"He'd a rough tongue, sir; but he'd a good 'eart," said the widow of
Snarley Bob. "Oh, sir, but he were a wonderful man, were my master. I
never knowed one like him--no, nor never 'eard o' one. I didn't think on
it while he were living; but now' he's gone I know what I've lost. That
clever! Why, he often used to say to me. 'Polly, there ain't a bit of
blessed owt as I couldn't do, if I tried.' And it were true, sir. And
him nothing but a shepherd all his life, and never earned more'n
eighteen shillin' a week takin' it all the year round. And us wi' a
family of thirteen children, without buryin' one on 'em, and all married
and doin' well. And only one fault, sir, and that not so bad as it is in
some. He _would_ have his drop of drink--that is, whenever he could get
it. Not that he spent his wages on it, except now and then after the
children was growed up. But you see, sir, he was that amusin' in his
talk, and folks used to treat him.
"Well, sir, it was last Saturday fortnight, as I was tellin' you, he
come home for the last time. I can see 'im now, just as he come
staggerin' in at that door. I thought when I saw him that he'd had a
drop o'drink, though he'd not been 'avin' any for a long time. So I sez
to myself, 'I'd better make 'im a cup o' tea,' and I begins puttin' the
kettle on the fire. 'What are you doin'?' he sez. 'I'm goin' to give you
a cup o' tea,' I sez; 'It'll do yer good.' 'No, it won't,' he sez, 'I've
done wi' cups o' tea in this world.' 'Why,' I sez, 'what rubbish! 'Ere,
sit yer down, and let me pull yer boots off.' 'You can pull 'em off,' he
sez 'but ye'll never see me put 'em on again.'
"I could see by this that it wasn't drink besides I couldn't smell any.
So I gets 'im into his chair and begins pullin' his boots off. 'What
makes you talk like that?' I sez. 'You knows as you was ever so much
better last night. When you've had yer medicine you'll be all right.' He
said nowt for a time, but just sat, tremblin' and shiverin' in his
chair. So I sez, 'Hadn't you better 'ave the doctor?' 'It's no good,' he
sez; 'I'm come 'ome for the last time. It'll be good-bye this time,
missis.' 'Not it,' I sez; 'you've got many years to live yet. Why, wot's
to make yer die?' 'It's my 'eart,' he sez; 'it's all flip-floppin' about
inside me, and gurglin' like a stuck pig. It's wore out, and I keep
gettin' that faint.' 'Oh,' I sez, 'cheer up; when you've 'ad a cup o'
tea you'll feel better'; but I'd hardly got the words out o' my mouth
before he were gone in a dead faint.
"We got 'im to bed between the three on us, and, my word, it were a job
gettin' 'im up them narrer stairs! As soon as we'd made 'im comfortable,
he sez to me, 'Wot I told yer's comin' to-night, Polly. They've been
a-callin' on me all day. I see 'em and 'ear 'em, too. Loud as loud.
Plain as plain.' 'Who's been callin' yer?' I sez. 'The messengers o'
death,' he sez; 'and they're in this room, four on 'em, now. I can 'ear
'em movin' and talkin' to one another.' 'Oh,' I sez, 'it's all fancy.
What you 'ear is me and Mrs. Rowe. You lie quiet and go to sleep, and
you'll be better in the mornin'.' He only shook his 'ead and said, 'I
can 'ear 'em.'
"Well, I suppose it was about 'alf a' hour after this when Mrs. Rowe sez
to me, 'He looks like goin' to sleep now, Mrs. Dellanow, so I think I'll
go 'ome and get my master 'is supper'; and she was just goin' down the
stairs when all of a sudden he starts up in bed and sez, 'Do you 'ear
that whistle blowin'?' 'No,' I sez, 'you've been dreamin'. There isn't
nobody whistlin' at this time o' night.' 'Yes,' he sez, 'there is, and
it blowed three times. There's thousands and thousands of sheep, and a
tall shepherd whistlin' to his dog. But he's got no dog, and it's me
he's whistlin' for.'
"Now, sir, you must understand that my 'usband when he was with the
sheep used to work his dog wi' whistlin' instead of shoutin' to it as
most shepherds do. You can see his whistle hangin' on that nail--that's
where he hung it 'isself for twenty-five years. You see, he was kind o'
superstitious and used to say it was bad luck to keep yer whistle in yer
pocket when you went to bed. So he always hung it on that nail, the last
thing at night.
"'Why,' I sez, tryin' to humour 'im, 'it's his dog he's whistlin' for,
not you. His dog's somewhere where you can't see it. He doesn't want
you. You lie back again, and go to sleep.' 'No, no,' sez he; 'there's no
dog, and the sheep's runnin' everywhere, thousands on 'em. It's me he's
whistlin' for, and we must whistle back to say I'm comin'. Fetch it down
from the nail, Polly. There he is again! He's the tallest shepherd I
ever saw. He's one of them four that was in the room just now. Whistle
back, Polly, and then it'll be all right.' And so he kep' on, again and
again.
"Mrs. Rowe, who'd come into the room, said to me, 'If I was you, Mrs.
Dellanow, I'd fetch the whistle and blow it. It'll quiet 'im, and then
p'raps he'll go to sleep.'
"You can understand, sir, that I was that upset I didn't know what I was
doing. But when he kep' on callin' and beseechin' I thought I'd better
do as Mrs. Rowe recommended. So I went down and took the whistle from
that nail--the same where you see it hangin' now. When I got back I
couldn't somehow bring myself to do it, so I gives it to 'im to blow
'isself. But, oh dear, to see the poor thing trying to put it to his
mouth ... it a'most broke my heart. So I took it from 'im, and blowed it
myself three times as he wanted me. To think o' me standin' by my own
'usband's dyin'-bed and blowin' a whistle!
"When I'd done, he says, 'That's all right; he knows I'm comin' now. But
it'll take a long time to gather all them sheep.'
"For a bit he was quite still, and both me and Mrs. Rowe sat watchin',
when, all of a sudden, he starts up again and sez, 'Listen, he's goin'
to blow again,' Well, sir, I dare say you won't believe what I'm going
to tell yer, but it's as true as I'm standin' 'ere. He'd hardly got the
words out of his mouth when I hears a whistle blown three
times--leastways I thought I did--as it might be coming from the top of
that 'ill you see over there. There weren't no other sounds, for it was
as still a night as could be. But there was someone whistling, and Mrs.
Rowe 'eard it too. If you don't believe me, you can ask her. I nearly
dropped on the floor, and I knew from that minute that my 'usband was
going to die.
"You see, sir, my 'usband was never what you might call a religious man.
He were more of a readin' man, my 'usband was--papers and books and all
sorts o' things--more'n was good for 'im, I often used to say. You can
see a lot on 'em on that little shelf. If it hadn't been that they kep'
'im out o' the Nag's Head I'd ha' burned some on 'em, that I would, and
I often told 'im so. He knowed a wonderful lot about the stars, my
'usband did. Why, he'd often sit in his chair outside that door, smokin'
his pipe and watchin' 'em for hours together.
"One day there was a great man came down to give a lecture on the stars
in C----, and a gentleman as knowed my 'usband's tastes paid his fare
and gave 'im a ticket for the lecture. When he came 'ome he was that
excited I thought he'd go out o' his mind. He seemed as though he could
think of nothing else for weeks, and it wasn't till he began to ha' bad
luck wi' the ewes as he was able to shake it off. He was allus lookin'
in the paper to see if the gentleman as give the lecture was comin'
again. His name was Sir Robert Ball. I dare say you've heard on 'im.
"He used to spend all his Sundays readin' about stars. No, sir, he
'adn't been inside the church for years. 'Church is for folks as knows
nowt about the stars,' he used to say. 'Sir Robert Ball's my parson.'
One night when he was sittin' outside the door. I sez, 'Why don't you
come in and get yer supper? It's getting cold.' 'Let it get cold,' he
sez; 'I'm not comin' in till the moon's riz. It's as good as a drop o'
drink to see it.'
"P'raps he told yer all about that time when he was took up wi'
spiritualism. He'd met a man in the public-'ouse who'd 'eard his talk
and put 'im up to it. They got 'im to go to a meetin' i' the next
village, and made 'im believe as he was a medium. Well, there never was
such goin's-on as we 'ad wi' 'im for months. He'd sit up 'alf the night,
bumpin' the table and tan-rannin' wi' an old bucket till I was a'most
scared out o' my life. But that winter he was nearly carried off wi' the
New Mony, and when he got better he said he wasn't goin' to touch the
spirits no more. 'There's summat in it,' he sez; 'but there's more in
the stars.' And from that day I never 'eard 'im so much as talk about
spirits, and you may be sure I didn't remind 'im on 'em.
"You must ha' often 'eard 'im talk about the stars, sir. Well, I suppose
them things makes no difference to a' eddicated gentleman like you. But
poor folks, _I_ sez, has no business to meddle wi' em. All about worlds
and worlds floatin' on nothin' till you got fair lost. Folks as find
them things out ought to keep 'em quiet, that's wot _I_ sez. Why, I've
'eard 'im talk till I was that mazed that I couldn't 'a said my prayers;
no, not if I'd tried ever so.
"Yes, sir, it were a strange thing that when my 'usband come to die his
mind seemed to hang on his whistle more'n a'most anything else. He kep'
talkin' about it all night, and sayin' the tall shepherd was answerin'
back, though I never 'eard nothin' myself, save that one time I told yer
of.
"'It's queer he don't talk about the stars,' sez Mrs. Rowe to me. 'He
will do before he's done, you see if he doesn't,' I sez.
"Well, about three o'clock I see a change in his face and knowed as the
end wasn't far off. So I puts my arm round his old neck, and I sez,
'Bob, my dear, are you prepared to meet your Maker?' 'Oh! I'm all
right,' he sez quite sensible; 'don't you bother your head about that,'
'Don't you think you'd better let me send for the parson?' I sez. 'No,'
he sez; 'but you could send for Sir Robert Ball--if you only knew where
to find him.' 'But,' I sez, 'wouldn't you like somebody to pray with
yer? Sir Robert Ball's no good for that,' 'He's as good as anybody
else,' he sez. 'Besides what's the use of prayin' now? It's all over,'
'It might do yer good,' I sez. 'It's too late," he sez, 'and I don't
want it. It isn't no Maker I'm goin' to--I'm goin' to the stars,' 'Oh,'
I sez, 'you're dreamin' again,' 'No, I'm not' he sez. 'Didn't I tell yer
they'd been a-callin' on me all day? I don't mean the stars, but them as
lives in 'em.'
"No, sir, he wasn't wanderin' then. 'I wish the children was 'ere,' he
sez; 'but you couldn't get 'em all in this little room. My eye, what a
lot we've 'ad! And all livin'. And there's Tom got seven of 'is own,'
And a lot more like that; but I was so upset and cryin' that I can't
remember half on it.
"About four o'clock he seemed to rally a bit and asked me to put my arm
round him and lift him up. So I raises him, like, on the pillow and
gives him a sup o' water. 'What day o' the week is it?' he sez. 'Sunday
mornin',' I sez. 'That's my day for the stars,' he sez, and a smile come
over his face, as were beautiful to see.... No, sir, he weren't a
smilin' man, as a rule--he allus got too much on his mind--and a lot o'
pain to bear too, sir. Oh, dear me!... Well, as I was a-sayin', he were
as glad as glad when he heard it were Sunday. 'What's o'clock?' he sez.
'Just struck four by the church clock,' I sez. 'Then the dawn must be
breakin',' he sez; 'look out o' the winder, there's a good lass, and
tell me if the sky's clear, and if you can see the mornin' star in the
south-east.' So I goes to the winder and tells him as how the sky were
clear and the mornin' star shinin' wonderful. 'Ah, she's a beauty,' he
sez, 'and as bright as she were milions o' years ago!'
"After a bit he sez, 'Take yer arm off, Polly, and lay me on my right
side.' When me and Mrs. Rowe 'ad turned 'im round he sez, 'You can fetch
the old Bible and read a bit if you like,' 'What shall I read?' I sez,
when Mrs. Rowe had fetched it, for I wouldn't leave 'im for a minute.
'Read about the Woman in Adultery,' he sez. 'Oh,' I sez, 'that'll do you
no good. You don't want to 'ear about them things now.' 'Yes,' he sez,
'I do. It's the best bit in the book. But if you can't find it, the Box
o' Hointment'll do as well.' 'What can he mean?' I sez. 'He means about
them two women as come to our Lord,' sez Mrs. Rowe. ''Ere, I'll find
'em.' So I give the Bible to Mrs. Rowe and lets her read both of the
bits he wanted.
"While Mrs. Rowe was readin' he lay as still as still, but his eyes were
that bright it a'most scared me to see 'em. When she'd done, he said
never a word, but lay on 'is side, wi' 'is 'ead turned a bit round,
starin' at the window. 'I'm sure he sees summat,' sez Mrs. Rowe to me.
'I wonder wot it is,' I sez. 'P'raps it's our Lord come to fetch 'im,'
she sez. 'I've 'eard o' such things.'
"He must ha' lay like that for ten minutes, breathin' big breaths as
though he were goin' to sleep. Then I sees 'is lips movin', and I 'ad to
bend my 'ead down to 'ear what he were sayin'. 'He's a-blowin' again.
It's the tall shepherd--'im as wrote on the ground--and he's got no dog,
and 'is sheep's scatterin'. It's me he wants. Fetch the old whistle,
Polly, and blow back. I want 'im to know I'm comin'.'
"He kep' repeatin' it, till 'is breath went. I got Mrs. Rowe to blow the
whistle, but he didn't 'ear it, and it made no difference. And so, poor
thing, he just gave one big sigh and he were gone."