Shep

“ But show my sun must set; no morn
Shall shine till thou return:
The yellow planets, and the gray
Dawn, shall attend thee on thy way.
Shep. If thine eyes gild my paths, they may forbear
Their useless shine. Nym. My tears will quite
Extinguish their faint light.
Shep. Those drops will make their beams more clear,
Love's flames will shine in every tear.
Cho. They kiss'd, and wept; and from their lips and eyes,
In a mix'd dew of briny sweet,
Their joys and sorrows meet;
But she cries out. Nym. Shepherd, arise,
The sun betrays us else to spies. ”

“ Their own spirit—that of immortality itself which only men seem to possess—had pervaded him, and the dark eyes seemed unafraid. To the beasts, death is a darkness and a fear; but Shep knew that these two masters would have only mercy and kindness for him. Hugh’s hand reached back for the revolver.
But the forest gods had not written that Shep should die so soon. The drama of the flaming forest was not yet over. An interlude strange and startling past all words; three figures—vivid in outline and bathed in the fire’s glow—came speeding toward them from the thickets to the east. ”

“ Whatever your explanation, Shep was the cause, and the effect was seen in a brisk and willing lot of dogs going strong at the close of the day. Always he pulled his best. Whenever it was heavy sledding he would get right down dog-fashion, with his belly close to the trail, tongue hanging out, and do all he knew to keep things moving; heart, lungs, muscles, toe-nails and teeth were all enlisted in his effort to serve the man he loved who was riding under the robe in the sleigh behind. ”

“ Shep running into the barnyard to drive out the stray cows.
“Well, I declare!” exclaimed Mr. Watson. “Instead of strange cattle these belong to Mr. Jones. They must have broken out of their pasture. Come, Shep, we will drive them back. Not so fierce there, Shep! There is no need to snap at them and hang on their tails, for you see they are going peacefully enough. And you must never snap or bite at an animal when it is going along quietly minding its own business.”
“Good-by, Billy! Good-by! Anyway, we saw you before we were driven back, and we are glad we broke down the fence and came.” ”

“ It was a joyful day and old Shep was as merry and well fed as the rest of us.
How cold and sad and still the house seemed when we got back to it in the evening! We had to drive to a neighbor's and borrow fire and bring it home with us in a pail of ashes as we were out of tinder. I held the lantern for my uncle while he did the chores and when we had gone to bed I fell asleep hearing him tell of Joseph and Mary going to pay their taxes.
In the spring my uncle hired a man to work for us—a noisy, brawny, sharp-featured fellow with keen gray eyes, of the name of Dug Draper. Aunt Deel hated him. ”

“ Shep. Safe for those for whom it is to be safe; but transgressors shall fall therein.
Chr. Is there in this place any relief for pilgrims that are weary and faint in the way?
Shep. The Lord of these mountains hath given us a charge not to be forgetful to entertain strangers; therefore the good of the place is before you.
I saw also in my dream, that when the shepherds perceived that they were wayfaring men, [1] they also put questions to them (to which they made answer as in other places) , as, Whence came you? ”

“ Just before the dawn broke, Hugh and Alice stood behind the flock, safe and far from the ravages of the fire. Already Spot and his two ewes had sped up a precipitate trail—where, because of the steep rocks and the interference of Shep, the domestic sheep could not follow—and now all three thousand of them were quietly grazing at the very foot of the high mountains. And no man may say whether or not—like the lame child of Hamlin town—they gazed with wistful eyes toward the misty mountain realms where their leader had gone. ”

“ A dog can travel quite as well with a few healthy cuts in his ears as without. Was it Shep's way of boxing his ears? Shep was no bully, but he wouldn't allow any fights among the dogs. He had, too, the rare art of "jollying" the team along the trail. This was seen when the going had been hard all day and the dogs were growing weary. Then he would talk to them as he travelled in his whining, malemute way, and it would seem to brighten them up. Perhaps he told them funny dog stories, or pictured the joys of a good supper when they got to dry timber and camped. ”

“ Snap was already reaching for a shotgun, and Whopper and Shep did likewise.
The wild ducks had settled on the bosom of the the lake and were paddling in the direction of the rowboat. They came on slowly, however, and the young hunters could scarcely wait until they got within gunshot. Giant still had the oars and now he dropped one rather loudly on the bow. At once one of the ducks took alarm and arose In the air.
"They are flying away!" yelled Shep, and raised his shotgun. ”

“ That’s one thing I’m thinking. And we have more sheep on this station to-day than there have been in my memory. Aren’t there now?
2nd Shep.
Aye.
(Gordon Hyde comes slowly on from right wing, a fishing rod and bag of fish on his shoulder. He is slight, bronzed, and with a fine noble face. He limps, his leg dragging. 1st Shepherd takes up a tin of salmon and slowly begins to prepare to open it.)
Gordon.
There’s a good haul for supper, lads. (Throws down fish.)
(The Shepherds move a little from the fire respectfully, but don’t touch their hats or get up.)
1st Shep.
Aye, aye, Boss. ”

“ The old hermit remained with the boys two hours, and then embarked in his canoe and was soon out of sight down the stream leading to Firefly Lake. The young hunters watched him out of sight with some regret. He had told them he did not think anybody was now on the lake but themselves.
"Well, if we really are here alone we ought not to be troubled by anybody," was Shep's comment. "Still, it does seem tremendously lonely." ”

“ This being done, let the Law goe whistle: I warrant you
Shep. I will tell the King all, euery word, yea, and his Sonnes prancks too; who, I may say, is no honest man, neither to his Father, nor to me, to goe about to make me the Kings Brother in Law
Clow. Indeed Brother in Law was the farthest off you could haue beene to him, and then your Blood had beene the dearer, by I know how much an ounce
Aut. Very wisely (Puppies.)
Shep. Well: let vs to the King: there is that in this
Farthell, will make him scratch his Beard
Aut. ”

“ Shepheards they weren of the best,
And lived in lowly leas;
And, sith they souls be now at rest,
Why do we them disease?
Such one he was (as I have heard
Old Algrind often sayn)
That whilome was the first shepheard,
And lived with little gain:
And meek he was, as meek might be,
Simple as simple sheep;
Humble, and like in each degree
The flock which he did keep. ”

“ You know now in the Lord’s name who is the good Shepherd, and in what way good shepherds are His members, and therefore the Shepherd is one. You know who is the hireling we have to bear with; who the wolf, and the thieves, and the robbers we have to beware of; who are the sheep, and what is the door whereby both sheep and shepherd enter: how we are to understand the doorkeeper. You know also that every one who entereth not by the door is a thief and a robber, and cometh not but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. ”

“ Feeding the blessed flock of Dan,
Which did himself beget?
THOM. O blessed Sheep! O Shepheard great!
That bought his flock so dear,
And them did save with bloody sweat
From wolves that would them tear.
MOR. Beside, as holy Fathers sayn,
There is a holy place
Where Titan riseth from the main
To run his daily race,
Upon whose top the stars be stay'd,
And all the sky doth lean;
There is the cave where Phœbe laid
The shepheard long to dream.
Whilome there used shepheards all
To feed their flocks at will,
Till by his folly one did fall,
That all the rest did spill. ”

“ DIG. Such as the shepheards, such be their sheep,
For they nill listen to the shepheard's voice;
But if he call them, at their good choice
They wander at will and stay at pleasure,
And to their folds yede at their own leisure. ”

“ The Sheep eating the acorns, inadvertently frayed and tore the cloak. The Shepherd coming down, and seeing what was done, said, "O you most ungrateful creatures! you provide wool to make garments for all other men, but you destroy the clothes of him who feeds you. ”

“ As I said before, And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, that is, men who have been made like the angels through their excellent course of life; them also must I bring, and they will hear my voice, and there shall be one fold, one shepherd. ”

“ And, if ever error should have drawn aside a sheep of the flocks committed to us through devious ways, let us strive with all our endeavours to recall it to the Lord’s sheepfolds, so that from the name of shepherd which we bear we may reap not punishment, but a reward. ”

“ A Shepherd may be as Easy in a Cottage, as a Prince in a Palace, with a Mind Suited to his Station, but if they will be Launching out into Trade, or Bus'ness that they do not understand, they have nothing left them to trust to when they are once Bewilder'd, but the Hope of some Kind Providence to put them in the Right Way Home again. ”

“ Under the shadow of its hood,
A glimmering shape that does not move.
It is the shepherd and his love:
Close, close they stand, swooning and dim;
Her shadowed face looks up at him,
Her sighing breath his forehead warms;
He sings, she leans within his arms.
THE SHEPHERD'S NIGHT SONG.
The Shepherd. ”

“ CHAPTER XXIII. THE VOICE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD—HEBER CONVERTS WHOLE VILLAGES—THE SPIRIT OF THE MASTER UPON HIS SERVANT—THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE IN PRESTON. "My sheep know my voice, and a stranger they will not follow." So said the Shepherd of Israel.
The test is true in all time. How many in these latter days bear witness, that, until Mormonism came, they had no religion, and desired none, but were instantly converted on first hearing it proclaimed. ”

“ The pasture they have never seems to satisfy them. It is the pasture in the other field that interests them. In this they are very human. [Pg 272] But giving them a wider range makes the chore of bringing them home at milking time more important and this summer I undertook to train Sheppy to the work with a rather peculiar result. As he is a pure-bred sheep dog he always goes to the farthest off in the bunch as soon as he is sent after them. ”

“ Slowly yet surely, the Shepherd was reaching after his stray sheep. By degrees her mood and her prayers changed; they lost their fierceness, but not one whit of their will-power. She began to feel herself in the hands of God. ”

“ When the mighty volume is coursing along its channel towards the ocean, he marks every drop that leaps aside in spray. It is a solemn thought, and to the reconciled a gladsome one, that, as the shepherd observed when one sheep left the fold, the Shepherd of Israel, who slumbers not nor sleeps, detects every wandering soul, and in that soul every wandering thought. ”

“ Ah, the Good Shepherd goes after His lost sheep, until He find them. But they are apt to lead Him up arid steeps and into sunless gulfs, through thorns which tear their feet as well as His, and into dry places where no water is beside the stream which flows from the smitten Rock. ”

“ As a sheep He is led to the slaughter, [78] but He is the Shepherd of Israel, and now of the whole world also. As a Lamb He is silent, yet He is the Word, and is proclaimed by the Voice of one crying in the wilderness. ”

“ Do you think sects would last now for an hour, if there was not in the heart of each of them a witness for a fellowship, which combinations and shibboleths did not create, and which, thanks be to God, they cannot destroy? The true Shepherd makes His voice to be heard, through all the noise and clatter of earthly shepherds; the sheep hear that voice, and know that it is calling them to follow Him into a common fold where all may rest and dwell together. ”

“ I have been distressed at the thought that one appointed to the shepherd’s office, entrusted with the charge of so great a flock and appointed to heal the sick among his sheep, is both himself unsound, and that to a terrible degree, and is endeavouring to infect his lambs with his disease and treats the sheep of his folds with greater cruelty than that of wild beasts. ”

“ He is called a Way [11] , not one trodden by feet, but leading to the Father in heaven; He is called a Sheep [12] , not an irrational one, but the one which through its precious blood cleanses the world from its sins, which is led before the shearers, and knows when to be silent. This Sheep again is called a Shepherd, who says, I am the Good Shepherd [13] : a Sheep because of His manhood, a Shepherd because of the loving-kindness of His Godhead. And wouldst thou know that there are rational sheep? the Saviour says to the Apostles, Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves [14] . ”

“ He goes into the hard wilderness of cold indifference, and wasteful pride, and desolating sin, searching “high and low” for His foolish sheep. And no place is unvisited by the Great Seeker! Every perilous ravine, where a sheep can be lost, knows the footprints of the Shepherd. ”

“ A new shepherd for him it is right, that he should oversee the flock in new wise, and should know what is the number of it, and should see what are its needs. A flock it is that was purchased with the blood, of that chief of the shepherds. Call thou and cause to pass each sheep by its name, for it is a flock whereof the name is written, and its reckoning in the Book of life. ”