"Dear little lamb," said Miss Laura, patting him. "How can you tell him from the others, uncle?"
"I know all their faces, Laura. A flock of sheep is just like a crowd of people. They all have different expressions, and have different dispositions."
"They all look alike to me," said Miss Laura.
"I dare say. You are not accustomed to them. Do you know how to tell a sheep's age?"
"No, uncle."
"Here, open your mouth, Cosset," he said to the lamb that he still held. "At one year they have two teeth in the centre of the jaw. They get two teeth more every year up to five years. Then we say they have
a full mouth
. After that you can't tell their age exactly by the teeth. Now, run back to your mother," and he let the lamb go.
"Do they always know their own mothers?" asked Miss Laura.
"Usually. Sometimes a ewe will not own her lamb. In that case we tie them up in a separate stall till she recognizes it. Do you see that sheep over there by the blueberry bushes--the one with the very pointed ears?"