round the lower pastures to wait for him. The top gate was fast, but David climbed the wall and stood there a while, hands in his pockets, legs apart, whistling and looking. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.