The Tale of Snowball Lamb Part 13

All the sheep in the pasture hurried down the hillside toward the bars to look at s...o...b..ll. And soon dozens of disputes might have been heard: "He is!" "He isn't!" "He's sheared!" "He's not!" About half the flock were sure Johnnie Green had sheared s...o...b..ll; while the other half were just as sure that s...o...b..ll still wore his fleece.

At last Aunt Nancy Ewe went close to s...o...b..ll and walked all the way around him. And when she joined her friends she announced that she had solved the mystery.

"s...o...b..ll is sheared on one side only!" she exclaimed.

It was true. And the moment the flock learned what had happened they set up a deafening _baaing_. "_Baa-ha-ha-ha-ha!_" they laughed. "Now who's a sight?" they asked s...o...b..ll. "Now who looks funny?"

Poor s...o...b..ll couldn't say a word. He hung his head. For he was terribly ashamed of his appearance.

"It's not my fault," he wailed at last. "When Johnnie Green had me half sheared that horrid boy Red came along and asked Johnnie to go fis.h.i.+ng.

And you know Johnnie Green! He can't miss a fis.h.i.+ng trip. . . . He said he'd finish shearing me to-morrow."

"Ha!" cried Aunt Nancy Ewe. And she flung at s...o...b..ll the very words he had used the day before. "Johnnie Green's 'to-morrow' means 'never!'"

"Oh! I hope not!" cried s...o...b..ll. "That would be awful!"

Somehow s...o...b..ll managed to get through that first dreadful day. But the following day he gave up all hope; for Johnnie Green never came near him. Nor did he come the next day, nor the next, nor the next.

Little by little the sheep stopped teasing s...o...b..ll. Little by little he became used to having one side of him sheared and the other side thick with fleece.

For some time he tried to keep as much out of sight as possible, grazing along the stone wall where he could bury himself in the bushes whenever one of the flock strayed near him. Or if he couldn't hide, he took pains to stand so that only one side of him should show.

It was a long while before his neighbors stopped smiling when they saw him. But finally there were only two in the flock that couldn't seem to forget how ridiculous s...o...b..ll looked. These were the young black ram and old Aunt Nancy Ewe. And perhaps they can't be blamed, because s...o...b..ll had once openly made fun of them. When they were near him s...o...b..ll was very uncomfortable. But with the rest of the flock he felt more at his ease. And sometimes he even went so far as to say that he _enjoyed_ being half sheared.

"On a cool day I find it pleasant to turn my clipped side toward the sun," he would remark. "And if there's a chilly wind I don't have to s.h.i.+ver. I let it blow against my fleecy side; and I never feel it."

In two weeks s...o...b..ll was claiming that he _preferred_ to be only half sheared.

Maybe that was true. Maybe he was only trying to make himself think it was. Anyhow, when Johnnie Green came into the pasture one day and called to him s...o...b..ll bounded down the gra.s.sy slope toward the bars.

And when he came back to the pasture, some time later, he didn't look very different from his companions. One side of him, however, showed a pinkish tinge, because Johnnie Green had just sheared that side very close. And the fleece on his other side had already begun to grow out a bit.

But s...o...b..ll didn't mind that. He had a pink nose, always. And he said that pink was his favorite color.

And never again did he laugh at anybody, no matter how queer a person might look.

THE END

SLUMBER-TOWN TALES

(Trademark Registered.)

By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

AUTHOR OF THE SLEEPY-TIME TALES and TUCK-ME-IN TALES

=Colored Wrapper and Text Ill.u.s.trations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH=

These are fascinating stories of farmyard folk for boys and girls from about four to eight years of age.

THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

When Mrs. Rat saw Miss Kitty Cat was.h.i.+ng her face, she knew it meant rain. And she wouldn't let her husband leave home without his umbrella.

THE TALE OF HENRIETTA HEN

Henrietta Hen was an empty-headed creature with strange notions. She never laid an egg without making a great fuss about it.

THE TALE OF THE MULEY COW

The Muley Cow belonged to Johnnie Green. He often milked her; and she seldom put her foot in the milk pail.

THE TALE OF TURKEY PROUDFOOT

A vain fellow was Turkey Proudfoot. He loved to strut about the farmyard and spread his tail, which he claimed was the most elegant one in the neighborhood.

THE TALE OF PONY TWINKLEHEELS

Pony Twinkleheels trotted so fast you could scarcely tell one foot from another. Everybody had to step lively to get out of his way.

THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT

Old dog Spot had a keen nose. He was always ready to chase the wild folk. And he always looked foolish when they got away from him.

THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG

Grunty pig was a great trial to his mother. He found it hard not to put his feet right in the feeding trough at meal time.

GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK

TUCK-ME-IN TALES

(Trademark Registered)

By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY