Somehow he got down, but he was exhausted and breathless when he reached the bottom, where he was forced to wait before he could whistle to his dog.  He heard its bark and stumbling forward, found the flock bunched together in a hollow.  Then he sat down in the snow while Tom counted the sheep.

“They’re aw here,” said the shepherd.  “A better job than I thowt we’d mak!  Weel, let’s gan on.”

Kit was tired, and bruised by his fall, but he went forward behind the dogs.  His troubles were over, for a broad smooth path led along the hill-foot to Mireside.

CHAPTER VII

THE RECKONING

The morning was dark, and although the gale had dropped, a raw, cold wind blew up the valley past Mireside farm, where three or four farmers’ traps and some rusty bicycles stood beneath the projecting roof of a barn.  The bleating of sheep rose from a boggy pasture by the beck, and lights twinkled as men with lanterns moved about in the gloom.  Now and then somebody shouted and dogs barked as a flock of Herdwicks was driven to the pens.

In the flagged kitchen, Mrs. Railton and Lucy bustled about by the light of a lamp and the glow of the fire.  The table was covered with used plates and cups.  The men outside had breakfasted, but one or two more might come and Mrs. Railton wondered when Kit would arrive.  She had lain awake for the most part of the night, thinking about him and the strayed Herdwicks while she listened to the gale.  Now and then Lucy went to the door and looked up the dale to the glimmering line of foam that marked the spot where Bleatarn beck came down.  A path followed the water-side, but she could not see men or sheep in the gloom, and if Kit did not come soon he would be too late.

Railton sat gloomily by the fire.  He had had rheumatic fever, and the damp cold racked his aching joints; besides, there was nothing for him to do.  He had called in his neighbors to value his flock, but he knew, to a few pounds, what their judgment would be.  Hayes Would presently arrive, and Railton would be asked to pay, or give security for, the shortage, which was impossible.  Hayes knew this and meant to break his lease.  Perhaps the hardest thing was that the shortage was small; if the next lambing season were good, he could pay.  But Hayes would not wait.

Although Railton was too proud to beg for help from his neighbors, he had gone to the bank.  Osborn, however, used the same bank, and it looked as if Hayes had given the manager a hint, because he refused a loan.  Askew had offered a hundred pounds, but this was not enough, and even if Kit arrived with the sheep from Swinset, Railton could not find the rest of the money.  However, the arrival of the Herdwicks would make a difference, and he did not altogether give up hope.  By and by he tried to get up, and sitting down again with a groan, beckoned his wife.

“Martha, you might gan to door.”