with them, paying little for it, or not paying at all.  But art thou a shepherd?  Jesus answered that he had been a shepherd—­an erstwhile Essene, he said; one that has returned to the brethren.  The Essenes are good to the poor, the shepherd said, and glad to hear he was talking to a mate, he continued his complaint, to which Jesus gave heed, knowing well that it would not be long before they would be speaking of the breed of sheep best suited to the hills; the which came to pass, for, like Jesus, he lacked a good ram, and for the want of one, he said, his flock had declined.  The better the breed, he continued, the more often it required renewing, and his master would not pay money for new blood, so he was thinking of leaving him; and to justify his intention he pointed out the ram to Jesus that was to serve the flock that autumn, asking him how a shepherd could earn with such a one the few lambs that he receives in payment if the flock increase under his care.  He’s four years old if he’s a day, Jesus muttered.  He is that, the shepherd answered; yet master told me yesterday he must serve another season, for he won’t put his hand in his pocket, rams being so dear; but nothing, say I, is dearer than an old ram.  I’m with thee in that, Jesus answered; and my plight is the same as thine.  I’m searching for a ram, and have a friend who would pay a great sum of money for one if one of the style I am looking for can be found.

Well, luck will be with thee, but I know no ram on these hills that I’d pay money for, the shepherd answered, none we see is better than yon beast, and he is what thou seest him to be, a long-backed, long-legged, ugly ram that would be pretty tough under the tooth, and whose fleece a shepherd would find thin in winter-time.

But there were once fine sheep on these hills, Jesus answered, and I remember a ram——­ Ay, mate, thou mayest well remember one, and I think I know the shepherd that thou’rt thinking of, but he that owns the breed will not sell a ram for the great sums of money that have been offered to him, for his pride is to keep the breed to himself.  We’ve tried to buy, and been watching this long while for a lucky chance to drive one away, for a man that has more than he needs and will not sell aught thereof calls the thief down into his house, as it were, creating the thief out of an honest man, for which he deserves to be punished.  But the rich are never punished and this man’s shepherds are wary, and his dogs are fierce, and none has succeeded yet in getting a sample of the breed.

But where may this man be found?  Jesus asked, and the shepherd mentioned a village high up on the mountains over against the sea.  But go not thither, for twenty miles is a long walk if the end of it be but jeers and a scoffing.  A scoffing!  Jesus returned.  Ay, and a fine one in thine ears; and a fine thirst upon thee, the shepherd continued, and turning to the oak-tree he began to cut branches to feed his goats.  Twenty miles uphill in front