THE GOOD SHEPHERD
Harold and Margaret were looking at a picture of an Eastern shepherd with his flocks.
"Mamma," said Harold, "is this our country? This man is not dressed as men are here."
"No," said mamma, "it is a picture of a shepherd and his sheep in the country of the Bible."
"What makes the shepherd go before the sheep, mamma?" asked Harold.
"In that country," said mamma, "the sheep are not driven, but led."
"Were sheep more plenty in the Bible land than in ours? I have never seen many sheep," said Harold.
"Yes," answered mamma, "most of the children in the Bible land knew all about sheep. Many of the hillsides had little white flocks of sheep on them. They were not kept in fields with fences. They wandered about over the open pasture lands; and so a man or a boy must be with them to watch over them. He was called the shepherd. He took them to the best pastures. At some seasons of the year he had to lead them a long way to find water. He kept the bears and the wolves and the lions away. He kept away the thieves who might come to steal the sheep. At night he drove the sheep to a fold, or shed, or sometimes he slept with them all night in the open air, beneath the stars.