IAN'S BETTY
For many weeks after Sandy's departure from Aberfoyle, Ian tended the
lamb carefully. He fed it from a baby's bottle. The young creature grew
strong and fat. It would follow the boy around as though it knew him to
be its nurse.
It was a loving little animal, and Ian became very fond of it. He would
take it with him when he sat with his father upon the hill where Roy
guarded the other sheep.
It did not mingle with the others, for it was an orphan. It knew that
it did not belong with the flock. Sheep are not like people. Human
beings, seeing a motherless child, would strive to protect it with
their own young ones.
[Illustration: IAN FED BETTY FROM A NURSING BOTTLE]
So the task of protector and nurse fell to Ian. He loved to feel the
wee one's soft fur against his cheek as it lay on the hill with him. He
liked to feed it from its bottle and hear the soft, gurgling noises it
made.
It amused him to see its tail waggled so rapidly after each mouthful of
milk. This is the way it showed Ian how well it liked its dinner. And
as Ian felt the lamb, warm and soft in his arms, he seemed to feel
there something else--his beloved bagpipes!
Much to the amusement of his parents, Ian called the lamb Betty, his
baby sister's name. He felt that it was as helpless and young as she.
Very often they both sucked from their nursing bottles at the same
time. While they were doing this, they looked at each other with big,
wondering eyes. Ian often sat and admired the pair and laughingly said
to his mother, "Your baby and my baby, Mother."
So the days flew by, and the summer wore on. Soon the school bell began
to ring out again. It told the children that another term was
beginning.
Ian was loth to leave his happy pastimes in field and on hill. However,
he, like all Scotch children, was anxious to learn. So one morning, he
strapped his book bag on his back and started off to school.
That was a lonely day for the lamb Betty. She was lonely because her
young guardian had hardly ever left her side. The lamb was clearly
worried and bleated unmercifully until Ian returned from school.
[Illustration: IAN HOME FROM SCHOOL]
When, the next day, the same thing happened, Ian's pet could stand it
no longer and started out to find him.
Every child in the world knows the song about "Mary's little lamb."
That day, as Betty marched herself up the steps of Ian's schoolhouse, a
chorus of childish voices sang out:
"Ian had a wee, wee lamb;
It followed him to school!"
There was much merriment as Ian hurriedly packed Betty off to her home.
Like the teacher in the song, this teacher had difficulty in restoring
order.
It was also a flushed and embarrassed Ian who returned to his
classroom. That evening he lectured Betty upon behavior for lambs!
However, Betty was either disobedient or else too young to understand
Ian's lecture. The next day she tried to repeat her performance. She
started off on a gallop to find her young master. I say, "tried," for
alas, this time poor Betty could not find Ian's school!
For many hours she wandered about. She went farther and farther, not
only from school but from home. Evening fell, and Betty was bleating
alone in a dense forest--lost!
At last Ian returned from school. For several moments, he could not
understand why Betty did not come to meet him. He stood and gazed
about. Then a terrible thought came to him.
[Illustration: LOST!]
Rushing to his father on the hillside, he asked excitedly for his pet.
Alan Craig shook his head sadly.
"I've sent Roy again, laddie, but he's returned once alone. I fear the
beastie is lost."
Lost! Ian's world fell about him. The sound of distant bagpipes seemed
to resound dully in his ears. The words of Sandy came to him through
the dim: "In the spring, if this beastie is fine, and you have done
your duty--"
His duty! And poor Betty! Where could she be? A little lonely creature,
more baby than animal, tended so carefully, and unused to the thorns
and sharp rocks of the hills--alone and lost!
"Father!" was all that Ian could gasp. Just then he saw Roy coming
toward them, his tail between his legs. An expression of failure was in
his shepherd eyes.
"Roy, lad, can you not find her?" asked Ian.
Ian threw his school books off his back. Kneeling, he put his arms
around the neck of Roy. Roy answered in his own way. It was as clear to
Ian as though the dog had cried out to him, "No, laddie, she's lost,
lost!"
And if a sheep was lost to Roy, it was indeed a lost sheep! For the
clever dog would smell a sheep for many miles. He would, in fact,
encounter any danger to bring a straggler back to the fold.
Still, thought Ian, Betty was not really one of the fold. It was
possible that Roy's experience did not fit him to scent out tame pets.
"I'm going to look, Father," shouted the heartbroken boy.
Calling Roy, he started off on a run. The father shook his head and
felt a great pity for his little son.
[Illustration]