Village Shepherd

The three children were racing through the woods, and Roly was keeping up as best he could with his short legs. He was a reluctant participant in this escapade, for even though he loved nothing better than the woods, he had an inkling of what the children were about.

There was a battered old caravan standing in a glade deep in the woods. The children had come across it one day, and had amused themselves peering in the gloomy windows and scrawling rude words on the dirty paintwork.

When the owner of the caravan, a derelict old man complete with long, unkempt beard, had suddenly materialised from the woods shouting and brandishing his fist at them, the children had run away laughing.

Since then, they had discovered the old man to be a constant source of amusement. So at every opportunity they raced to the woods to plague the old man. All three of them had high voices which carried well and irritated the old man beyond endurance. But the children were quick and nimble on their feet, so there was never any danger of the old man catching them.

It was only Roly the puppy who seemed to feel uneasy about the cbildren's pranks. Having experienced ill treatment himself in his youngest days, Roly disliked being part of anything which might hurt or upset another creature, even when it was just fun. So today his heart was a little heavy even as he flew after the children as fast as he could.

But today the children were doomed to disappointment. The caravan appeared to be deserted for the old man was nowhere to be seen. No matter how much the children danced around singing silly songs and shouting rude remarks, nothing happened.

"Come on," said Jem, the oldest. "We might as well go home. There's no fun here today, the daft old fool's not around."

The other two turned to follow him, but Roly's sharp ears picked up a faint murmur unheard by the children. He began to bark, urgently.

"Oh do come on, Roly," called Jem. "We don't want to wait around here for you."

But Roly ran up to the door of the caravan and began to scratch at it with his sharp little claws. He whined and barked and yapped, anxious for the children to come and see what he was about.

Alice turned back. "I think he wants us to go to the caravan," she said.

"Don't be stupid, Alice," growled Jem. "He's only a silly puppy. What does he know?"

But Alice had already run over to Roly at the caravan. As Roly anxious pawed at the door, she grasped the handle and turned it. The children had never been inside the caravan before, so it was a shock to Alice to see the state of the van. It was dingy it inside, but as Alice's eyes grew accustomed to the dim light she could soon see that the van was piled high with old newspapers, dirty washing, and unwashed crocks.

She called her brothers over, and together they entered the van. Then they all heard a faint groan. Underneath a pile of rags on the bed, was the old man. He was only semi-conscious.

"What shall we do?" asked Alice, suddenly frightened.

Jem took charge. "One of us must stay here and do the best we can for him, poor old fellow. The other two must run for help."

Alice was terrified, for the old man looked as though he might die at any moment. But she knew both her brothers were much faster runners than she was, so she would have to stay while they went for help. Almost asked if he knew what she was thinking, Roly jumped up and licked her hand.

Alice immediately felt better. While they were waiting for the boys to return with adult help, Roly jumped onto the old man's bed, and began to lick his face. After a while, the old man's eyes flickered and opened. When he spotted Alice he groaned and closed his eyes again. Alice felt deeply ashamed of her previous behaviour. But she quickly poured some water into a bowl, found an old cloth and began to wash the old man's face.

His eyes flickered open again, and this time he looked astonished.

"I'm sorry we were so nasty to you," muttered Alice, her lip trembling. "We didn't know you were ill. My brothers have gone to fetch help. You'll soon be all right."

The old man was taken to hospital, where he made a complete recovery. While he was in hospital the three children set about cleaning up his caravan and restoring order inside it. They were all very ashamed of the way they had behaved, and wanted to make amends.

"Roly showed us the way," remarked Alice. "I don't think Roly was ever very happy about the way we teased the old man. And if it hadn't been for Roly, the old man would have died."

After the old man came out of hospital the children got to know him really well. They discovered that they liked him a lot, and even more surprising, he liked them. When they tentatively told him how sorry they were for teasing him so mercilessly, he just smiled and said, "I was young once myself. And I reckon you saved my life, thanks to that puppy of yours, so now we're quits. But you keep on the straight path, you kids. Believe me, that's the only path to be on. Follow that all your lives, and you won't go far wrong."

And the children did just what he said.