Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/121

Rh like his master sometimes in the shade and at others in the sun and has the same fear of the whip before his eyes. They are a worthy couple; very much alike in every respect.

Alas! for the height of human or canine felicity here below; even the waking dreams of a vaquero and his four-footed comrade are liable to disturbance.

Presently the dog begins to open his eyes, growl, and stretch his legs, and the man, on hearing the well-known signal, betrays unwonted signs of returning animation. When dog and man have gained their feet, their demeanour assumes a strangely different appearance; the dog is all noise and irritability, and the man all bustle and activity. Several sheep in the distance, having left the main body and strayed out of bounds, are greedily nibbling the rich green frijoles in a field belonging to a neighbouring farmer!

A sweltering race has that poor vaquero to run, over the fields in the burning sunshine, after the missing sheep. He holloas, pulls up his pantaloons, perspires, and raves, and calls upon Our Lady, as he manœuvres to get on the other side of the wanderers by the nearest way; yet the truant animals appear