A scream of delight from Minnie caused her father to turn quickly, in time to see a beautiful white lamb crowding its little nose through the fence, into the child’s hand.
“Here, Minnie,” said the shepherd, giving her an ear of corn; “hold this up, and call, ‘Luke,’ and you’ll soon have the mother to the lamb eating from the cob.” He laughed merrily, as he added, “My boy has given them all Bible names; so we have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He hesitated a little about Acts, but finally thought he’d better go straight through. So here comes Acts, with her twin lambs, as fine a pair as there is in the flock.”
Mr. and Mrs. Lee laughed heartily, and presently Minnie asked, “What is the name of that great one, with horns?”
“O! That’s Jeroboam. He’s a cruel fellow, I’m sorry to say. I wouldn’t advise you to have much to do with such a fellow as he is.”
“He looks like a picture in our Bible of a ram going to sacrifice,” said the child, gravely. “I wish he were good, though.”
“Here comes a lamb now,” said Mr. Sullivan, “that I took the liberty to name for you. To my fancy, she’s the prettiest one of the flock. Minnie, Minnie, come and get your corn.”
“No; but their mothers can, and they get the good of it.”
Minnie’s mother came and ate the corn greedily from his hand, while the lamb danced about, first on one side and then on the other, much to the amusement of the child.
“Do they stay out in the field all night, sir?”