Beowald changed the tune. Now it was no longer like the spring that ran down the mountain-side, bubbling to itself. It was like the gusty wind that blew down the hills and swept up the valleys, that danced and capered and shouted over the pine trees and the graceful birches.
The children wanted to dance and caper too. The goats felt the change in the music and began to leap about madly. It was an odd sight to see. Jack looked at the blind youth’s face. It was completely happy. Goats, mountains — and music. Beowald wanted nothing more in his quiet, lonely life!
A Day in the Mountains
“Can’t we have lunch here with Beowald?” asked Paul, suddenly. “I feel very hungry, Ranni. It would be lovely to sit here in the wind and the sun and eat our food, listening to Beowald.”
“I expect the goatherd would rather eat with you than play whilst you gobble up all the food!” said Ranni with a laugh. “Ask him if he will eat with you.”
The goatherd smiled when he heard what Ranni said. He nodded his head, gave an order that scattered his goats, and sat quite still, gazing out over the valleys below as if he could see everything there.
“Where do you sleep at night?” asked Paul. “Where is your cave?”
“Not far from here,” answered Beowald. “But often I sleep in the daytime and walk at night.”
“But how can you find your way then?” said Peggy, thinking of the darkness of the mountain-side and its dangerous ledges and precipices.
“It is always dark for me,” said Beowald. “My ears see for me, and my feet see for me. I can wander in these mountains for hours and yet know exactly where I am. The pebbles beneath my feet, the rocks, the grass, the flowers, they all tell me where I am. The smell of the pine trees, the scent of the wild thyme that grows nearby, the feel of the wind, they tell me too. I can go more safely over this steep mountain with my blind eyes than you could go, seeing all there is to be seen!”