The stable-man lifted him on to his horse when he started, I suppose,
and he would have been there yet if he hadn't been helped off. Bah!'
For Jack had a supreme contempt for any man who was less than a
centaur.
By this time they had turned off the main thoroughfare, and were
travelling over a bit of old stage road which was anything but easy
riding. There they met some men who were driving an enormous band of
sheep to a distant ranch for pasture, which gave saucy Polly the
chance to ask Dr. Winship, innocently, why white sheep ate so much
more than black ones.
He fell into the trap at once, and answered unsuspectingly, in a
surprised tone, 'Why, do they?' giving her the longed-for opportunity
to respond, 'Yes, of course, because there are so many more of 'em;
don't you see?'
'You are behind the times, Dr. Paul,' said Jack. 'That's an ancient
joke. Just look at those sheep, sir. How many are there? Eight
hundred, say?'
'Even more, I should think,--a thousand, certainly; and rather thin
they look, too.'
'I should imagine they might,' said Bell, sympathetically. 'When I
first came to California I never could see how the poor creatures
found anything to eat on these bare, brown hillsides, until the
farmers showed me the prickly little burr clover balls that cover the
ground. But see, mamma! there are some tiny lambs, poor, tired,
weak-legged little things; I wonder if they will live through the
journey.
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