Page:My people stories of the peasantry of West Wales.djvu/79

 Mishtir Lloyd picked up his round ebony ruler and drew a straight line over Eben's name on the register.

The next morning at daybreak Eben, a crust of bread and a piece of cheese in his trousers pocket, was ready to take up his duties. Before he went Hannah addressed these words to him:

“Do you see now, little Eben, that none of Shames’s old sheep go astray, for Shames is quick to anger. Don’t you do any evil pranks against him, because it is not meet that Shames shall report us to the Big Man. Earn every mite of the shilling a week he gives you, Eben bach. Do we not need these pennies badly? Last year I sacrificed only three half-crowns to Sion. And for sure the Judge will inform the Great Male about me.”

Eben, having walked over the mile and a half of heather, and having come to the point from which you can on a clear day see the waters of Cardigan Bay, opened the