By the time the girls had finished holding the frisky lambs securely, while another girl held the bottle in its mouth, they all had kicked shins from tiny hoofs, and their hands and faces were dirty from the nosing the lambs gave them. But this was considered awfully cute of the lambs, and the girls ran back to the house, when the feeding was over, to wash their hands and faces.
That morning the old ewe kept quiet and only moved when the lambs teased her beyond endurance. Then Mr. Tompkins came at noon, and the girls escorted him to the barn yard to hear him pass judgment.
“Why, that ewe will come down with milk fever if she don’t let them lambs nurse right off!” declared he, as he tried to get a grip on the ewe and examine her.
“Here, Sam! Sit on her head while we make these lambs nurse out this caked milk!” said Mr. Tompkins, as he held down the ewe until Sam got over the fence and did as he was told.
The lambs went to work hungrily, but the ewe resented it so that she tried to kick and butt, and finally Mr. Tompkins said: “Gals, I don’t believe she is the mother of these twins. Who sold you the three?”
Janet forgot the man’s name but she described the farm where he lived. “Why, the old rascal! He tol’ me himself, a few days ago, how his best ewe died leaving a pair of twins to raise by hand. And a crank mother lost her lamb and wouldn’t help out the starving twins! So he palmed them off on you to bother with, eh! Well, we will all go and get him and make him do what’s right!” threatened Tompkins furiously.
Frances got the car out again, and the girls, with Mr. Tompkins to act as their representative, started off for the farm.
After a time, Mr. Tompkins said: “Ain’t you drivin’ the wrong road?”
“No, we went this way, all right,” said Janet.
“But the man I mean lives the other way,” said Tompkins.