Page:My people stories of the peasantry of West Wales.djvu/166



thither. In his terror he cried loudly to God to protect his skin, but his words did not save his body from a stone nor a clod of earth.

All through that night Pedr prayed at the side of the altar he had dedicated unto the Big Father.

When Sadrach the Small fetched the cows in the morning, which was the Sabbath, he saw that the bull-calf was missing. He searched in all the field and in many of those of his neighbours. Returning to Danyrefail, he climbed up into his father”s room. “Little father,” he said, “the old bull-calf is lost, man.”

“Now careless some one has been. Was the gate shut, Sadrach?”

“Indeed, iss, it was.” “The calf couldn’t open the gate, boy,” said Martha.

“Wise your speech,” said Sadrach the Large. “Hie you and look again. But